Kitchen Renovation: Reveal

After years of planning and many months of hard work, I am thrilled to reveal our kitchen renovation! In this post, you can find all of the details on the hard finishes and shop the available items in each photo. OR shop ALL at the very end.

 

In case you missed it, I shared the full plans ahead of the project, alongside more before photos in this post here.

 

The Before

I shared more of my opinions and goals for the project in our plans post, but to quickly recap – we loved a lot of the layout of the existing kitchen. However, it was not our style and a lot of it was falling apart after nearly 30 years. We wanted to give it new life, while making it feel like it was always here in many ways.

 

 

The Progress

For those that love progress, it is best to head to my Instagram Highlights of this space for all of the behind the scenes updates and videos. I have it all documented but want to get to the sources for you!

 

The After

I’ve always been a mixer of styles, and a lover of many, so it was very hard for me to lock into one final overall look. The goal was to lean into our old colonial by the river, with an elevated traditional cottage approach. Lived-in, yet refined. We love to be at home, in our neighborhood, hosting and enjoying the little things – leaning into the beloved Nancy Meyers lifestyle. With that, the layout and storage was equally important to us! It was a huge labor of love to identify every material preference, color, balance of texture and style of pieces to make for a home that felt like just that, while being highly designed. Diving into every detail and decision below!

 

 

 

The Cabinets

I shared more in the plans post about the actual layout, but we purchased our cabinets through The Cabinet Joint. The quality is great as Conestoga is a common manufacturer for custom cabinets. Their kicker is that you have to put them together, but luckily, we were not DIYing this project and the crew knocked it out in under two days. I will say, the process is very involved from start to finish and a lot of moving parts, but can be worth the cost savings! If you have a professional team to lean on that deals with dimensions on the daily, it is easier. The company also has an internal design team and sales lead to guide you through the process and their products. By going this route, you can save thousands of dollars. The cabinets came on-time as discussed, in just 4-6 weeks in total.

 

All of the cabinets are inset, and a majority have a beaded detail along the frame, surrounding the drawer or panel fronts. The top rows intentionally have a flat drawer front as I preferred that mix style look in a kitchen. 

 

The Colors

 

 

Perimeter Cabinets:

After reviewing many of their samples, I decided to go with their factory finish, in-house branded colors to keep longevity in mind. Of course, we could have gotten a factory finish custom color from another paint brand, but it did not seem to be worth the up charge when I wanted a pretty neutral off-white color. I chose Antique White for the perimeter cabinets (which is within their line of branded colors) and it really is the most perfect neutral that pulls differently in all lighting conditions. If you are looking for an off white cabinet color, this is it. If you would like to color match it, the closest is White Duck by Sherwin Williams. If you are a Benjamin Moore lover, Wind’s Breath is similar, but a little darker.

Island:

As for the island, we went with their line of a Walnut wood for contrast and it is the Colonial Finish, Sable Glaze at 10% sheen. It is a great deep brown with enough grain without being too busy. It doesn’t seem to pull too pink or or purple either! We love the richness it brings and keeps it from being an all white kitchen (which I also love…).

 

 

 

The Hardware

 

 

Brass always has my heart, and for years, I’ve eyed the Rejuvenation hardware after many amazing reviews within the creator community and amongst my own clients. While other vendors provide a great cost savings, I wanted something we’d have for the life of this kitchen, so it was worth investing here. At the suggestion of the team, I ordered a bunch of styles and sizes that I liked to test out onsite.  

 

I chose the Unlacquered Brass Massey Round Knobs,  Howell Drawer and Appliance Pulls, and the Hans Drawer pull for the nook cabinets (pictured and linked below):

 

Sink Faucet & Pot Filler

 

 

On a similar wavelength, I always knew I wanted an Unlacquered Brass faucet with a goose neck, bridge style. It brings in that cottage, collected feel and the patina makes it easy to be lived-in / not messy looking! DeVOL is a brand I admire deeply, and they actually ended up being the best quality, attainable pricepoint for what I was looking for. I went with the matching Pot Filler above our range as I make tea a couple times a day, and it really has made cooking easier. We both just love the personal touch of the ‘Made in England’ stamp on everything given that we just took our first trip there and fell in love – it was like bringing a piece back to us, and look at them fondly every day. The little things! You can shop them here. 

I linked their sister brand’s similar options below, alongside my filter water tap faucet and waste disposal button: 

 

 

Our Apron Workstation Sink

 

 

Again, another dreamy accent – a large apron sink under the window! We also new we wanted a workstation sink, one that has a ledge to place cutting boards, drying racks and more. We have been loving it with a toddler and the idea of more children. It has the most beautiful subtle texture to it to again, feel like it was always here.

 

Stone Countertops

I wanted a really subtle, yet textured marble for the space. As long as you upkeep the sealing around once a year, and wipe up any liquids in a timely fashion, you are ok! We have the more shiny stone as I prefer it and so far, still hard to see any little scratches we have made. Natural stone is natural stone 🙂 This stone in particular is a Calacatta Bernini with minor details and neutral taupes within the white. I added a little finishing ledge near the sink, as well as the scallop side piece on the side fridge panel.

 

Appliances

A local appliance company, Town Appliance reached out to partner up to share the experience of ordering appliances. They opened a showroom in Maryland, making it so easy to go check out a number of brands and appliances in real life. I spoke with many of their team members throughout the process and they are a delight. They also can order pretty much anything you find!

