Our (mostly finished) kitchen Reno

So. Let's start from the beginning. Please read this novel (http://ohhhsweetcaroline.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-new-casa.html?m=0) for a refresh on how we got here. Here's what this kitchen looked like when we bought the house. While we aren't going to put enough money into this house to expand the space physically, I did the best I could to expand the space visually.   There's still a few things to do, but for the amount of money we invested (not a ton) and where we started, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As you can see, one of the biggest things we did was rip up that tile floor and extend the hardwoods from the rest of the downstairs into the kitchen. I don't have a picture of it, but the tile ended in a diagonal and it cut the kitchen off and made it look even smaller. I LOVE hardwoods in the kitchen (hell, I would have hardwoods everywhere if I could. ). This along with the finishes is what makes the room seem bigger, to me at least:-)

This is the view when you are walking toward the kitchen from our front door.  The breakfast "room" is tiny, but I really wanted a bar and eat in area, so we made it work.  

The other huge thing we did was get rid of the island and my dad added this cabinet set instead to give us a breakfast bar. I love it. The island was just too cramped and we gained storage space Bc this cabinet is huge... And we have storage on the other side. 

We got all new appliances, the fridge came from our old house. I love that we got double ovens without having space for a wall unit. The countertop is "real carerra" quartz. It's not the best look a like out on the market, but it was only $48/sq ft!! That's a win in my book. The cabinets were given a a fresh coat of white, we got all new hardware, lighting, sink and faucet.  The backsplash is just white subway tile, but I really think all the white was necessary to enlarge this tiny kitchen visually. And I like white kitchens:)

Some notes: we still have to patch a couple holes in the ceiling. We removed the old lighting that was above the island and installed recess lights in it's place. Then added the pendants over the bar and a new light over the table. As you can see from the pics, we still need to paint the drawer front below the sink. It was so beat up my dad made us a new one but we haven't finished painting it yet.  I love my new chairs, but the table.... Not really sure what to do there.  I bought a cheap unfinished table and had my dad stain it. I didn't want to spend a lot on a table Bc hopefully our next kitchen will be much bigger and such a small table will be pointless:-). But we needed something to fit the space. The idea was to stain it a very dark brown, to give a good contrast with the chairs. But, it just didn't take, the wood is too cheap and that's about as dark as it would go ( so says my dad). I don't know whether to leave as is or maybe paint a gray or something? Ideas?!  I also think I'm going to take the blinds down completely, we don't need privacy back there ( it opens to our back yard) and I like it open and airy. Maybe just get a shade made for both windows. It's always something!!

Paint color. SW sea salt