When my twin sister and her husband closed on a home literally 3 minutes from my home I couldn’t have been happier. My sister and I have always been really close and most people don’t know but our husbands are best friends from childhood and grew up next door to each other. As you can imagine the thought of us all being able to spend more time together was and is very exciting. Our kids get to play together often and strengthen that cousin bond, our husbands hang out and go on fishing trips, and I finally have a consistent workout and shopping partner.
Quarantine allowed both my sister and I to work from home so we decided to get started on some home projects. Her kitchen was on the top of the list, her new home is immaculate, the previous owner took really good care of the home and it was basically “move-in ready” except for the outdated kitchen. Now let me be clear, the kitchen wasn’t horrible (I’ve seen far worse kitchens) but I will say it was in need of a face lift and needed to reflect more of my sister’s style. It also needed to be more functional for their family of 5 (which includes 3 small children).
The first step in this whole process was the countertop selection, the existing counters were Formica in an off white/beige color. We selected a honed granite, the particular stone we selected is really clean and modern with white, greys, and beige throughout. The rougher leather texture of the granite adds dimension as well as a really hip, young and fun vibe which if you know my sister and her husband fits them completely. One design aspect that I was very intentional about was also using the granite for the countertops as the backsplash. I love a clean tile backsplash, but there are many benefits of using a granite slab as backsplash and it adds for a really unique design factor. For one, the installation of granite backsplash is easier and it’s easier to clean because there are no grout lines. However before using granite as your backsplash I would tell you to consider that it is costlier and that if your granite selection is really busy or dark you might want to shy away from this design. This option worked really well in my sister’s kitchen only because the stone was really neutral without hardlines and a lot of movement.
Once we selected the granite, it was easy to come up with a color palette that I would use for the entire kitchen space. My sister’s design style is similar to mine (what do you expect we’re twins), so we selected a neutral palette of white, grey, and beige with brass accents. Brass fixtures and hardware tend to compliment whites, off-whites and beiges pretty well and give a rich expensive look to practically anything.
As most know, cabinetry is very expensive. Replacing all your cabinets could cost you upwards of $9,000. You may remember from an earlier post, regarding design trends where I discussed refacing cabinets as a cost-effective method to give your kitchen some updating. For my sister’s kitchen, we decided that painting the cabinets white would be cost-effective and undoubtfully elevate the kitchen to a new level. Crisp clean and white kitchens are everything! We also decided to extend the island by 2 ft. which would al
low for more seating for entertaining and her growing children. It came out amazing and better than I expected! Check out the before and after pics below!
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