 

Refrigerator & Dishwasher

They were so helpful in finding the best pricing and availability, based on my team’s trusted brand recommendations for the dishwasher and refrigerator. Those are both Fisher & Paykel, panel ready! They have great reviews and we love them both thus far. If you are not local to NJ, MD or NY where Town Appliance has showrooms, you can shop below:

 

 

 

Vintage Style Range:

You can now get a sense of the overall collected, lived in style aesthetic and a vintage style range brings it all home. I deep dived into a number of brands and like everything else, these can get very pricy. I looked at a lot of Instagram reviews for Ilve, and everything looked promising about the performance, on top of how stunning they are. I seriously wanted every color, but am so glad that I went with their Antique White – nearly a perfect match! 

It is the ILVE UM09FDNS3AWG Majestic II 36 inch Dual Fuel Range with 6 Burners, Griddle, Warming Drawer (Antique White, Brass, Natural Gas, Triple Glass Door) and I love every detail!

 

 

They also helped us source the right size hood vent for the height of our custom hood and size of range. I linked similar options below:

 

The microwave is a solid, quality piece but we decided to keep it hidden behind a cabinet door with a cool lift mechanism idea that I found on Pinterest. We don’t use it too much and really wanted a clean look, so sizing out a cabinet and door face to fit hardware that achieves that smooth lift was perfect. You can shop it here.

All of our other appliances are in an appliance garage, something I knew I wanted to the right of the range to easily access from the island. We are taking our time to order and fill it up, so I will share the inside over the coming months!

 

Flooring

We love the look of wood flooring in a kitchen, and it is less cold on our feet than tile. People probably think we are crazy with a dog and kids, but honestly, it is all relative to us. So far, through a busy Winter, they have been great. They are the exact same White Oak floor details as the rest of our house: https://www.megleonard.co/white-oak-floors-natural-finish-stain/ 

 

 

 

Island Legs

I really wanted the island to feel a little like furniture, but not go the furniture route to address longevity and many functional needs. Custom legs were a great option and these are the exact ones we stained to match. The stain we used is Walnut by Miniwax.

 

Island Stools

Onto some of the decor! It was so fun sourcing stools, I was back and forth on a few but knew I wanted a woven texture to them, and something you don’t see in every home online. These were newer at the time of ordering and I am so glad I did, they are great! You can also get a cushion. For the sides, I knew I wanted a subtle patterned fabric top, and lighter leg. The brass kickplate got me! The fabric is performance and these are incredibly well priced – so many wood and fabric colors. Shop both stools below: 

 

 

Lighting

I knew I wanted something that was refined, yet had a unique shape for the island. It was very important to me that these were not going to impact the line of sight throughout the kitchen. By going a little smaller, it helps make the space look bigger as we only have 8ft ceilings. These were literal perfection and well priced! They come in a few sizes, so for reference, this is the 12in diameter:

 

 

 

I really wanted a sconce next to the window and sink to add some soft evening light and an element of cozy. We turn off all the lights after dinner, switch this sconce on and its the perfect little glow. I swapped the basic white shade for this ribbed green one and could not believe the Amazon find that it is. It is a little short, but I LOVE that I can see the vintage style bulb and brass detail underneath – to each their own!

Cafe Curtains

You know I love me some Two Pages brand and when they recently came out with a new line of cafe curtains, I knew I had to have them. Before I get to the nook as a whole, the sink window features the Sara Le Vintage Linen fabric from their line. You can get 15% off their entire site with my code MEGLEONARD at checkout.

I got a custom rod from Rejuvenation!

Shop:

 

Runner Rugs

Of course, Loloi was top of mind for kitchen runners. I love the idea of a long one by the sink and fridge to elongate the space, while also protect our wood floors. Then, another by the stove as you enter from our dutch door. The heritage line recently came out and I love it for our living room, so was a no brainer for the kitchen. I linked both of the patterns I chose below:

 

 

Dining Nook

Disclaimer: I wanted to see the whole space before deciding on a cushion fabric – neutral or patterned is what I am toying with, and it is a big investment. That is now underway and while my pillows here are also temporary, you get the idea! I’ll update this post when both are finalized, but for now, check out the overall goodness!

We NEVER sat over here before and the added function and charm is amazing. The built-in bench was a dream from day one of seeing the house. It’s the perfect cozy corner, while maximizing seating for gatherings. We also love that we now have way more space to store hosting and seasonal items as the bench lifts up all around.

We wanted a frame TV here from the start as well, which allows for gatherings to truly bring everyone together, given that our TV room is on the other side of the house. I also wanted a built in shelf and cabinet combo for flexibility of hosting and I can’t wait to fully fill these with special pieces of over time.

The Two Pages Cafe Curtains here are the Jawara line in Oatmeal Fabric (code MEGLEONARD for 15% off) and the rods are custom from Etsy.

           

 

Decor

Please hear me when I say it truly takes time to decorate your home to make it personal to you – it warms it up and gives that lived in feel we all love. I styled this for the sake of the shoot, and cannot wait to fully decorate and share with you over time! I linked as much as I could below the photos. 

Shop All Decor

 

Wall Colors

Our walls are the same as most of our home, Cloud Cover by Benjamin Moore and our trim everywhere and interior doors are Pure White by Sherwin Williams. The beams and other built-ins are color matched to the cabinets – White Duck by Benjamin Moore. 

 

Pantry

 

 

I wrote a separate post on the pantry for those interested in diving deep into the organization of it here, in partnership with Systems by Susie. You certainly want to dive in for the best aesthetic, glass organizers!

 

THANK YOU for all of your support over the past few months. It has been so rewarding to feel all the love for this true labor of love. Thank you to my partners – both brands and builders – Great Eastern Contracting and Intuitive Design to lean on for spatial planning, materials sourcing, budget guidance and more for such a key renovation. 

 

Shop the Entire Kitchen