Last week was a big week - maybe the most fun yet. It was my birthday, which seems less exciting every year, but this year it was especially great. I took the day off and treated myself to looking through slabs of marble for the kitchen, then I got to see the cabinetry come together. (Insert huge Yay!!!!) Mike fixed dinner (Shrimp Scampi, my favorite) and Emma decorated a very pink cake with candy decorations. We spent the night at home, "bre-laxing," listening to music and playing games with Emma. It was the best day - so full of warm love and blessings. There are a couple of photos at the end of the post, mostly for me, so I remember the combination of wonderful, supertastic (Emma's word) on this special day :)
I requested no presents this year. I feel like we are spending so much on so much right now... I'm starting to feel the pinch. I've been having major anxiety about a very expensive (still pending...) faucet decision, so I "donated" all birthday allocated money (dinner out, gifts, etc.) to the faucet fund. I still haven't made a decision, but I like that if I do splurge I know it will have been a sacrifice of something else... right? Anyway, with cabinet photos to be discussed, I know you aren't interested in hearing about my faucet anxiety... On to the cabinets!
Here they are! I have lots of photos (shocking...), but I wanted to walk you around the space so you could get a feel for it. To the right is the back yard with the french doors leading out.
The island will have a wood top and the surrounding (on the walls) cabinets will have marble tops. The cabinets will be painted a creamy white by our painter... in about a month. You can see the mudroom through the doorway.
I'm thinking a wood beadboard backsplash, just like we had in our old kitchen, also painted creamy white.
This is the hutch where we will keep linens, flatware (in the drawers) and the dishes and glasses in the top... basically anything for setting the table. It is very close to the dishwasher, so hopefully it will make it easy to load/unload.
The island is 9 feet long and 40 inches deep. I wanted it tot have the feel of a old table (hence the wood top) so I made it a little more shallow than deep. It needed to be very long because it houses the dishwasher, trash, microwave and 30" farmhouse sink + some drawers. I was worried it would be too long, but I think it worked out great.
This side of cabinetry is what I'm calling my "Baking Counter" but it is where I will sit and work during the day. There is a nook for a stool and a charging drawer for my laptop. We'll keep the coffee maker and mixer in the open part of the hutch on the counter and my cake stands on display above. Dangerous for me to be working so close to the coffee machine all day! I'll have my flour and sugar canisters lined up under the window. Can you believe that I'll be photographing sugar cookie decorating here in just a couple of months?! I cannot.
Here's the view from behind the island.
And the view looking back to the front of the house into the old living room. That is all of the trim materials that will be installed this week and next.
Looking into the area where the dining table will be and Mike's library/office through those doors.
This is the view from Mike's library/office doors. One big open space. Yay!
Here is the bundle of marble we'll be selecting from. It is a creamy white with grey and brown veining - it great with our creamy paint color. We'll work around that dark patch on the bottom. It was hard remembering that we'll only see 24" deep pieces of it - a good thing to remember when looking.
I almost went crazy on the marble... there was another option, one that was twice as much. I loved it before I knew. After a couple of days of debate, I decided that they were soooo close. Too close to spend twice as much. I just couldn't do it. Now that the decision is made, I am so glad that this is the one I picked. I think (I hope!) it was the right decision.
Here is an upclose shot of the grey and brown together - I love how the specs of brown warm it up, which will look perfect with our brass hardware and almost ivory paint.
Can't wait to see this installed! We are also using it on our master bathroom vanity. It is an almost perfect match to the tile we're using around the tub and in the shower.
This is how I prepped everything for the tile setter... in Emma's room. You might remember from the Tile post, that we saved a bundle by getting the tile from Home Depot.
I picked out the creamier more warm pieces of marble for the tub area and will use the more grey for Emma's bathroom floor. It was harder than I thought to pick out a slab of marble that would coordinate with the tile - being natural, there are so many variations of the same thing out there... especially in the slab vs. tile world. The tiles were all a little different, so I ordered extra and separated them into like piles so we wouldn't end up with too much color variation in the same space.
Back to the tour! Here is a look into the mud room, and here is the dutch door that will go into it! I LOVE this. I am thinking of painting it a soft black... what do you think? I also plan on giving it a porcelain knob. Make that two, now that I'm looking at it - two knobs! There goes part of my faucet fund...
These are the mudroom cabinets - the pantry on the left, then my office homebase on the right. I'll do all of my photos here because of the perfect light in this room. That window is recycled from the old back wall of the house in the old kitchen. It gives so much light!
It will be so nice to have all of my work stuff in a different spot so it doesn't have to live in the kitchen, as it normally does. I'm looking for a cozy chair to go here - my big computer will go here, where the long hours of working on the website/uploading new products will happen.
Ok, heading upstairs....
Obsessed with this hall linen cupboard. It was a last minute add-on the cabinetry and I'm so glad we did. It will take our upstairs landing from very plain and standard to charming. You can see into the 4th bedroom on the left and Emma's bathroom on the right.
Walking into our bedroom. Bathroom on the right, closets to the left.
Bed will go against this wall. I think we'll have a writing desk under the window to the right of the bed. That will have to be a hunt post move-in.
French door closets... those wires are jam switches, so the light will turn on with the door opens and be off when closed. Apparently I have a problem with turning lights off, so Mike is excited about this.
Into the bathroom from our room/bed.
Bathroom vanity - also marble top in here. I really do love that it is floating between two windows. It helps it feel airy and spacious in here. You can remember all of the planning and designing that went into achieving it...
here, in case you forgot or are new.
Tile in here is happening today so I can't wait to go and see it right after I'm finished writing.
Our old bedroom. Such pretty new windows and light.
And, just for my memories...
