Kitchen Renovation...on a Budget Grayslake Illinois
I like oak, I really do. My golden oak kitchen cabinets were right on trend...in 1999, when we built our house.
Since our L shape kitchen does not have windows, I began yearning for something lighter, and well, whiter. So one day my trusty friend Mary came over and we painted the upper cabinets white, just to see how it would look. I lived with the kitchen in the picture above for, I don't know, maybe 3-4 years.
Just to be clear I was surrounded by ...builder base cabinetry with fake wood shelves and interiors, Formica, sort of granite wanna be, look countertops and all the other things I had tried to update over the years...the island got a new farm sink, bronze faucet, corian counter and a facelift with beadboard and baseboard.... And my gasping for life range. which finally gave up and started the ball rolling on this renovation
We decided to buy a grownup range! I Love Ted, my new 48 inch Miele gas range with a griddle top.
Once Ted arrived, my husband finally admitted that it was time to do the kitchen!!!!! Ted was just too grand to be shoved among the hodgepodge we had. (we had to remove a cabinet so Ted would fit where the old 36 inch range had been.)
Now I have this!!
All white kitchens aren't for everyone, but I love the brightness of it. The floor was not going to change since it runs thru the whole first floor. This kitchen is all about ease of keeping it clean!
I chose white flat front cabinet doors for easier wipe down and the drawers close flush to the base. No dirt/grease catching edges to clean. I have less cabinets now that hold more stuff.
Cambria quartz counters in a thinner profile look sleek and polished, and are so easy to wipe down! Best of all for me, no sealing, no polishing etc. I'm a super low maintenance kind of woman. I would never keep up with any kind of extra care for a counter top.
I opted for drawers instead of doors on lower cabinets. I was tired of stooping over and digging for my pots. And the genius access to the corner cabinetry..OMG love it! No more contorting to get to the back of the cabinet!
Ted and my Miele under counter microwave/convection combo oven came from a local source via Ebay at a great value! They were brand new, but displays that saved us thousands of dollars!!
The range hood, apron stainless farm sink and faucet I bought on Amazon, again great deals!
The floating shelves and island's reclaimed wood are a touch of rustic warmth in a otherwise pretty sleek modern design.
And the story behind the wood is so perfect. The shelves are made from actual beams that were in the Grayslake Gelatin Factory that stood in our little village of Grayslake Illinois since the early 1900s. The building was demolished around 2016. Brian, a local carpenter, was able to rummage through and save some wood. Now we have our town's history in our kitchen, which is so cool. He also sold us this piece of art made out of a ceiling fan blade from the building. It sits on the highest shelf and is always admired by visitors.
This was a really satisfying project to work on.
A special thanks to Nick and crew at Affordable Interiors in Grayslake Illinois for handling the contracting work and being open to my design ideas on a budget.
Brian and Wes at Carpentry Connection in Grayslake Illinois were awesome to work with also! Brian totally understood what I was going for in this project and they did stellar work.
Professional Painting by Scott Franzen Painting McHenry Illinois, beautiful job as always!
-Jill
@Morph
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