New Kitchen Reveal: Before & After

When Craig and I moved into our home in 2016, it definitely needed a bit of work.  I mean it wasn’t a total fixer upper, but we definitely had ideas of things that we wanted to change to improve and make it our own.  Of course, one thing on my list was the kitchen, but knowing that kind of project is a big undertaking, I wasn’t sure if we would ever actually do it.  I mean, the kitchen wasn’t totally horrible before, but it just didn’t fit in with our vibe or the rest of the house.  So in this post I want to share everything we did and share the new kitchen reveal!

The Before

So let’s start with the before; I mean, it only seems logical, right?  Like I said, it wasn’t the worst kitchen I’ve ever seen, but the large wood cabinets and low amount of natural light made the space feel extra small and cave-like.  It didn’t help matters that the floor was practically the same color as the cabinets.  It was just A LOT.  The backsplash was this weird faux stone that I’m not sure is actually supposed to be a backsplash? I’ve seen it in Lowe’s and it says it’s for outdoor use, but anyways, it had to go.  I wanted something lighter, brighter, more airy, and more of a modern farmhouse sort of vibe that went with the rest of the house.

So you get the idea.

Next up came the demo & installation process, which basically involved:

• tearing out old backsplash
• cutting out old damaged drywall and measuring/cutting/replacing with new drywall (Craig did all of this) then sanding it all down to be even
• disconnecting sink and dishwasher (by far the worst part of a kitchen reno is not having these things)
• picking out new countertop & backsplash/grout
• scheduling countertop tear out
• scheduling new countertop template
• doing new countertop layout
• scheduling backsplash measurements
• scheduling countertop installation
• scheduling backsplash installation
• scheduling plumber to hook back up sink and dishwasher

And in the midst of all of that, we were systematically taking off cabinets to wash off, sand, vacuum, prime, paint fronts & backs once, then adding another coat to fronts and backs, then finally putting on the new hardware.

Here are some “in-process” pictures:

Pictures from painting the cabinets…

Painting the cabinets was a lot of work.  It’s just so tedious.  Worth it in the end because they look SO MUCH BETTER but gosh, at the beginning when I was sanding these cabinets, I was asking myself why I had this brilliant idea.  True story, after the first day of just doing a couple cabinets wipe down/sanding, I decided we were NOT going to do this ourselves and I called around for some quotes.  Just took one quote of almost $3000 to say YEAH NO we are going to do it ourselves. LOL 🙂

We weren’t originally going to change the hardware and just use the silver ones we already had, but then we decided it was just too much gray/silver and not enough contrast.  So we got some matte black ones (will link all products I used below!) and it really made the kitchen pop.

So let’s talk about what I think is the REAL focal point here…the countertops.

These were the centerpiece of every design decision I made from the color of the cabinets to the backsplash.

We got Calacatta Oro Quartz countertops from East Coast Granite of Charlotte.  But before I get to that, let me just say that working with East Coast Granite on our new kitchen was such a great decision.  We really turned the renovation around quickly and so much of that is because of their customer service and timelines.  I picked out the countertops in the local showroom in Indian Trail, NC on a Tuesday. From there we scheduled the tear out of my old countertops, and they came that week to tear them out!  Once that was done, that same week East Coast Granite sent someone to do the template for the new countertops, which is basically where they measure out everything in your kitchen so they know to cut the quartz in the right sizes/shapes, etc. The following week, I went to the showroom again to do the layout, which was SO FUN and something I had no idea I was going to get to do.  Basically I got to see my big slab of quartz and I picked exactly where I wanted them to cut out my countertops.  The paper you see on the quartz is from the template appointment. Then at the layout appointment, I got to put it where I wanted it to be sure I was getting the design I wanted. We were without countertops for just a little over a week, with them coming the following Monday to do the install.

Then here is after the countertops and my new sink were installed.

The backsplash wasn’t in just yet.  But isn’t it so pretty?!

Also, I’m so obsessed with my big stainless steel sink.

We had a double sink before and I much prefer this large single sink!!

The next day we were scheduled to have the plumber hook back up the sink & dishwasher and for an independent contractor through Lowe’s do the backsplash.  You see, I was actually planning on doing the backsplash myself, but it just got to the point I wanted it done ASAP so I could have my kitchen back. I know I could have done it, but it just would have taken a lot longer, and to be honest I was over it.  They did a great job!

Next up to finish it all off, we just had to paint the walls.  We ended up doing 3 coats of it since it was white and we had a darker color there before.

The After

And the finished look…

Doesn’t it look SO MUCH BETTER?! And look at how the whites just reflect so much light.  Ahhhh it makes me happy.

SHOP THE KITCHEN:

Countertops: Calacatta Oro from East Coast Granite of Charlotte // Matte Black Hardware from Lowe’s // White Ceramic Subway Tile backsplash from Lowe’s // The grout was a warm gray color (sorry don’t remember the exact one!)

Paint Colors- Cabinets: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter // Walls: Sherwin Williams Downy White

Kitchen decor:

xo,

Bess