The Duplex Kitchen Update

If you don’t remember, this is what the kitchen looked like when we first moved into the duplex around two years ago. Faux tin tile backsplash, beige laminate counters, beige cabinets, beige floor, beige walls. Beige-errific!

We lived with it like that for a long time, until the tin backsplash started falling off one panel at a time, and the laminate counters wouldn’t fully clean anymore because of old age. It stayed that way until I started collecting inspiration for a kitchen makeover when my parents had leftover granite that they said we could take and use in our kitchen!

Well folks, a few weeks ago our new sleek and sexy black granite counters were installed, complete with a 9″ undermount sink (a far cry from our old 7″ drop in!) and Delta Trinsic gooseneck faucet in Champagne Bronze. The backsplash isn’t done yet, and we’re waiting to paint the cabinets white until Freyja grows out of the ‘I-must-jump-on-everything’ phase of being a puppy, but so far I’m in LOVE! I also promised myself I’d start sharing process photos even though my instinct is to wait until everything’s done and perfectly styled. But that’s not life, so here it is!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES! Cleaning these counters is a dream, and the new faucet makes washing dishes (dare I say it) a pleasant experience. No more unfortunate crotch splashes because of a shallow sink and small faucet! The first thing I did when the sink was installed was grab our biggest pot and shove it in and rejoice that it finally fit. Funny how you get excited about the most mundane things in adulthood! What’s even more hilarious is that there were totally dishes in the sink when I took these photos, and you can’t even see them. That sink is DEEP.

If you can’t tell, I’ve got a thing for mixed metals. We’ve got stainless, bronze, and copper accents going on, and I love it so much. I really love the finish on our faucet, it’s a pretty and soft bronze that’s going to pop so nicely off of the white subway tile backsplash.

Nathan also took out the over the stove microwave and replaced it with a stronger hood fan, which does a better job at filtering the air while he’s cooking, and gives a lot more clearance over the stove! It made such a difference visually as well, and really lightened up this corner. Instead of a big and bulky microwave over the stove, we got a smaller microwave to sit on the counter because we don’t use it very much.

I can’t wait until we install our pretty white subway tile backsplash, which is scheduled for next weekend!! For a refresher, here is our current to do list:

TO DO:

• paint and refresh walls
• replace flooring
• paint kitchen cupboards
• replace all hardware on kitchen cupboards
• re-finish counters
• replace kitchen ceiling light fixtures
• replace back splash
• find a fabulous pendant light for over the dining table
• take down all curtains, let in the LIGHT!
• create an interesting “feature wall” in the dining room

Last but not least, here’s a sneak peek of the dining room, and the ceiling light that I chose from my original dining room inspiration! I chose the pendant lamp from Jonathan Adler! Yes, our dining table is not even remotely centered under it which drives me nuts on the daily, but that’s what you get when you live with a horse sized dog that sleeps in the largest kennel known to man. Just keeping it real! Stay tuned for the backsplash, when it all finally starts coming together.