This post is sponsored by Home Hardware. We are thrilled to be working with them throughout our entire renovation process.
Crossing the finish line is always sweet, but it’s especially sweet when it means you have a gorgeous new kitchen in which to celebrate success!
To say we are overjoyed with how our kitchen remodel and renovation turned out is a huge understatement. Despite the circumstances beyond all our control – namely a pregnancy and the pandemic – our kitchen renovation was a thrill ride from start to finish.
So, here’s the full-blown, angle by angle reveal for you, along with all the fun details and product choices and a bit of advice peppered in if you are planning to tackle a remodel like this in the future.
If you want to start at the beginning of this journey, here are all the kitchen posts in order:
- The Overall Design Plan
- Tips for Picking Counters and Tiles
- How to Plan and Organize for the Renovation
- Managing the Demolition (and why we moved out)
- How to add Custom Design Elements in a Small Kitchen
- Creative Storage Solutions in our Small Kitchen
- Selecting Finishing Touches and Paint Colours
Ready for the full kitchen renovation reveal?
Watch our full reveal video and then keep on scrolling!
To jog your memory, this was the view to our old kitchen from the old dining room.
And this is what that view looks like now!
If you’re super curious and want to go all the way to the beginning, here’s how we prepared and organized for the kitchen renovation and then how we handled the demolition (and why we moved out).
I’m still so glad we moved out for the messiest part of the renovation. My four-year old still asks about when we are going ‘back to live in the apartment’ haha. Maybe that means we need to find another reno project to do!
As you can probably tell, the biggest impact we made in our space was pulling down the non-load bearing wall between the old kitchen and dining room. Each of those rooms was about 10×12 or so and combining them gave us a lot more wall space to work with.
We shifted the dining room into the adjoining sunroom and now the flow between the spaces is just so lovely. We float from the stovetop right to the family table with ease.
And the light. Oh my word. One cannot overstate the beauty and value of bringing down walls to increase natural light.
On certain afternoons, the light in our kitchen is so striking that I just stop and soak it all in. In fact, the space is so inviting that I moved a plush ottoman and some toss pillows into the corner because I love to sit there and sip my afternoon coffee or tea and chat with Dan and the girls about our weekend plans.
Structurally, the wall was really simple to remove. It came down with a sledgehammer and then we had to do some minor electrical to move outlets, but for the most part, it was simple.
The one thing to consider if you’re removing a wall and plan to keep your flooring is how you’ll patch them.
The Home Installs team from Home Hardware was able to expertly pull flooring bits from under our fridge and stove area to patch the visible floor and you honestly cannot even tell the difference. It is totally seamless.
I’m so happy we kept the wood floors for two reasons. Firstly, I love how warm they are and that they enhance the casual, beach vibe of the house.
Secondly, because the wood floors run throughout the entire main floor continuously, if we had ripped them up, it would have either cut off that flow or meant we had to refinish all the flooring everywhere.
Moving on to my next favourite thing about our kitchen – the classic meets modern design. I didn’t want something so trendy that I’d grow sick of it and I certainly didn’t want something so stylized that it wouldn’t appeal to buyers if we ever decide to sell (not in the cards at the moment, but it’s always something to consider).
We landed on a classic Shaker-style cabinet in a soft, creamy white and we matched the wall paint white to it. (Love Letters WB002-0 by Beauti-Tone is the shade we used in a Satin Finish. You can read all about how we chose our paint colours).
The pop of style comes from the oil rubbed bronze cabinet pulls and the weathered chunky wood shelves, alongside the marble backsplash in a hexagon pattern.
I’m obsessed with the backsplash. It’s one of those elements that grounds the space and adds a little bit of shine from afar and then up close, it’s just so stunning to look at. The veining in the marble and the shape of the tiles is fun and a bit glam (kinda like me!) I explained a bit more about my decisions around the backsplash in this previous post and why we went with hex instead of a subway tile.
The open shelving was a must-have when we designed the kitchen. We use them to store our everyday items, like coffee mugs, dinner plates and most of my mixing bowls for when I bake on the weekends.
I find the trick with open shelving is to let them organically become what you need them to be and not to work too hard at styling them. Once you know what you will be using daily, then just fill in the gaps with things that are pretty – like plants, candles and decorative bowls (of which I have many!)
Now let’s talk about this sink – because YES! One of my biggest pet peeves with the old kitchen was the sink not being centered under the window. It was off by a couple of inches and it drove me absolutely bonkers.
Our new sink is legit so pretty. It’s got square edges and a really nice profile – like if my sink was a movie star, it would be like Dr. McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy. Super useful, versatile, and *ahem* nice to look at.
We paired it with a gooseneck faucet with a pulldown spray nozzle and, well, life will just never be the same. I can’t believe I lived until I was almost 40 before having a spray nozzle faucet and, I’ve got nothing to say other than that all faucets need to be this way. If you don’t have one of these in your life, go get one now. #YoureWelcomeCanada
Which brings me to the island – oh the island. The only thing that could make this island any more awesome is if it could magically transport me to Hawaii at my will, but I digress.
Our space was narrow (even with the wall down) and that meant no design really allowed for us to have a fixed or permanent island in the middle of the floor. It also ruled out a peninsula style run of cabinets for the same reason.
Our compromise, or rather a clever solution, was to design an island on wheels! It sits in the corner most days, but when we have a big family meal or a small gathering, we can wheel it into the center of the room for more prep and serving space.
We opted to top it with a chunky slab of hickory butcher block and I adore it. It’s definitely a bit more maintenance than the flat edge laminate in the rest of the kitchen, but it makes the island stand out as its own feature and it adds a lovely warmth to the room.
The island sits on the back wall of the kitchen and it can be seen from the living room and the dining room. There isn’t a lot of floor space to work with there, so I opted to pull in some colour on the wall (Fresh-ie C36-5-1572-0 by Beauti-Tone) and some fun family photos for a bit of a pop of colour.
Speaking of colour, the pantry wall also has a gorgeous pop! We used Beauti-Tone’s Tropical Tale C36-2-1569-3, but instead of regular paint, it’s chalkboard paint! It’s probably one of the most fun corners now. Kid-friendly and it’s where we do our shopping list and meal planning each week.
Truth be told, some days I can’t believe we tackled this kitchen renovation when we did. But I know it’s the right thing because every day we are in the space, it just feels better and better. I know there are so many details that can make a kitchen appealing, from the finishes to the products and paint colours and so on, but I think the most important thing to consider is really how it all makes you feel.
Since we renovated, I’ve baked more cookies just for fun than ever before. My husband has tried more fancy date night recipes and we have had more impromptu kitchen dance parties than I can count.
Our kitchen went from a total ugly duckling to a beautiful swan with this renovation. But it also became the heartbeat of our house. And when it’s all added together, it leaves me feeling nothing but gratitude and appreciation.
Heartfelt thanks to the entire team at Home Hardware for being partners with us on this journey. We literally could not have done it without you and the expertise and professionalism you brought along the way.
