Happy Friday guys! Those of you that follow us on Instagram have probably seen the changes that both Ash and I made to our kitchens several weeks ago.   We were challenged to begin updating the kitchens in a short period of time together, and it was a lot of fun (and chaos).  We teamed up with Cambria Quartz for the countertops, which was our favorite part of the entire renovation.

logo

We have always loved quartz for so many reasons, and have been itching to install it in our own homes.  Cambria is durable and more resistant to surface damage than other stone.  With a ton of kids, this was high on the priority list. You also get the look and feel of marble or granite, but receive greater strength and the benefit of it being nonporous and maintenance free.   Y’all should totally follow their Instagram account as well for lots of kitchen inspiration!

I’ll start with my kitchen…

My husband and I built our home almost 9 years ago, and lots has happened over the last 9 years, and my family was ready for a big change in our most used room.  One of the things I have learned through this kitchen renovation, is that I much prefer designing a space that I have lived in.  When I built the house 9 years ago, I designed the space how I “thought” we would use it, but there were so many things I told myself I would go back and change if I could.  I am a lover of form and function, and that was my goal in designing this new kitchen for my family.

Let me show you what we started with.  We have a good sized kitchen, but it felt really closed off.  I had a split level bar with a large peninsula.  We use the dog out of this space.  Most of our family dinners are spent here with my littles at the “tall bar” and my olders at the “short bar”.

kitchen-before

I have floor to ceiling cabinets behind the peninsula that I LOVE.  Those are one of those things I knew I would not be changing!  These have been great for storing cookware and dishes.  

kitchen-before-2

I had a large mantle built above my cooktop.  My two complaints about this setup… 1.  Those cabinets on each side of that mantle are a bit of a joke.  I had no space to actually store anything.  I think the max width was 8” or something.  2.  The space for the vent hood wasn’t plumbed for a vent.  Big mistake on our end, and one I was looking to fix!

kitchen-before-3

Here are the upper cabinets that sat next to my sink.  I used these mainly for drinking glasses and the top shelves became storage for glassware we don’t use that often.

kitchen-before-4

My main goal in this space was opening it up and making it feel larger and brighter.  I knew the countertops would do that, but I also decided that I wanted to level everything out before getting them installed.  This was where most of the work happened.  We ripped out the old backsplash, and took some cabinets out to prep for the guys to come make their template.

leveling-the-bar

The template part was so interesting to me.  They made a “grid” pattern out of this white plastic material to mark off the new countertops.  He showed it to me when he was all finished to get my approval and it was the first time I could really envision us sitting around the space.

template-for-the-new-countertops

Don’t judge my drawers 😉

template-for-the-new-countertops

Three days later they installed and I was in LOVE.  I ended up going with Swanbridge by Cambria.

new-counters-installed

counters-installed

I spent the next few weeks finishing things up… That included tile, building shelves (plans coming soon!), paint and dressing her up! Here is what the new kitchen looks like now…

kitchen-7

kitchen-5

kitchen-3

kitchen-1

I can’t even tall y’all how much making these changes has opened up my kitchen.  It seriously feels three times larger that before!  The countertops are still the highlight of it all.  I went with Dorian Grey by Sherwin-Williams for the paint color on the cabinets and Pure White by Sherwin-Williams for the trim and wall.

Now let me show you how Ashley’s kitchen started and finished off!  She went with Torquay by Cambria.

She also decided to level off her bar to open the space up.  This was her kitchen before…

pic3

pic2

And here are the afters… It’s amazing again how lightening up the countertops, taking things to one level and changing paint tones up a bit really makes the room feel so much larger and more open.

kitchen-after-9

kitchen-after1

This has been such a great change for both our homes.  We couldn’t be happier with the turnout!  Ash went with Urbane Bronze for her cabinet color and Pure White for the trim color, both from Sherwin-Williams.  We will be sharing lots of projects from these renovations over the next several weeks, so stay tuned!  Thanks so much for stopping by and let us know if you have any questions at all!  Thanks!

This project and blog post was sponsored by Cambria. As always, all opinions are our own!

Whitney

Ashley and Whitney Blog post signature

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

11 Comments

  1. Hey there! Do you have the plans for the shelves yet? My email is [email protected] – if you are willing, i would love to know how y’all made them and especially how you mounted them to the wall/ceiling. It doesn’t have to be anything pretty, just a rough outline would be amazing!!

  2. Hello! Where did you find your wooden hood vent? It’s so beautiful and it’s exactly what I want! Thank you!

  3. Love your kitchens!! Whitney, were you ever able to publish the plans for range hood? The shape is just stunning! I’m starting a similar project with copper but would love to see your dimensions and structure. If you let me know where they can be found, I would really appreciate it!

  4. How difficult is removing the old backsplash? I have been debating for years removing a stone backsplash applied by previous owners, but am worried about creating a huge mess. Did you have to put up all new dry wall? Thanks!

  5. You mentioned that you have a non-plumbed vent hood. That’s what our space requires too and I love the shape of yours! Do you remember where yours came from? Thanks!

  6. Beautiful! Did Ashley do something to lighten the stone under the island? I have a wall of stone in my kitchen that I’m considering whitewashing, but I’m scared! If she did something to lighten it I’d love to hear more about it!

    1. Thank you! I didn’t do anything to lighten it but it does look lighter after the Reno. I think it’s because of the contrast with the wood flooring and the light cabinets 🙂 if you are looking to lighten your stone, you could white wash it? We have done that with brick before. Use 50:50 of water and latex paint and smear it on with a rag and wipe it off 🙂