the kitchen reveal!

This has been a long time coming. I have been waiting for the perfect storm of events: clean kitchen, good light and a sleeping baby. Getting all these things to work at once is actually more difficult that I thought (particularly the last two). A little trip down memory lane:

 

It is hard to believe it is the same apartment. The pink walls, the rag finish on the half height wall, the drop down laminate island counter, oak cabinets - all gone. 

 

Just wanted to include a shot of the fire place. The red surround is the only surface in the entire apartment that we did not paint, stain or refinish. We did clean it (rather, my mom & dad cleaned it - THANK YOU!)...and now - the long awaited reveal...

Yes, Hudson will go through all those bananas in one week. Actually less than one week. He is our little monkey. Wait - the in ordinate quantity of bananas weren't the first thing that caught your eye?

Our contractor did an *amazing* job. Drop me a line if you want his contact info - he was the best. Dave and I carried all of the kitchen cabinets up the four flights of stairs and assembled them - I'm actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of the drawers - we actually store our dishes in one of them and it is great (more on that later).  The white glossy uppers help keep it light - You can definitely feel the difference from the before image with medium tone oak uppers.

We chose our red bar stools (a steal at less than $30 each on special at Overstock) to add a punch of color and to relate to the fireplace. You also get a better shot of the 3 pendants - they add more warmth to the space and the black finish relates to the cabinets and the living room light (more on that later).

 

The island is an eleven foot run of counter. It's fabulous. You can never have *too* much counter. We used 3/4" thick Caesarstone on the counters which has been great. Easy to clean with all the sticky fingers and messy spills. Our stone installers did a great job installing them, including the mitred corner.You can also see below how we aligned the subway tile back splash - a little stainless steel Schluter trim finishes it off. The clearance between the counters is 42" - just enough for two people to work comfortably. We can also have the freezer, refrigerator, dishwasher and trash drawer all open at once - so it works!

The view above shows the griddle on the stove (we use it every Sunday for pancakes), and the work area. Not a ton of room by the sink but the opposite side more than makes up for it.  Below you get a view of the rubber floor which I really enjoy.  I'm glad we went for a lighter floor here as it contrasts nicely with the cabinets. You can also see that we went with a black dishwasher - it blends well with the cabinets. The hood is Ikea  - on sale (it's now discontinued). We went with edge pulls from Doug Mockett in a black chrome - great thing is that they are child proof (at least Hudson can't open them up yet!)

 More information on everything we sourced is in this post. A few details I love are below:

The double sink is not for everyone, but I really like to have the option of washing dishes on one side and rinsing food on the other. This is also the deepest sink I've had since leaving my parent's house umpteen years ago...(must be a landlord requirement to provide only shallow sinks). I could probably still fit Hudson it it (and he is no longer small!) I also love the pull out spray faucet - a must especially with a double sink. We provided power below the sink for a future disposal that Dave will eventually install when we purchase it for an anniversary or birthday (we're so romantic!).

And we'll end with safety first (anyone else laughing at the oxymoron? just me?). I love that this stove has a child lock. Even though the stove (and knobs) are a "no touch" item for Hudson, you never know. Love having this back up. Hudson is in love with the stove. He loves to see his reflection in the glass - sometimes he dances in front of it - perhaps I should play some Vanilla Ice....MC Hammer for him...(yikes...my lack of secular schooling is showing..)

That's it for now - more spaces revealed later this week!