wonderfully made: Our new kitchen!

Monday, December 23, 2013

Our new kitchen!

Other than wishing a happy 27th birthday to my husband Mark, I'll cut right to the chase today, people!

When we left off, we were here:


UPDATE:  Here is a REAL flashback to just four months ago when we bought the house:


And now, four weeks later (half of which were spent on the rug which must not be named), we're HERE!!!! :




I am LOVING the new kitchen. As soon as we started bringing in the counter tops and putting the tile on the walls, I became super giddy. I have had so much fun moving things around and decorating the new and improved space!



So, we spent half of the last four weeks waiting on 'the rug' that I had ordered towards the end of the kitchen renovation. Bad timing on my part since the 'icemaggedon' hit directly after I ordered said rug and it ended up taking 15 days to arrive. Plus, now that it's here, I'm not sure it's any better than the previous rug!

Here are the two rugs, I want your vote! Tell me which one I should keep in the kitchen:

Should I keep this old rag rug that gives it sort of an Anthropologie vibe?

...Or should I continue my love of stripes with this black and white rug that lends itself more to the East Coast casual vibe?

(it has been rainy for a while so the images with the black and white rug are more yellow due to the fake lighting...please don't hold that against the rug or these photos!)

And of course, here are some more photos of my new favorite place in the house:




















Taking on this project was stressful and tiresome, but I'm incredibly proud of Mark and I for doing it so quickly and without any major breakdowns. We had the help of Mark's dad Ian and I couldn't thank him enough for the knowledge and elbow grease he's contributed just so I can have a pretty kitchen.

I'll be doing a price and project breakdown here later to let you know how we did it and how much it cost. But for now, we have a beautiful kitchen. Except for this eyesore below...her time here is quickly coming to an end!


Merry Christmas to everyone!

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One more thing! Please be sure to check out my Etsy shop! I've added lots of things, tweaked some things, and lowered prices on many of my handmade custom items. I hope you can find something you like and I always welcome your feedback. Thanks so much!!!



25 comments :

  1. I love love love your new kitchen, it looks beautiful!! The counters are gorgeous and the contrast with the white subway tile really seems to lighten it up and make all the other colors pop. The accent color around the window is perfect too! I can't wait to see it in person in a few weeks :)


    As far as the rugs go, I'm actually a little more partial to the original rug. I like the modern, clean lines of the striped one but I think the original rug brings out more of the other colors around the kitchen. Just my preference, though!

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  2. Well done! Everything looks great!

    I have to agree, I like the original rug as well. It brings a fun pop of color in the room!

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  3. LOVE those counter tops!! Personally, I think I like the orginal rug, but that's because I always prefer color over black and white. Either way though, it looks great!

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  4. I adore it! Those countertops are divine!!!!! Merriest Christmas to you + yours!!!!! xx

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  5. I kind of like the new rug better! Ahhhhh it all turned out SO great! Love the light above the sink an the little color pop framing the window...that was a good way to go!

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  6. You'r kitchen looks great! I love the tile!! Personally, I like the look of the original rug in your space.

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  7. DIANA!!
    It looks amazing!! You and Mark did such a wonderful job!!! All of your hard work definitely paid off girl!

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  8. Even though I got a sneak peek this weekend... it looks totally different in the light. AWESOME! :) My vote is for rug #1 and.... Ian is Mark's father... Mark's father-in-law is your day :) hehehe

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  9. 1. Colored rug, OBVIOUSLY. It distracts from the floor tile. :-0
    2. Ditto Andrea abt Ian being Mark's dad...
    3. I noticed a straw missing from that picture... totally ruins the effect. ;-)
    4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!
    5. Come do my kitchen now.

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  10. (Visiting from YHL)... I'm on team stripey rug all the way! But then again, I'm a Boston girl (south shore of Mass, really) married to a NYC boy who later moved to Delaware, Maryland, and now Georgia. So that whole "east coast casual" thing is pretty much the only genre I associate with. ;)

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  11. I agree on the countertops. The contrast with the stained wood look with the white cabinets definitely looks great, and putting a chalkboard at the end wall was a nice touch! As for the rug, I would say go with the stripes! It matches better with the light-dark schema of the kitchen than the red rug. – Sheila

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  12. Your kitchen looks amazing! I love the subway tile backsplash! And I think I'm liking the new rug better.. but I'm totally a neutral person!

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  13. Thanks so much, Katie! I know, I'm pretty sure stripes are my love language so I'm totally torn!!

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  14. Thanks Sheila! I love the stripes too. My photos might be playing tricks on you though because the rag rug is more pink but it has lots of colors in it, which is why I think it somewhat works in here. I appreciate your input, thanks for reading!!! :)

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  15. Ashley, you have no idea how glad I am that you came from YHL! :) I love the striped rug too, it's just so crisp!! You might be a little biased, though, considering your background! haha thanks for reading!!!

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  16. 1- agreed. I think my mind has been made up!
    2- whoops. totally missed that!
    3- I know, SO many people have emailed me about the straws missing from the picture...
    4- he doesn't read this
    5- I charge $100 an hour. I'll draft up a contract...?

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  17. Thanks! #1 rug is the winner so far!
    And yeah, TOTAL brain fart on that! Can you tell I was in a hurry to get this post up? I was under a lot of pressure! haha going to fix that now...

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  18. KASEY! Thanks so much girl!!! We had a fun time putting this together and we love the results!

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  19. Thanks Amanda! I've tallied your vote and I'm pretty sure the OG rug is our favorite too. :)

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  20. Thanks for your input Erin! The striped rug is actually plastic (like REAL plastic, not Perennials' plastic) so I'm not too worried about it showing dirt. It is made by Thom Filicia and I was pretty hesitant when I saw it because, yep, that's plastic, but it's not as jarring and odd as you think it would be. It's indoor/outdoor and I ordered it that way knowing it would probably end up in the kitchen. Now that it probably won't, our options are limitless since we can put it outside as well as inside!


    I'm definitely not planning to replace the fan with another fan. I've maybe used the fan once since we lived here and I grew up without a fan...The fan aspect of it is kind of what bothers me most...it's so imposing, hold onto dust, it's an eyesore, etc etc. I just have to decide what kind of light works best!!

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  21. Thanks Jody! come over and see it some time!

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  22. You are so sweet!!! Thanks Elise, I hope you had a great Christmas!!!!

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  23. Thanks Carissa! I totally agree, the colored rug brings out the other colors in the kitchen rather than distract from them, which I was fearful of. Even better now that my sweet hubby got me some colorful anthropologie bowls for Christmas! :)

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  24. Thanks so much, Kristin! I think the original rug is the winner in this round. Thanks for reading!

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  25. Thanks lady! The white subway tile is the real show stealer...without it, it just wouldn't be the same! I'm really glad I added the color pop at the window too :)


    OG rug is the winner! Good choice. I agree about bringing out the colors in the kitchen. That $15 at the C&B outlet a few years ago has really paid off!!! :)

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