Future Kitchen Updates

Hey guys, hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! 

Ours was very nice. And I even got the kitchen back to working order with a pinch of time to spare. The only hiccup being that randomly our kitchen faucet sprung a leak and the attempt to fix it was foiled by a crazy original installation which left us using our bathroom sink on Thanksgiving itself. It was not ideal but we managed to have a great day anyway. The next day Blake took a saw to the faucet and got it off, so that we could install a fancy $17 faucet and have running water in the kitchen sink again. Ha! I've never loved a bad faucet so much!

The fact that the faucet debacle happened, sped up our decision to just do the countertops now since we plan to do an undermount sink with them. (For a day we thought we'd be sibkless until that was in. But even once it was solved we still were ready to go forward with our nice finishes.)

So the plan is a 32x18" single bowl, stainless undermount sink. With this faucet. 

We debated a bridge faucet for a while but ultimately I didn't want form over function, the two handle temperature adjustment isn't for me (I've lived with two handles before.) But I've been enamored with this faucet for at least a year. It's got a vintage feel and modern sensibility. Plus great reviews.

I went with chrome because I honestly really love chrome. And while it shows water marks, a quick wipe takes it right off. We have a chrome faucet in one bathroom, and it shines so easy. We also have a moen spot resistant brushed Nickel   faucet which always looks clean so that's awesome. But then we have an American Standard brushed nickel faucet and it's NOT spot resistant and it looks terrible and is very hard to shine up. So I figured chrome is something predictable in behavior but brushed nickel  is not. Chrome is also the finish that's been around the longest, so I feel it adds to the vintage appeal. Plus it's bling-y. 

My kitchen needs a pinch of bling because I choose painted knobs for my hardware. They often say that's the jewelery of the kitchen, but  I went a different direction. We left our original visible hinges on the cabinet doors. (It didn't seem to be an viable option to add inset hidden hinges, and I decided it does give me a happy vintage feeling.) So I didn't want anymore metal on the cabinets. 

I'm hoping to achieve a sorta timeless, vintage English country vibe, with a hint of luxury, and  a whiff of modern to bring it to current times.

I'm thinking that the backsplash will be smaller scale subway tile. I've read that the smaller scale is good in a smaller space to give the illusion of more space. And somehow the regular size does look off in here. 

I'm thinking of wrapping the backsplash around the open wall over the wood counter, and extending to the ceiling. And adding 2 or 3 open shelves there.

The countertops will be a quartz in a pattern  reminiscent of marble, with a pretty flat edge. 

I LOVE marble but am not willing to care for them (or hover over people making them care for them) properly since they are easily stained and can chip.

Originally I thought I'd like an ogee edge, but after shopping and thinking I liked the clean line better.

We ordered through Menards, who by far had the most affordable quartz. And no one had a pattern I liked any better, so it was an easy choice.

Initially we thought of going with a very nice laminate (they've come a long way and you can get them without that laminate backsplash on the backside and doing that really adds the classy look to the kitchen.) But we couldn't find the right combo of print, surface texture and edge shape for us. We started doing the math and decided that since we only have 31 square feet of countertop space

(We are not doing our pass-through wood countertops in quartz. We plan to someday upgrade form pine to real butcherblock.) So at 31 sq feet it wasn't an unmanageable prince upgrade to get the real thing. That way there was every part of our wishlist (look, feel and edged finish) was checked off for our money, because while laminate is more affordable is is not free, so we decided it made sense to put more in to get more out. For resale the quartz would appeal much more in our area. We don't plan to sell anytime soon, but just assessing the investment.

So those are ordered, as well as the faucet and sink. A few more weeks till they arrive.

Next we need to knock out the old backsplash to get ready for all the installation.

But I'm not thinking we'll do much until the semester break, since Blake's in the crunch time of the year. Which is fine, I don't mind a lull in kitchen disturbances.

When we get all the knobs on the doors I'll show you a middle-after/progress photo.