Sharing more details on my kitchen renovation! I’ve been so excited to share all the details, process we used, ways we saved money and more. A little background first, we bought our house 1 year ago and actually rented it out for a few months until we were ready to sell our former house at the time. We listed it on the market just after Charlie was born in May. After the whole summer went by, market shifted, we finally sold it in the fall. It was nice having a place to live during the reno, although we completed moved over in July. We spent a good amount of time living through the kitchen reno. We set up a little kitchen in one of the rooms with all the essentials. Shout out to all those buying, selling, doing a reno either pregnant or post-partum. I went through both and feel like every possible scenario happen to us. We sold our former house, then it fell through, roof needed to be replaced on it, while having kitchen done, being a new mom etc. so if you ever need to vent I’m here lol
A few delays. Be prepared to face delays. We had all of our cabinets in 2 weeks after placing the order in late June. 1 cabinet was arriving in August!! That kind of held up install. The guys definitely like doing it all at once. (very happy we waited though, it is the trash + recycling pull out cabinet lol most used)
One thing, be present. I found that when we were out of town it was easy to just let days go by and not stay on top of it.
Don’t be afraid to speak up. If you think something isn’t right, placement, damaged cabinet etc. say something.
Q: What kind of countertops did you go with?
A: Calcatta Oro Quartz
Q: Backslash link?
A: I used this tile from Floor & Decor, but if you aren’t around one THIS ONE is the original inspiration and pretty much same price. We use ultra white grout. Don’t forget the pencil trim pieces for the around the windows/ edges.
Q: Did you paint your cabinets or get new ones?
A: All new ones! We debated this for a while because 1. Budget and 2. Timeframe. We played around with the idea of just replacing the countertops, painting the cabinets etc., but ultimately decided that it would be best to do it now before getting settled. Once we actually moved in we knew the kitchen needed to be replaced it was breaking down, had years of build up and grime. Best decision ever! We spend literally all day in and out of the kitchen.
Q: How did you pick cabinets? Is there a price range?
A: We got our cabinets from Prosource in Sterling, VA (brand is Wolf). We first started with timeframe. What was in stock. We knew we wanted white, shaker style and didn’t need custom. We designed the kitchen with one of the designers and told her everything we wanted. It was amazing seeing how the have so many options, sizes, styles. I couldn’t get over it!
Q: What is hanging above the stove? I feel like I should know this but don’t remember
Q: I’m local…would you recommend/ share the contractor you used?
A: Yes! Would definitely recommend all the companies we used. Location: Loudoun County, VA
Contractor/ install/ electric/ plumbing: Loudoun Basements – we loved working with Daniel. Anytime something came up or we had a different request he always listened to us and made it happen. Him and his team did amazing work!
Cabinets: ProSource Cabinets, Sterling, VA
Quartz counters: Erin’s Marble & Granite, Sterling, VA
Backsplash & floors: Floorsbay
Q: I want to reno my kitchen, but don’t know where to start
A: Start with ideas. Rough planning. Is the layout changing? What is the most important to you? For us budget & timeframe. We knew we wanted to be conscious of spending and wanted the kitchen done ASAP! Most of the cabinets were 11-20 weeks out. Luckily, we found a brand, in the style we liked, that were in stock 1-2 weeks. The cabinet companies are great, the send over layouts and designs. Know what appliances/ sizes you want and where you want them.
Q: Shiplap on island? Love it!
A: Yes! Decided to put shiplap on the island because 1. it saved us SO much and 2. it added a custom look. My brother, Buddy, is the one who told us to do this (he built his whole house & gave us all the ideas). The ‘skins’ to the cabinets were around $800 and the shiplap was $100 and it took the guys maybe 20 minutes to cut and install the pieces. Once they were done I filled the nail holes, brought a cabinet draw to the paint store, matched the paint, and painted it myself.
Q: Could you share the model of your refrigerator please?
A: Link HERE
Q: I love your floors! Can you share what type you did?
