Stuck in the 80’s
We bought a house! It’s a great house, and the family who lived in it for the past thirty years took great care of it. (Even after raising two boys there!!!) The house hunt experience was evidence that that’s rarely the case. The only downfall was that it was built in the 80’s, and it has pretty much stayed there. We’re excited to bring it into this century! The biggest hurdle will definitely be the kitchen, and it’s the main thing we’re tackling before we move in.
Just in case you don’t believe me…
We saw a bunch of houses with this layout, so I know this was all the rage in the 80’s and I don’t judge one bit. There’s a formal dining room, formal living room, and the u-shaped kitchen. There are also the upper cabinets above the peninsula making the kitchen feel closed off, even from the dining nook. I was born in the 80’s, but I don’t have any solid memories from that time. If I had to guess, I would assume that people preferred their alone time when at home. Maybe it’s just me and the fact that I hate feeling left out, but closed off rooms really don’t work for me. Doing dishes by myself after a get-together is depressing. Being able to talk to friends and family while doing the dishes? I could do them all day. (Within reason, obviously)
Having kids makes the open concept even more helpful. It’s insane what my kids can get into when left alone for just a couple minutes. I can’t even tell you how much glass was broken while living in the apartment this past year. We really don’t have the need for a formal dining room or living room. We honestly just need more “functional living space”, so we decided to take out the peninsula and knock down the wall between the kitchen and formal dining to expand the kitchen. I’m still playing around with what to do with the other rooms, but I’ll keep you posted.
Grey and White Kitchen
Before I put together the “official” inspiration photos below, Joe and I researched tirelessly for about two months trying to figure out what we wanted to do. Insane right?? I never thought it would be this hard. I can’t lie, I’m type A and kind of a control freak. We’re putting so much into this kitchen, one of my fears is that we’re going to make a wrong decision and regret it FOREVER (cue dramatic cry). We finally decided on grey backsplash tile to offset the majority white kitchen. That lasted…
Modern Industrial
…all of about two weeks. I chickened out when we actually started deep diving into subway tile shopping. Our ceilings are only 8 ft tall, so we’re trying to keep the space as light and bright as possible to give it the illusion of being bigger than it actually is. I had been hesitant about grey from the beginning, but Joe felt pretty strong about it. I found the PERFECT light grey shade tile and finally was ready to jump onboard until I realized it only came in 4×8″ tiles. I might be nuts, but that felt too much like bathroom tile to me?? Back to the drawing board.
I had always really liked the idea of white subway tile, but I had conceded to the grey because I knew I’d have a hard time if the white tile didn’t match the white cabinets and countertops (again, color-matching snob). Joe loved the look of matte subway tile, and it really helped disguise the shade issue. I’m a huge fan. We’re also choosing a really light grey grout to hopefully tie into some of the grey graining from the countertops.
Another obsession of mine is the square, glass knobs. I’m taking a risk with those, but I need a girly element in this kitchen. I think they’re just the right amount of ‘bling’. I also like the pulls we chose to go with them to tie in the square element. The light fixtures are another fun add. They’re smaller than we originally wanted, but we love the industrial aspect it brings to the kitchen.
Here’s a quick pic of the real-life samples… I LOVE samples. No idea what I’m going to do with them after we start the reno, but for now, I love looking at them on my counter everyday.
Now we just hold our breath and wait until we actually get started!!! It can’t come soon enough. The longer we wait, the more I want to change things. Not good.