Our kitchen project progressed at lightning speed thanks to Alison, our awesome project manager at Kevin Jones Design Build. As soon as the cabinets were installed the work picked up and, before we knew it, the big dumpster on the driveway was gone and we were done! We have the heart of our home back and I am excited to finally get settled 6 months after moving in. Now for the reveal…

Here are the “before” photos:

Original 1970’s kitchen and breakfast area

There was limited workspace due to the “U” shape of the kitchen, and the very small cooktop was just not working for us

My office is in the 5th bedroom right off the kitchen so we did not need the kitchen “desk”. We also found that we rarely use a second oven. We decided to take this wall out and open up the space.

And now for the “after” photos:

The new expanded space.

The island with the deep apron front sink is a versatile workspace. Now that we have seating at the island, there was no need for the breakfast area. We decided to use that wall for cabinetry that is both pretty and functional.

View from the other side

After finalizing the granite template for the kitchen, I realized we were going to have a nice chunk left over from the second slab. The 1970’s seashell sink and vanity in the guest bath was all the rage back then, I’m sure, but this is the new millennium and today it just looks sad and dated. I decided to go ahead and update the downstairs bath and I plan to use my leftover chalk paint from my initial DIY kitchen project to paint the cabinets.

1970’s seashell sink/vanity.

It is amazing what a difference a slab of granite can make!

New bathroom vanity.  No more seashell sink!

Now that the kitchen project is done, I’m off to hang some art on the walls and shop for window treatments. Now that is a F-U-N way to kick of Spring Cleaning!

*Originally posted on “The Hogbloggers” site in March 2015

© Elizabeth Smith 2015