Let’s go back to the renovation. It’s actually exhausting looking back realizing all the different decisions that had to be made at various times during the project. The choices began even before the reno was underway. Mid-November 2017 we received the new kitchen plans from Brad Faurote of Cabinet Concepts. We loved his ideas and went with him as the designer and provider of cabinets and counter tops.
First off we had to pick out the cabinetry itself. It’s apparently not enough to say I’d like some creamy off-white cabinets and call it good. No ma’am. My husband and I went to the Cabinet Concepts showroom and decided on the basic style of our cabinets and countertops so that we could get a quote. At this point we decided on raised panel Holiday cabinets and Cambria quartz countertops. That was the first stop and from there we would have to later decide which quartz and which style of cabinets.
We were also picking out new flooring for not just the kitchen. The dining room had wall to wall carpet that had seen much better days. Our entry foyer had cracked ceramic tile. The family room next to the kitchen had the remains of wall to wall berber that was unraveling in multiple locations. Our back hall way and half bath also were in need of an upgrade as they had the same dingy white linoleum as the kitchen. So I tried my best to figure out how these areas would all tie together. At one point I had samples of about 15 carpet , 6-7 luxury vinyl plank (lvp), and other vinyl floor swatches spread all over our family room. I spent hours rearranging them under a sunny slider window, in a darkened corner of the room, and next to our brick fireplace to see which shades played nicely together. We finally settled on using luxury vinyl plank for the majority of the spaces and a neutral grey wall to wall for the remaining two thirds of the family room.
As for the cabinets, I was not fully aware of the multitude of shades of white and off white there would be to choose from. Brad brought us samples of about 5 different types in which I had expressed interest. To be honest, we kept it simple and did not consider getting a glazed finish on them. I couldn’t imagine adding that to the mix. Although my neighbor did glaze her cabinets and they look great! But that is another story.
I brought home slabs of quartz of all different shades and styles. In the showroom we really leaned toward a creamy speckled off white color. After going to see it newly installed in a kitchen I nixed the idea because the pattern looked like coffee stains to me. That definitely underscored the importance of seeing the choices in other settings besides a showroom. Different lighting makes a world of difference! By the New Year we had finalized our quartz and flooring choices.
In mid-January we went back to Cabinet Concepts and spent almost three hours deciding on the specific style of raised panel cabinets that we wanted. I was entirely ignorant that you could choose so many specific details. We opted for the cabinets to be ceiling height to give us maximum storage, so also had to pick out the size and style of crown molding for the top of the cabinets. The Rev-a-shelf pull outs that we were able to include were definitely some of my favorite additions to the kitchen.
In the middle of all this we were also choosing appliances that would coordinate with our fairly new slate gray GE side by side refrigerator. We ended up ordering from JC Penney’s of all places. They had the slate gray double oven and slate gray dishwasher. Although a gas cook top is a culinary dream, we opted to go with a 5 burner electric ceramic cook top. One reason was the effort required at that point to figure out an alternative vent hood due to a gas cook top’s need for a higher CFI vent than the one already selected through Cabinet Concepts. The other reason was that I had terrifying visions of our kids starting a fire in our kitchen! So the choice was electric. A new microwave was also ordered to be installed above the coffee counter. As luck would have it , the matching slate gray microwave seemed much smaller than our previous microwave that we had mounted over our oven range. So we chose a Frigidaire microwave that seemed to coordinate the best. This has been the disappointment of the kitchen because our entire family is annoyed by the sound it makes to signal the end of a cooking cycle.
Once those decisions were made, it was then count down to tear out.
Homes In Progress 