Kitchen Re-do Part Two

Kitchen Deconstruction has begun.  Exactly what did I get myself into???

In our kitchen, as I've mentioned, we have these not so nice wood and laminate combination cabinets.  Who doesn't love wood?  Well, there's a time and a place for all things.  Natural Maple being one of them.  The laminate is the bain of my existence.

notice the two different colors!!

I want one of those beautiful custom kitchens.  You know the ones I'm talking about on HOUZZ.  Seriously, whose idea was HOUZZ anyway?  I love them but I hate them at the same time.  How can lil 'ole me, get that look without the unlimited funds that are spent to achieve the looks on HOUZZ!

A look I love

At least Pinterest has lots of us DIYer's posting ideas that are attainable on an average person's budget!

When we were out looking at having a kitchen made for us I kept going towards the painted/glazed cabinet.  I just love that look.  We have a separate island as well and we thought about doing the contrasting color and then having it all finished with a nice mocha glaze.

Another look but I want a contrasting island color

After getting the estimates - not changing the footprint at all - just new cabinets with crown molding and light rail molding (the molding that goes under the cabinet to hide the under cabinet lighting) we were looking at a minimum of $30,000.  Of course, I wanted some of the bells and whistles.

My wish list was:

• Furniture feet at the base of the cabinets to look more custom
• Large corbels on my island to give it some gerth
• Taller crown molding
• Stainless Steel Range hood that would go to the ceiling
• Built in microwave, as opposed to the one above the range

That didn't seem like too much to ask.  Apparently it was.  These items increased our estimate by several thousand dollars.  Aaaarrgghhh. 

What's a girl to do?  After our last custom estimate I came home depressed.  I just couldn't justify spending that much on something that didn't thrill me or on a house that I'm not sure I want to die in!! ( I really do want to get to the water eventually).  So we abandoned the ship.

Now you all have probably already thought the obvious.  It took me another week of mulling over my options until it hit me!

CHALK PAINT® a decorative paint.

I've seen others use it on their cabinets, I work with the paint on a regular basis, I've assisted in doing other peoples cabinets (melamine no less!!), we hold workshops that tell people how to achieve any look they desire and here I am not practicing what I preach. 

 I should have been fired for not thinking this first!!!

check out our blog post http://robynstorydesigns.blogspot.com/2011/12/fabulous-melamine-update-with-annie.html

So, after a bourbon Manhattan that I mixed up for George, I started my discussion on how I felt the kitchen should go.

I am incredibly lucky to have a very talented and incredibly patient husband that loves and embraces my ideas.  He's the one that actually takes the ideas that are in my mind and creates magic!  (And they say men can't read women's minds......mine can!!! )He loves the challenge of wood working and if I promised to buy him any toy, ahem, excuse me - tool, he may need surely, he would oblige my every whim, right?

my Mr. "Bring on the Challenge" and Me

As it turned out, he was excited about the project and what we could do together!  So we hit the ground running!

We started by taking a trip to our local Sears Outlet.  I also realized that the Wolff and Viking appliances were not in my budget.  But I wanted a built in microwave.  Low and behold, they had a great one with the teeniest of dings that you can't see!!!  For a bargain.  So we purchased it and brought it home with great plans to build it in to an existing area of our cabinetry.

this shows the mircrowave and the cabinet above the range

oh boy, point of no return.  We took out the cabinet in preparation for a stainless hood

The work has begun.  We already knew where we were going to put the new microwave so we sold our old one on Craigslist (I am an addict and need a 12-step program to stop selling/buying on Craigslist).

Now that the area is void of anything we also needed to find a range hood that would fit our 30" opening.  We searched high and low and nothing really fit the bill (that also fit our price range).  There are hundreds on the market but their prices are unbelievable and many of them look like flying saucers!!

We actually walked into our local IKEA and stumbled upon the range hood that encompassed all of my design needs - it wasn't too contemporary and definitely had a more transitional appeal
(We learned that although there is no brand name located on the hood it is actually made by Whirlpool and privately labeled for IKEA.)

Next decision was how, when, what color, what finish to do the cabinets in.  So, we took a trip to our local Habitat ReStore and purchased a dozen old cabinet doors that look exactly like ours.  Then I got busy painting each one a different color, mixed a few colors of Chalk Paint® together and kept on painting.  After many test cabinets I stuck with my original thought.

Old Ochre for the majority of my kitchen, this is truly my favorite neutral!

and

Chateau Grey for the island.  I am a green girl, this color has always been my favorite.

Next was how to finish them.  Of course, I adore the waxes and the finishes that you can achieve with them, but I have also grown very fond of the Annie Sloan Lacquer.  So, again, test cabinets galore....we opted to use the Lacquer. 

The reason was pretty simple.  I found a cabinet from a major cabinet maker that I loved and this was the way I wanted my cabinets to look - exactly like them.  The look was: color, slight sheen with a gorgeous defined glazed in a deep chocolate.  We are trying to bridge traditional style into a more transitional style, perhaps with a nod to contemporary.

So, after doing a dozen test cabinets, which took me a few weeks to accomplish because of my schedule and George's, we finally figured out the look we were going for. 

Now, I've accomplished two of the items on my wish list.  We needed to source out my furniture feet to put along the kick board under the cabinets for a more custom look.  Thank goodness for Google!

here's where we found them here: http://www.osbornewood.com/4084.cfmthe The best price and the perfect design and measurements.

 Now to find the chunky corbels.  I knew exactly the look I wanted so we found another source online for those as well.

These are gorgeous and so chunky with great length;  I found them here:http://www.vandykes.com/28-scroll-low-profile-corbel/p/210179/

Last, but certainly not least was the crown molding.  I wanted something taller (our existing molding was only three inches, I wanted a four inch molding at minimum.  George's office is across the street from a custom wood manufacturer.  During lunch he took a ride over and checked it out and found the exact molding we have in other areas of our home.  Perfection.

Now, I have all the components that I need to continue with our re-do.  Check back to see the progress!!