Home Interior,Lifestyle (Home, Travel, Family)

House Project 2020 – Kitchen Renovation (Before Photos and Inspiration)

pinteresting plans Kitchen renovation
pinteresting plans Kitchen renovation
This was our last kitchen post renovation.

One of my goals for this year is to tackle a kitchen renovation. Having lived through a major renovation in the past, I knew my husband was very patient and loving to stick around – because my gosh – it was draining last time. There are so many decisions, so much money, and such much dust. Not to mention you get sick of eating out after a while.

That said, we knew we wanted to renovate the kitchen in every single house we put an offer on when we were house hunting. That said, we wanted to do it early on in living in a home so we would have plenty of time to enjoy it (unlike the last renovation we completed shortly before moving).

kitchen renovation before photos - pinteresting plans blog

In our current kitchen all of the appliances are original to the house, almost 20 years old, so their days are numbered. When we had the home inspection prior to closing the inspector told us they don’t even make repair parts anymore for the range we have. The fridge has been having issues recently and the garage disposal too….the joys of home ownership!

pinteresting plans kitchen renovatoin - before photos - fridge

We have quite a small refrigerator and two very large ovens (one we don’t use) so we felt like we could optimize the space better with some small changes.

Another big thing on our wishlist was additional seating at the island. Our current island has a display shelf at the end that eats up valuable kitchen real estate. At first I considered painting the cabinets and replacing the countertops, but ultimately I felt like it would be worth the bigger investment to have the kitchen just the way we want it.

What’s IS Changing

Here are some things I had on my list:

  • a 48″ range (it’s like a 1.5 oven instead of 2 full ovens)
  • cabinets to the ceiling
  • tile backsplash
  • quartz or porcelain countertops
  • additional island seating
  • new pantry doors
  • larger fridge/freezer
  • the floors are being refinished (adios orange floors)

What’s NOT Changing

Overall the layout of the kitchen will stay the same. I wanted a larger island but I couldn’t come up with a configuration I liked better that included more island seating.

I also originally wanted to take down some walls to let the natural light from the front of the house into the kitchen but we scaled back to minimize the cost and construction time.

I REALLY want wood ceiling beams in the kitchen but I am holding off for now. Both due to cost and because the gal helping me with the cabinets feels it will distract from the coffered ceiling in our living room.

Kitchen Inspiration

Overall I wanted a modern white, gray, and wood kitchen. I really love a light natural wood island, but because I wanted so many wood accents (between counter stools, trim, and a few open shelves) I decided to do a gray island instead of natural wood. I was also a little unnerved about how the wood of the island would look against the hardwood floors.

I take almost all of my inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest. Tap over to any of the Instagram accounts featured below!

If you have any tips for lessening the stress of a renovation I’d love to hear from you! Drop a comment below and stay tuned on Instagram stories where I’ll be sharing more frequent renovation updates.

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  • Melissa
    January 3, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    Ahhh it’s going to be so beautiful! I redid my kitchen about 2 years ago and I have to move this spring so I know another renovation is in the near future … it’s a total excitement/dread situation. I do remember the one thing that was good when I couldn’t stand eating out anymore was to get a rotisserie chicken and salad in a bag and make a salad at home. Tasted like homemade/healthy food and didn’t create clean up or storage issues. Good luck! Can’t wait to see how it goes 🙂

    • Rachel
      January 5, 2020 at 1:58 am

      that’s an awesome tip Melissa!!!! I hope the move goes smoothly!!!
      thank you!!
      Rachel

  • Neutral Home Finds - Winter 2020 - Pinteresting Plans
    January 3, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    […] mentioned in my kitchen renovation inspiration post that we will be having our floors redone soon. That is scheduled for the first two weeks of March […]

  • Kari
    January 4, 2020 at 3:26 pm

    I love your ideas and can’t wait to see the end result! I absolutely love your style and like to see anything you decorate!

    • Rachel
      January 5, 2020 at 1:57 am

      thank you so much Kari!! you made my day.
      xoxox
      Rach