Completed Kitchen Reno

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived!  My kitchen reno is finished, YAY!  It is perfect and I need to give a big shout out to my handyman Filippo for doing such an amazing, meticulous job.  Honestly, I couldn't have asked for more.  If any of you are looking for someone to do some work for you in the West of Toronto region of Ontario give me a shout and I will pass along his number.

There are soooo many parts of this kitchen that I absolutely love, but lets start with my number 1 favourite....my countertop.  You may recall my last post where I talked about changing my mind about my countertop and that I was keeping it a secret.  Well, the secret will now be revealed.

Aren't they gorgeous?!  They are called Silver Travertine and although they look like stone they are actually a new product from Formica called 180fx.  I love, love, love them!  This product is so durable and a fraction of the cost of the real thing...an excellent compromise on my part.

Another area of this kitchen that I am totally in love with speaks to both my heart and my caffeine addiction.  It is my new pantry/coffee centre.

Mmmm....I can smell the coffee brewing now!

There are lots of other great things in this kitchen, like the hardware which is incredible and the spice drawer which keeps things so neat and organized.  I love my new pot drawers and corner cabinets because they add so much storage, which I had been desperately in need of.  

Now, here are a few before and afters for you to enjoy!

Here you can see how we've managed to great rid of a lot of the countertop clutter because now we actually have places to store things.  You may also notice there is more landing space between the stove and the sink and that's because we decided to downsize the sink from a double bowl to a bowl and a half.  I feel like this was a great choice not only because it gives us more space but also because I scored an amazing deal on it! Gotta love that!

This is the view coming into the kitchen from the living room.  I love how sleek and clean it looks with the over the range microwave.  It is so nice to have it out of the way and now I can actually reach it!  In this before and after, you can see how the removal of the wall beside the stove opened up that space and allowed us to have those great pot drawers and spice drawer just to the left of the stove.

And last, but certainly not least, the view in the dining space.  Just look at the difference here, isn't it amazing!  The space has been totally opened up and it feels so much bigger and brighter.

Well, that's it.  The completed kitchen reno.  Now comes the fun part, the decorating and accessorizing.  I thinking peacock blues and apple greens...new chair covers...new dining light fixture...maybe some window treatments...........

Cheers,

Lisa

Nifty Little Craft

So now that my new kitchen is almost complete, I have to decorate and accessorize (that's really my favourite part).  Hold onto your hats there partners, I'm not showing you pictures of the finished kitchen just yet, that will be on the weekend...hopefully!  This post is all about my "nifty little craft".

Most of my kitchen cabinets are surrounded by a bulkhead, like this...

...but I have one area, which I call the pantry wall, where there is no bulkhead.  This little section of cabinetry will be a great space to bring in a little colour and interest.  

So, on the weekend while my munchkins were doing their crafts, I decided to do a little one of my own.  I tried a couple of different things which just didn't work out, then I came up with this.

Here, I have a $1 wooden frame that I picked up a while back, on sale at Michael's. Then, there is a piece of scrapbook paper, also from a sale at Michael's which I bought just because it intrigued me.  Lastly, I have paint from Benjamin Moore that I got because I had a coupon to get a free sample.  So, all in all, this craft cost me a whopping....wait for it....$1.50!

I didn't take any pictures during the process, but really, it is pretty simple.  You just paint the frame in your chosen colour and let it dry for a few minutes.  After that, cut the scrapbook paper to fit the opening of the frame, I used the cardstock that came in the frame as a template.  I also left the cardstock in the frame behind the scrapbook paper to give it more support.  Lastly, just place it in your space and sit back and enjoy!

I know this isn't the most beautifully framed shot, but I didn't want to give away to much of the final look of the kitchen, you'll just have to come back on the weekend to check it out!

Cheers,

Lisa