Kitchen Remodel Before and After Photos

Ta daaaaaa!!

Here we go. The "before" was 90's orange oak cabinets and forest green Corian countertops. The "after" is white cabs and black quartz countertops. Click on photos to see the full size images.

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Wood-look tile flooring: Daltile Forest Park, color Timberland, 3x36, grout Mapei Cocoa 

We LOVE the wood-look tile. This one is a smooth, modern choice. There are also several out there with a more rustic look, if that's what you like. To get a more wood-floor appearance, go with tiles longer than 24". The rule of thumb is to place tiles running from the front of the house towards the back, but you can do what you prefer, of course. There is another "rule" that you lay them inwards from the entrance to the room, to welcome people into the space. In our case, the two rules suggested two different directions. I chose front to back for two reasons: 1) We also tiled our foyer with this tile and it runs front to back. 2) The longer dimension of the kitchen space was front to back and I think it makes the space look larger, with the longer runs.

Lay long tiles in a staggered pattern, with no tiles meeting at the 1/2 mark, because long tiles tend to bow in the middle just a bit and that would create an uneven floor.

As a side note, we have a red washer and dryer in the utility room and they look FABULOUS with this color floor!

Quartz counters: Cambria Edinborough (black on perimeter), Viatera Minuet (white on island)

The Cambria reads black, but is actually a mix of black, brown and gray. It has a small number of those shiny bits, not a ton of them, but just enough in addition to the gray flecks to give some interest and prevent visual blending when placing black objects on the surface. 

Yep, that is a problem with solid black quartz. Who knew? 

The gorgeous white Viatera Minuet is only available in slabs, like granite. Be aware of this if it applies to any quartz countertop you are considering, because if you have a little bitty island (or bathroom counter, etc.) you should buy a scrap (if you're lucky enough) or you'll have to purchase an entire slab, even though you're only using a sliver of it. 

You have to ask whether or not the brand of quartz you're looking at comes in slabs or is custom produced to your dimensions. It is not obvious in the store. The slab quartz is priced per square foot PER SLAB. The price looks the same as the other quartz that is made to custom dimensions, but it definitely is not. Say it's $70 per square foot. Your island is 10 square feet. You think it's going to be $700 (it would with the regular quartz), but instead it's $3500, because you have to pay for a 10'x5' slab. Go with a regular, non-slab quartz for a small countertop. I think Caesarstone quartz is available in half slabs, which would have helped in our case as well.

I say the island has a gold bar countertop, because it cost a fortune. I love it, but I would never have purchased it, had I known how much it would cost. OR I would have arranged to have my upstairs bathroom counter replaced at the same time at literally no additional cost, using the rest of my slab. (Incidentally, your slab isn't yours. The unused portion stays with the vendor and is re-sold as a scrap.) The crazy cost was an omission by the contractor that wasn't presented to me until it would have caused a project delay and a lot of heartache to make a new selection. It took me weeks to get over. 

I'm over it. 

And not bitter at all. 

GOLD. BAR. COUNTERTOP. Y'ALL. 

Backsplash: SOHO Surface Tech Hex River Bed, grout Mapei Sahara Beige 

The individual tiles are all variations of texture and color, from glass to stone to granite to etched surface. The sheets are 11 1/4"x 10 7/8", a little smaller than the standard 12x12, so take this into account in your budget calculations. It was exactly what we were looking for to blend the white and black and gray.

Walls: Benjamin Moore Stone Harbor

Perimeter cabinets: existing oak cabs sanded, primed, painted with Benjamin Moore Frostine

Island: existing oak island sanded, primed, painted with Benjamin Moore Eternity

 The cabinetry is where things got crazy. We wanted to get new doors and stain the cabinets darker. We were told we could stain or paint, that there were no limitations. Once the project started, we were told that we couldn't stain new doors, because the color of the existing boxes would never match the new doors exactly. Then we were told we couldn't paint new paint-grade doors, because you can see the oak grain on the boxes through the paint and the doors would have no grain. We would have had to buy expensive oak doors and then paint them, which is ridiculous.

It was suggested that we stain the boxes gray and then paint the new doors a matching paint color. Just... no. Once we decided to keep the existing cabinets, we thought we could stain them, but they informed us that the additional sanding and prep of the old doors would cost $10,000. 

Good gawd.

So in the end, we kept the existing cabinets and had them painted. I have always hated painted cabinets, especially white. It was the last thing I wanted. I do like the brightness in the new kitchen, but I still would have preferred to have the darker stain. Also, painted cabinets chip when things hit them in a certain way, unlike the stained cabs we had for twenty years with no visible color issues, even in spots where there were minor dents or dings. I recommend staining cabinets whenever possible. Just my two cents there.

The wall paint was a pleasant surprise. It's a true gray, like cement. It's bright and blends well with just about any other color.

Cabinet/drawer pulls: Richelieu BP85820128195

I think adding modern hardware made all the difference in updating the cabinets.

Towel bar: Kohler Elliston 18"

This is a nice, non-obtrusive, contemporary towel bar only available at Lowes.

Island Lighting: Kichler Silver Coral Pendants

I am so glad I found these! Love them. The kitchen lighting is on three separate switches: ceiling can lights, island pendants and under cabinet lighting. The pendants are on a dimmer.

Over-Range Microwave Height Issue: RESOLVED

So. The whole kitchen remodel discussion began many years ago, when we were dealing with the issue I later described in detail here on the ol' blog. We had replaced our original microwave which was 12 inches tall, only to find that manufacturers no longer make microwaves under about 15.5" tall. There are codes requiring minimum overall height, minimum distance from stovetop to microwave, etc. (Check your local code.) If your manufacturer requires a greater distance, you need to go with that. There was and is no new microwave made to meet these requirements with the way that cabinet was made in 1995. 

We considered replacing the double oven with an oven/microwave combo, but I really like having two ovens. (See this post for more details on our decision process.)

To finally fix this problem, we had the team raise the bottom of the cabinet to fit a microwave that would be even with the bottom of the cabinetry (the original installation height, most common placement, and about as tall as I can use at 5'4.). We were able to keep the middle shelf of the cabinet where it was, and they just rerouted the venting a bit. We ordered two new oak cabinet doors to fit the smaller cabinet size. The new microwave is in code compliance, a safe distance from the stovetop, and gives us the space to be able to see into pots and cook without setting off the vent fan.

So glad the remodel is complete!