Wow! Where to start with our kitchen/family room project. We moved into our house almost 7 years ago and we’ve been working on turning our house into a warm, inviting home that reflects our family ever since. (well, at least I have with one, at times, reluctant husband)
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We’ve tackled this project piece by piece and almost all of it has been a diy project. Shortly after we moved in we replaced our laminate countertops with granite because not only did I look like the look better, I loved the functionality. Being able to take hot dishes out of the stove and just pop them on the counter without worrying about finding a hot plate (which I never seem to have around) is very convenient. Then my husband and I put in the tile backsplash that you currently see by ourselves. It was one of our first projects!
A year later we decided that we really wanted our kitchen/family room area to be one large open space. We frequently have family and friends over and wanted the most space we could get out of this area since it seems like no matter what we try people always want to congregate in the kitchen. There had been a 1/2 wall separating the kitchen area from the family room that we tore down which then led us to re-do all of our flooring. So, while I was very pregnant with our 2nd son my husband bravely tackled removing our old carpet and linoleum tile and installing hardwood floor that would match the front of our house. He replaced about 750 sq ft of floor all by himself! This was the biggest home improvement project that he’s ever undertaken and I have to admit he did a great job. The floors look beautiful and we love that our entire first floor is connected in this way.
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So, we had our 2nd son in May and it was my first time not working so I think I obviously must have been looking for something to do because that summer I repainted all of our cabinets (that’s 42 doors!). I sanded, primed and painted every one with some help from my wonderful husband who by now will usually just give in to my crazy plans. So every afternoon while my son was napping I was painting cabinets. I have to admit that I would probably not take on such a big project again. It was a ton of work but I love the way they came out!
Finally, this past year we replaced our small island with a much larger 8 foot one that can accommodate up to 4-5 people comfortably. Although, we have a kitchen table that we eat at in our sunroom I found that we really spent almost all our time around that island. My older son would come home and unload all his homework onto it and I would be trying to prep dinner around everyone else’s stuff. Now the kids can be around the “bottom” end, snacking, doing homework, painting, whatever and I can be at the “top” making dinner. We chose a wood counter because we wanted some contrast and warmth against our white cabinets, same with the base. We felt like adding a large white base would just be too stark and we wanted something to draw your eye in.
I love the colors turquoise and yellow so there are splashes of both those colors all throughout our house and especially in the kitchen. The pops of yellow bring a cheeriness that I like to see in a kitchen and the blue reminds me of the outdoors and the sky. One of the books that have recently influenced my design aesthetic is The Things That Matter by Nate Berkus. I love the idea that your home should be filled with things that you love and that tell a story about you, so whenever I pick something up I try to use that filter to decide if it would fit into our home.
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If you are interested in sharing your home renovation project please click here. Your contribution to the series can be any room in your house, garden or patio.
Philaburban Mom 