Mirrored Kitchen Cabinets?

I know it sounds very, disco ball/70's maybe right?

But I just saw these the other day and thought it was a very creative and wonderful idea to consider for your own kitchens to add a little something to dull/boring kitchen cabinets.

Everyone likes the texture of glass but not everyone wants people to see in inside their kitchen cabinets, some plastic cups or mismatched plates aren't worth displaying, ha!

With mirrors you still get that same feeling of them being glass but everything is obviously hidden.

I transform old kitchen cabinet doors all the time with glass inserts but now I am going to try mirrored...I am looking forward to using this technique for my clients.

Do you like this idea as much as me?

Kitchen is Soooo DONE

Well it's been awhile since I caught you all up on this client's kitchen....Here was the progression, Kitchen is Almost Done....Then around the holiday season we were in the thick of it, with a Kitchen is Almost Done - UPDATE.....And then yes I went "ghost". :)  But not for any reason other than my clients have had some personal issues they were dealing with and it was not ever a good time to come over to take Hero "after" shots, until just recently...

I guess the good thing with the major delay is it should feel completely fresh to you all once again....

So without further ado, here are some "befores" and "afters" of the whole kitchen project....

Before:  Faux painter just finished painting this wall...

After:  And for the good of the kitchen that wall had to come down. :)

Before:  Choppy walls, awkward spaces.

After:  Nice, big open space.

Before:  This laundry room, helped make the kitchen really small.

After: Laundry room moved, now not only a bar but a coffee bar right next to it...And lucky stripe extra, a real brick wall from the family room fireplace, looks like I planned it right?  I can't take credit.

Before:  This family needed storage...

After: So we took care of that problem.

Before:  What's there to say, can you think of anything? ;)

After:  We kept the price down by keeping the ovens

Before:  This was on the other side of Before picture #1 at the top.

After:  I didn't have a head on picture of the sink area but here is a photo that hopefully gives you an idea of how it looks now.

Before:  See that wall over to the left...Gone. :)

After:  Just a slight difference

Oh and my clients still love their kitchen...The newness hasn't rubbed off yet...

I would love to hear your comments about this kitchen remodel.

All You Need is Kitchen Cabinet Love

I have sooo many clients who want to update their kitchens and get really scared when they start pricing cabinets.  Can you blame them?  That is one of the priciest areas of a kitchen.

I can't tell you how many times their cabinets have good "bones" they just need a refresh is all....And yes this is pickled and yes we did something about it.

(before)

(almost after, we are wrapping this job up so not completely done but you get the idea I hope on cabinets)

Even those horrible oak cabinets that we are all familiar with...You know the ones that turn yellow over time?  Yep, even those can be improved on at a fraction of the cost new cabinets would be.

(before, bad pic sorry about that)

(after)

I am not pooh poohing brand new custom built kitchen cabinets at all...I love them, my clients love them, but if cost is a factor adding paint or stain to your existing is a wise way to go.

(WAAAYYY before, this was a flip house, I know we are talking about kitchen cabinets but how do you like that wallpaper?)

(after)

Oh and stay tuned here is my latest....The yellowing oak is going dark...Should be done around mid April, with of course new floors, backsplash, granite countertop and new cabinet hardware, looking forward to showing you..

Here is the stain I am using, or my painters are using anyway....SW 3125-O "Ranch Oak".

How Do You Feel About Pot Fillers?

Okay, you know I probably shouldn't say this but I just have too...I think Pot Fillers are cool and I think they look oohhhh sooo sexy on that backsplash over the stovetop, but if you are seriously thinking it's going to save your back from hauling a heavy pot over to the stovetop you still have to haul it the other way after you are done cooking. :)

So do any of you have a pot filler and if so, do you use it and love it?

If not, would you consider one in the future?

Smooth as Glass

Have you ever considered a glass countertop for your own home?  Would you consider one?

I think as everyone probably knows at this point I LOVE glass!!!  See here and here and here, I can go on but you get the picture I am sure.

These are absolutely stunning glass countertop applications and I just had to share...

What a breathtaking approach for any kitchen, bathroom or any other bar area in your house.

Thinkglass sells them in 1.5", 2" or 3"  now that is a chunk of glass isn't it?  Also, if you are interested check out Ultraglas as well.

Glass is strong and durable.  The textured finishes hide dust, fingerprints and small scratches.  It's super easy to clean.  Glass is naturally heat resistant.  It's non porous which makes it hygienic too.

Sooo what's not to like?  These pieces make me want to touch, they look like huge chunks of ice don't they?

You have to admit these countertops are pretty darn sexy if nothing else right? ;)

I think this picture is my favorite...

So what do you think?  Would you consider it? ;)

Kitchen is Almost Done...UPDATE

Okay, my clients kitchen is ready for Thanksgiving, just barely. If you are thinking "so what", here is my blog from this past weekend to catch you up...

Here is a pretty drastic "before" and "after" of the bar area of the kitchen don't you think?  The "before" was their original laundry room, for this area we moved the garage door down for more room, can you tell?

My clients are sooo excited to not only have their kitchen back but in time for Thanksgiving which was no small feat due to our very tight deadlines.

When I took these pictures, the workers were still there installing cabinet hardware and we were getting the window treatments up too at the same time, so still a messy kitchen but big changes nonetheless.

After the barstools come in and all is done I will definitely take some "hero" shots to show you the end result, can't wait for you to see it. The window treatments turned out fabulous and complete the room as window treatments usually do. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, I am truly THANKFUL to all of you for your support and comments.

Kitchen is Almost Done...

My clients had a tired, small, awkward kitchen, I am not speaking out of line, this is what they told me.  :) 


Before they brought me in, they were talking about moving their existing kitchen to their attached garage so they could have more space. After looking over their existing kitchen I felt like we could work with this quite easily by removing some walls and lifting the roof, okay just ceiling but that was fun to say. 

This kitchen WILL be done by next week, all except some minor things like bar stools (which are backordered until December 26th of course).

In the meantime, and before I get some "after" pics I thought you'd like to see the progress...

I thought I would first start with the formal dining room which my faux painter did a gorgeous job on before I was even brought into this job. These pics really do the color no justice, it's much more rich in person, well it was nice before I knocked it down.


NOW YOU SEE IT....

NOW YOU DON'T....

This is the only before picture in this direction, sorry son of my clients, but really you look fine. ;)  Look at all those walls and angles in that original kitchen....

This isn't the exact same shot but at least you can start to see what happened once we removed the wall in between the formal dining room and kitchen.

We are in full remodel mode in this picture, and that isn't the son on the floor it's the plumber. ;)

This was the wall from the breakfast room to the laundry room.

So we took it down to enlarge the kitchen and we made a room in the garage for a beautiful, enclosed laundry room out there.  Oh so isn't this a BIG difference just losing that wall?  And we got to claim some brick wall that is the back of their fireplace in the living room.

I will show detailed pics next week right in time for Thanksgiving.  


Before you add onto your house think about finding ways to lose some of your walls and reconfigure your space if possible, most of the time it can be done and the afters are sooo much more fun I think, because you actually have "befores".