The beginning of a new year often inspires us to make changes to things that weren’t working for us, whether that be in life or around our home. The mark of this new year has inspired me to make some style changes to one of the main areas of my house that just wasn’t giving me that sense of calm we all need in our homes. This area is the heart of our home and a place where I spend a lot of my time (especially with two small kids…). I’m sure you guessed it by now – it’s the KITCHEN.
Over course of the next few weeks, I will be doing some “Before and After” blogs (because who doesn’t love a good “Before and After”??) talking about what we are doing, the process, and how I selected the finishes. I’m super excited about this project, so let’s get started!
Here’s some shots of my kitchen prior to any work being done…
First things first, the decision needed to be made as to whether to paint the existing cabinets or replace entirely. In my case, my cabinets are not very old (only about 5 years old) and in good shape. I also know an amazing custom painter (Nathan Wainscott – Inspire by Color) who can work wonders on cabinets, furniture, walls, etc. After meeting with him, I knew this was the route I wanted to take to #1. save some money (new custom cabinetry can be very pricey) and #2. give me some creative wiggle room as to the finished product (as I knew he could tweak the paint color to match whatever I needed, distress the wood to really give it a rustic look, etc). With this in my back pocket, I knew I needed to find an inspiration piece to be the base of my design (Tip…I love to find one item to be my “inspiration” piece to base the design around. It could be something very simple like a fabric or specific color, or something bigger like a rug or a certain marble or granite. Finding that one thing you love will give you a starting point, direction to go next, and keep you on track as you pull together more finishes). I decided to hit the slab yards to work on finding stone for my counters. After perusing a few different places, I spotted a marble I just could not get out of my head (pictured below). This had become my inspiration piece. And my challenge, as I needed to figure out a way to mix this with another stone to fit this in my budget.
I love a good challenge though…. So, I hit the slab yards again and in my search, I found a steel gray granite in a leathered finish (pictured below) that worked beautifully with the marble. I knew this specific granite color was a lower level granite (meaning, it is more commonly found and therefore significantly less expensive than other granites out there) and if I used this on the exterior counter tops, I might still be able to use the marble I loved so much as a focal point piece on my island. When the quote came in I almost did cartwheels. It was right on target with where I wanted to be budget wise. First problem, solved. 
While the kitchen is still a work in progress, and these are not true “after” pictures yet (cabinets are still a work in progress…doors are off being refinished, so don’t mind the mess that would normally be behind closed doors…ha!), here’s a sneak peek of the new counters installed… Stay tuned to the progress and our journey to an updated kitchen!
Hazel by design 