kitchen refresh

I've been meaning to share these updates for awhile now! A few months ago, I finally decided on paint colors for our kitchen island and cabinets, and what a difference it has made.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time over-analyzing this decision. The counters are not my favorite, but we need to embrace them for now, and work with what we have. I'm usually pretty fearless when it comes to choosing paint colors, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to painting the 15 or so drawers + 6 doors and definitely didn't want to repaint them anytime soon....you know? (Although, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be....I should have tackled it long ago!)

Previously, the paint color was a yellow/tan/cream, like much of our house when we moved in. Not really a color that gets anyone excited, but for some reason it's considered 'safe,' which really makes no sense to me. Why would you want a color that you really don't like, that someone decided was 'safe,' and then try to work around it? Don't do it! Choose decor that you love, that gets you excited, regardless of what you hear, or what others might think! That's my lesson for the day. 

 

I also kept going back and forth about color vs. white. This is an endless debate in my head (and also applies to my home office plan, which you'll hear more about soon)... I am a color lover, no doubt. Although I appreciate a crisp white kitchen, my eye becomes bored VERY quickly and I thrive off of color, pattern, interesting mixes. So, I'm often drawn to bright or saturated kitchen cabinets. I've even considered filling the wall behind our sink with a Mexican tile focal point from counter to ceiling. It would be amazing!!!  But....

In our current house, what I've come back to again and again is white, at least for the walls in our open living space.  Our living room, kitchen and dining room really all occupy one shared space. I kind of hate that choosing white sounds like the 'safer' choice, because no one could accuse me of fearing color or pattern!! ... but crisp white just works really, really well in this space. And, a huge reason I love white so much is because of the way that brighter colors really shine with white as their backdrop. I'm constantly switching up the textiles, art, accessories and white gives me the perfect base for this. So, for our huge island which is also about a foot from where the living room starts, I decided that white was the smart choice. I also didn't want to island to be a heavy visual presence in the middle of the room; blending in as much as possible was key.

BUT, the cabinets along the sink wall are a different story. From the living room, they're largely hidden from view, so they were an opportunity to do something fun. For the blue, I went with high-gloss, so although it's a rich, dark shade, it also reflects the light really well and has great depth, and a little sass.

We also added these classic yet modern brass drawer pulls, which makes such a huge difference! If you have hardware in your home (anywhere - cabinets, dressers, doors, etc.), it's worth saving your pennies and replacing! These aren't the fanciest or highest quality, but they were 99 cents each and they get the job done and then some. I wasn't willing to invest in anything more expensive as we had something like 25 to replace!

Oh, and you may recognize the new counter stools. They're Ikea, via Craigslist. I love, love, love them. The perfect modern touch to balance out the more traditional cabinetry of the island, and of course the black is bold against the white, but keeps it classy. They're fantastic, and we're loving this entire mini-makeover.

Interested in working together to make your home the best it can be? 

Contact me at katiegaviganinteriors@gmail.com for rates & availability.