Our Home Remodel: Kitchen & Breakfast Room

I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. Looking back on these before pictures, I’m wondering why I ever thought we should buy this house. Early 2000’s has some design trends that I hope never see return-painting a room red, distressed cabinets, really bad faux paint, raised areas on islands, ornate window treatments, and all dark furniture. Pretty much everything about this kitchen was bad, except the footprint of the room & the butler’s pantry.

I knew the first thing that had to go in this space was….well everything. I wanted to carry the hardwoods through the kitchen, get rid of all the red paint, change the shape of the island, move the sink out of the corner of the kitchen & then get rid of the arched transom windows & all the fluted molding around them & replace those with new larger windows. For a minute I also thought about keeping the brick at the range, but I’m really glad we didn’t because once it was down, it really opened that whole space up.

Paint made a huge difference in this space. Our walls are SW Snowbound & cabinets are SW Pavestone. My husband initially thought I was crazy for changing out the windows, but they are the focal point in the space now & I don’t regret it not even a little bit. Everything in this space is new except for the fridge & the stove.

I love being at the sink, watching the kids run around & play in the backyard. This is everything I dreamed this kitchen would be & more.

With the breakfast nook we continued the wood floors in this area & paint as well. We also go rid of that arched window (I loathe arched windows). You can’t see from this before photo, but the room also had a tray ceiling with bead board in it.

We added some reclaimed beams in that ceiling space to give it a classic rustic feel without it being too much. And of course I added shiplap, because I love it. I know there are many, many, many designers & interior lovers out there that wish it would go away, but I’m a firm believer in doing what you love in your home, so it’s here to stay in mine.

We also added new lighting, an antique farm table from the 1800’s & paired it with some black, modern, yet classic chairs. The art on the wall was done by my late Paw Paw. It has always been my favorite painting of his. I had it reframed & it’s perfect in this space.

Don’t forget that you can shop my home & also get all the details for paint colors, and light fixtures under the About tab.