As you may know, kitchens are one of my favourite rooms to renovate! You can add so much interest in all the little details. In one of my previous blogs, I discussed re-thinking your layout when considering a renovation. Part of our plan included taking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room, addressing the awkwardly placed windows and updating the dark, old cabinets. 

In this project, we closed up the door from the kitchen that led out to the deck and moved the window that was previously stuffed into the corner. Closing up the door provided space for our tile feature wall. We went with a Carrara-Marble chevron tile with a white grout so that the shape of the tile would pop. Moving the window achieved a few things. Firstly, we were then able to shift the sink closer to the middle of the wall. Secondly, we were now able to look out over the backyard; important when you’ve got kiddos. Thirdly, this provided more useable counter space in the corner.

As someone that really enjoys cooking for family and friends, we decided to add a gas line for a gas stove. Our stove, fridge, and OTR microwave, are all KitchenAid. You’ll find that with different brands, the steel can be different shades. These pieces were all in the same visual field, so it was important to me that they were the same colour. The dishwasher and wine fridge were less of a concern as they were separate from the others. Again, we went with a neutral colour pallete of whites and greys. I prefer to add a pop of colour through my small appliances, flowers, and decor. NOTE TO POTENTIAL SELLERS: this is also a benefit when listing your property! You want to appeal to the masses, so keeping the overall design simple is a great idea. The chances of you getting tired of your design are far less, your trendy design choice will be less likely be out of style when you sell, and you can then alternate your pops of colour as you choose.

By removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room, we now had a spot for an island. With storage always being in short supply in BWV, I was sure to include the biggest cabinets I could fit and of course a wine fridge (a very important type of storage space). The amount of counter space this provided was ridiculous! Kids can do their homework while i’m prepping dinner, and it acts as an excellent buffet when we’re hosting big parties. For what was originally a very small, dark, and unusable space, we’re quite happy with the results. By tweaking the layout just slightly, we’ve been able to create a bright, open and functional space.