Kitchen Renovation – our re-modeling plan!

Learn my plans for a new kitchen remodel! After many years of living with a kitchen that I really didn’t like, I am excited to finally get a new kitchen!

 

We last installed a brand new kitchen in our home around 17 years ago, as part of a house addition that we did at the time to our small Cape Cod style house.

As you can imagine in that time styles have changed, and that includes colors and shapes too – not just cabinets!

At the time of that particular kitchen renovation, I knew I wanted wooden cabinets.  I actually wanted white wooden cabinets, but I ended up agreeing to a natural wood, and we went with a light maple.

Now when it came to countertops and backsplashes, granite countertops were very popular at that time. 

We picked out a dark granite that we really liked at that time, and it seemed like the dark granite wouldn’t be an issue as we had an open plan style family room and kitchen that gets a lot of light.

But when it came to the backsplash this is where it went wrong! I couldn’t decide on the backsplash tile that I liked that would match the dark granite of the countertop (and I can assure you that matching tile to a dark countertop is particularly difficult!)

It literally came down to the wire, with the guy who was doing the tiling arriving to take a look at the job in preparation for starting the next day, and I didn’t have a tile to tell him to use.  So – I pretty much allowed him to talk me into using the same tile as the kitchen countertops.  I was assured it would look great.

I came home from work on the day they did the tiling of the backsplash, and on seeing the final renovation, I promptly burst into tears. It just wasn’t the look I had wanted, and I found the whole thing just too dark.

But – kitchens are expensive! And I wasn’t going to pay to have that backsplash tile ripped out.  So I dealt with it – for over 17 years!

So you can imagine that I am very excited about getting a new kitchen!!

Our New Kitchen Plans

The darkness of our existing kitchen countertops and backsplash tiling is pretty dated today. Even though the cabinets are a lighter wood, the dark of everything else really just sucks up all the light.

After the darkness of that kitchen I don’t think it is any surprise that I want to go completely light with a new renovation!

So I know I want to go much lighter, but I need to decide how light – whether it is white, or a light color such as grey.  

 

Wooden Cabinets – Natural or Painted?

With this new kitchen renovation I have to decide if we will keep the original wooden cabinets as they are – a light maple wood, or paint them.

I knew I wouldn’t have an issue finding a paint color that I liked – I could easily go with white, or a grey color, and that would be fairly easy to decide on.

But painting wooden cabinets is expensive, and time consuming. If you do it yourself it takes a lot of time, and mess.  If you pay to have cabinets painted it is pretty expensive.  

So it is a big decision – paint or leave as is.  As I am going for a clean looking Scandi style kitchen, it makes sense to leave the cabinets as they are.

The maple wood of the cabinets is fairly light, which is part of the Scandi modern look that i want, therefore I have made the decision to leave the cabinets in their natural wood, and not touch the cabinets at all.

The only hesitation I had with my decision was in thinking about a kitchen look I really love – with white cabinets and wood countertops – that is kind of a modern farmhouse look. I really do love that look, but without painting those cabinets white it really won’t be something that will work.

Cabinets are also one of the most expensive parts of a kitchen. So in any renovation if you can keep the original cabinets, or change them in some way, you will save a lot of money.

Kitchen Countertops

The kitchen countertops are a major decision factor for me. After living all those years with the black granite, I really want to make sure that I choose the right color that I can live with for a long time.

I know that I want to go light with countertops.  The prettiest Scandi style is white with a light wood, so I have decided on a white countertop.

However – there are so many whites!  There are just plain whites, and whites with a little marble veining. There are snow white whites, creamy whites, and grey whites!

You really don’t realize how many different whites there are until you start looking at them and comparing them to each other.  

I won’t be able to finally decide on the countertop until I have chosen the backsplash tile, as it has to match.

 

Tile Backsplash

I know that the tile backsplash has to be light. It has to match both the natural wood of the cabinets, as well as the white countertop that I possibly want to use.

I have decided on a white tile.  I really couldn’t decide if I was crazy or amazing for going with all white! But I think that I have found a lovely white tile that could be placed in several different ways and designs.

I really like the look of a white subway type tile that is stacked horizontally. It has a modern clean look that is really what I am going for in this new kitchen renovation.

The photos below show the current dark granite, and the backsplash dark granite tile, and then the new white subway style tile that I love.

Kitchen Sink and Faucet

Our old kitchen sink really isn’t an issue. It is a double sink with a smaller left hand side.  I have actually considered going with just one single sink with this renovation, but then I do use the smaller double side sometimes.

So I have decided to go with a double sink, and pretty one much that matches my old sink. It has worked well for me. However the question is whether to go with a white or stainless steel sink. 

I love the look of a white sink – especially with the white countertop and tile backsplash – BUT a white sink will surely get quite dirty! I’m British and I drink a lot of tea – so I was worried about tea stains especially on that sink!

Therefore I have decided on a stainless steel sink. It is easy to clean, won’t show the stains, and I think it should fit pretty well into the coloring of the countertop and backsplash.

For the kitchen faucet I want a sleek modern looking faucet. I also want a spray attachment as that was something I regretted not getting during our last kitchen renovation.  

Future Kitchen Remodeling Plans

So I now have my plans and ideas. The next step is finding the actual countertop and tile etc that I want, and to choose a company for the installation.

I will be back soon with my final kitchen reveal!

See my plans for a new kitchen remodel! After many years of living with a kitchen that I really didn’t like, I am excited to finally get a new kitchen!