A: We got our floors refinished in finish: natural matte. We were lucky that when they sanded the floors down they only needed to replace some pieces that were damaged from pets, water. Before they were so dull and red looking. That was the first thing we did since we didn’t have any furniture in the house.
Q: What are your thoughts on your ZLINE appliances?
A: LOVE! Seriously couldn’t be happier. They are everything we were looking for. On trend, attainable luxury, quality and multiple sizes, options.
RANGETOP – 4,200-18,000 BTUs, heavy duty Italian made porcelain one-piece
cooktop allowing for an easy to clean surface, limited lifetime warranty on
burners, assembled with highest quality materials on the market, 6 burner
range top.
MICROWAVE – Easy to use open and close buttons, space saving microwave
designed to be built in under a counter or wall, 11 power levels, 1,000 watt
cooking power, boil water in 2 minutes with standard settings, easy to use glass
touch controls and LED display, 1.2 cu ft capacity, can accommodate coffee
mugs up to 7 inches tall and dishes up to 16×16, ADA compliant.
RANGE HOOD – Dishwasher safe stainless steel baffle filters, built-in LED lighting,
high performance 4-speed motor, 400 CFM motor, 430 grade stainless steel.
REFRIDGERATOR – ENERGY STAR certified refrigerator, 22.5 cu. ft. capacity,
adjustable shelving, finger print resistant 430 grade stainless steel, flat door
design to stand flush with cabinets, two humidity controlled crisper drawers, 6
LED lights.
Q: Where are your handles from?
A: Here is the LINK to the pulls, LINK to the knobs and LINK to the trash/recycling pull. Grace had these in her kitchen and they looked so amazing. So much inspiration came from Grace, Buddy and my parent’s kitchen. They all told us what they loved or didn’t love, gave us advice on measurements, styles etc. SO thankful!
Q: Faucet links?
A: I love how both of these faucets come from the same brand. The bar sink faucet is just a mini version of our kitchen sink faucet. Both super affordable too! The quality, weight and durability of them is so amazing. We decided to keep the bar sink because we already had the plumbing there and makes that coffee/bar section a little more special.
My mom also pointed out the one handle on the kitchen faucet. She has this one and says she always gets her sleeve wet when adjustable both sides. Also, being one handed with a baby on my hip the one handle is a game changer.
Q: What are bulkheads/ soffits?
A: If you hear me mentioning these, they are the bump outs above our cabinets. These covers the pipes from upstairs. Originally, they were a lot larger and stuck out more. We had them demoed thinking they might just be an empty space, but sure enough they were there to cover pipes. It cost a little more to have them removed, then replaced (smaller), but overall so happy we did. I would have always wondered what was behind them!
Ways we saved $$
- Get quotes. It takes time but is worth it.
- Subcontract – when you can! We designed it all our self (cabinet design with designer at the ProSource) quartz, flooring, backsplash was all done separately and not with our contractor. Most do it all though.
- There are different levels of quartz. We went down one level (which we didn’t even know was a thing, we just liked it more) and it save us $$
- We left two large structures in our kitchen. The fridge built-in and the oven built-in. If we were to replace these items it would have been at least $2,000. Since we were keeping the same lay out, we matched the paint to the new cabinets, sanded, primed and painted ourselves. We had cabinet doors ordered for the fronts. Our contractor was great about this, replacing the fronts. I can’t get over how amazing it looks, you would never be able to tell!
- A metal hood. Instead of having a custom wood or cabinet hood built we went with this ZLINE Range Hood. Love how it matches all the appliances.
- Shiplap on the island rather than the cabinet ‘skins’
I’m proud of the work that we did and overall so happy with the decisions that we made. I feel like we were very conscious on prices and saved when we had the chance, but also knew when to splurge on necessary items. Yes, this way might have taken more time; being our own designers, going back and forth on quotes, advocating for ourselves, staying on top of the work, speaking up, making sure measurements were accurate etc. but wow it was all worth it!
BEFORE & AFTERS
