Kitchen & Family Room Redesign - Cabinetry Nearly Complete

With the painting of the cabinetry boxes complete it was time to take down the protective coverings. I couldn't resist...getting to the house before the painters were scheduled to arrive I just had to tear away a bit of the paper covering the backsplash, to get a hint of how the elements of the 'new' kitchen would work together. Very exciting, like opening a big present! I was thrilled with what I saw, particularly how beautiful the subway tile looked with the painted cabinetry.




The result is elegant and fresh, creating a brighter environment than the space looked previously when there were dark wood tones throughout. The subway tile is a shade lighter than the cabinetry, and this works because the grout color used matches the cabinetry color. This ties the two elements together. When creating spaces using a lot of whites, it works to mix various shades to create more visual interest, creating dimension where things could start to look flat. I also chose to keep the island the original wood finish, as the stain color here was a good match with the floor. This choice creates a more custom look than if the island had also been painted white.


Now to the family room. The painted built-ins now meld perfectly with the adjacent feature window and allows the family room to relate wonderfully to the kitchen, creating one large cohesive space. No longer do the built-ins fight the other elements in both rooms. Eliminating their very dark wood tone, which was significantly darker than the other wood tones in the rooms, brings brightness and a balance to the space.

And yes, something is missing. The mantel. As I mentioned in an earlier blog the newly built mantel was scheduled to arrive last Monday just before the painters began work. This deadline was missed...sometimes artistry cannot be rushed (?) and I adjusted the plan to work with this delay. The mantel is now being primed and painted off-site. It is scheduled to be installed tomorrow, followed by a final layer of paint on-site. So, work does not always proceed as planned! Being flexible and open to alternative schedules will create a lot less stress on a project... if you can approach it with at least a bit of zen like attitude.

Next time I'll post pictures of the completed cabinetry, mantel progress and talk about cabinetry hardware. The painting of the cabinetry doors is actually ahead of schedule, and are slated to be hung this week instead of two weeks from now. I am excited to see the final result, and to again have a fully functioning kitchen!