Today we are finally sharing our most exciting project and transformation of 2020, the Farley Brook Kitchen. This space was a true labor of love, and the biggest undertaking of the year. As the heart of this home and the focal point of the main living space, we needed to ensure that this kitchen was a truly beautiful and functional space to be enjoyed for years to come. The best part of this entire project is that we completed this entire renovation for under $10,000.
To truly appreciate this transformation, we have to go back to the beginning. The kitchen had not been touched in over fifteen years and was due for an upgrade. The home has an open concept living area, with the living room, dining area and kitchen all laid out in one long rectangular room. One highlight of this space large living space is the beautiful beams that run the length of the room. While the ceiling height is generic, the bright white ceiling and molding details help to give it a grand feel. The offset of that was a lot of beige wood tones and Nimbus (by Benjamin Moore) gray walls, so we went for a darker cabinet color to create some much needed contrast.
Thankfully, the bones of this kitchen were solid. The cabinetry was all in great shape and constructed of solid hard wood. The only major issue was the wall where the stove and refrigerator sit. The original homeowners had built the kitchen around a studio sized refrigerator, which had since been replaced with a larger one. That meant sacrificing cabinetry, and both the bottom and upper cabinets had been removed in order to make the new refrigerator fit.
To remedy this, we installed a set of new lower cabinets and subsequently centered the stove again, shifting the entire layout 10 inches to the left. This wall is the perfect example of how a few inches of space can make an enormous difference in the look and function of a kitchen.
Before any work or planning ever began, we decided on the palette. We knew that we wanted to paint the cabinets navy blue, and went with Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore. This color was also used on the vanity in the kid’s bath and master bathroom for this project. It took four days to sand, prime, and paint all of the cabinetry in this kitchen, but the payoff was enormous.
Another area where we were able to save some money and create additional storage and functionality was the buffet. This space used to be where the home office was located, and is now one of our favorite corners of this kitchen. Here we repurposed the old lower cabinets and added two additional open shelves. Between the two lower cabinets we built a bakers wrack, which created plenty of open and closed storage for cookware, pans, bowls, and extra kitchen gadgets.
One of the greatest additions to the space was the backsplash, which we did in a 3” x 6” handmade white subway tile. This our first attempt at tiling, and while it was a learning curve, we are quite pleased with the outcome. We went with a gray grout to match with the walls and break up the white of the tiles and counters. For the counters we went with an Arctic White quartz, that has a subtle gray fleck running through it and a beautiful contrast with the navy cabinetry. We also removed the upper cabinets above the stove in favor of custom iron open shelving. This allowed for the entire wall behind the stove and refrigerator to be tiled to the soffit, and subsequently created an beautiful focal point.
We were lucky to be able to keep the original cabinet hardware, which afforded us some room in the budget to use elsewhere. One of those areas was the lighting, where we swapped out the dated pendent lights above the island for modern black pendants with classic Edison bulbs. The modern and streamlined look pairs perfectly with the iron shelving above the stove and iron brackets above the buffet. Mixing in another metal to pair with the brushed nickel adds dimensionality and interest.
This project was an enormous under taking, and provided us with enormous confidence as we move on to new projects in 2021. Learning new skills in order to bring our vision for this space to life has been the most fulfilling work. If anything, we hope this space inspires you to take on projects like this in your own home in the coming year.
Until next time!
xx Kelly