New Kitchen, Who Dis?

So, anything new with you? Summer’s my downtime, which made it the perfect season for a brand-new kitchen! It came about quickly when I was chatting with my friend Violet of Violet’s Designs about how much I wanted her to design a new kitchen for me. We were heading back from a photo shoot I did of some of the fantastic spaces she’d crafted for her clients, and we both just got really excited talking about it. The next thing I knew, we were taking measurements and looking at materials, and the whole project came together so seamlessly, it truly felt “meant to be.”

Let’s take a before-and-after tour while I tell you about it.

At the very top of my list were the non-negotiables that had to be updated:

• Remove the soffit and extend the cabinets up to the ceiling to maximize storage space

• Get rid of the awful orange peel textured walls

• And lose my nemesis — the dreaded corner butterfly sink, which not only wasn’t very functional, but took up a ridiculous amount of room in a kitchen already lacking in counter space

While we were still in the planning stages, Violet brought in Hector Menendez of Menendez Contracting, whose team did this work. I’d resigned myself to keeping the exact footprint of the old kitchen, but he suggested just a few modest moves to maximize space and functionality:

• Getting rid of half of the hallway closet to the right of the refrigerator to create a pantry

• Sliding the stove, dishwasher, and sink to the left so the sink could live under the window

Regarding materials, I was pretty open. We went with lower-end cabinets from Empire Stoneworks & Cabinetry because Gil and I don’t really put too much stress on them, but they’ve exceeded my expectations. They’re solidly built, the drawers extend fully, and everything has soft-close hardware. I opted for tip-out trays at the sink so I can store my scrubbers and gloves to keep the area looking neat, and low-profile pulls to keep the vertical surfaces uncluttered.

We kept all of our appliances because they’re still in good shape, so that saved a bit of money. Over the years, I’ve done “wishful thinking” research on kitchens, so I knew that I wanted soapstone for our main countertop, but went back and forth over the peninsula material, finally settling on a beautiful walnut butcher block from Floor & Decor, which I’m in the process of finishing with tung oil. Again, it’s just the two of us, so I don’t expect we’ll be terribly abusive to the surfaces. I went with both soapstone and tung oil-finished butcher block because they’re gorgeous, fairly low maintenance, and best of all — low sheen. Which means you’ll probably be seeing my kitchen in upcoming photoshoots! I went down the rabbit hole on wood finishes and settled on tung oil because it won’t be a reflective nightmare in photos, ease of application and touch-ups and how it lets the beauty and feel of the wood shine through. Although it’s food safe and can be used on cutting boards, that wasn’t much of a consideration, since I won’t be cutting directly on the surface. Nor will Gil, if he knows what’s good for him.

Violet and I took at trip to Tile Store USA in Totowa, NJ and found several tiles I liked for the walls, but when we saw this Saloni Roxy Perla pattern, we both just knew this was the one. I love the large scale of both the pattern and the tiles themselves, which meant easier installation and much less grout for me to keep clean. Also, it’s just a little bit different. If left to my own devices, I probably would’ve just gone with subway tile, but I’m so glad I had the services of a professional interior designer to show me bolder options that I didn’t even know existed.

What used to be my most hated area of the kitchen is now a favorite. That corner butterfly sink was the bane of my existence for almost 20 years, and I’m pretty sure Gil went along with this renovation just to shut me up about it. I don’t even care. Washing dishes is almost a pleasure now. I haven’t seen any bears ambling by just yet, but I’m sure I will before too long.

Also, get a load of the outlets — they’re on the underside of the upper cabinets! Along with LED strip lighting that allows me to change color temperature, they’re two of my favorite little features that make my life just a tiny bit better. And the pendant is just the perfect piece of jewelry to finish the kitchen.

But some of my favorite convenience features weren’t even high-end — they came from Amazon. (Links below are of the affiliate variety, which may earn me a small commission if you click them.)

• Heavy-duty pull-out shelves that hold up to 100 lbs and fit perfectly over the refrigerator. They hold items we don’t need everyday, but are still useful to keep nearby. There are a lot of different sizes to choose from, so I may get a small one for under the bathroom sink at some point. Because I’m short, I had to get a new taller step ladder to reach the top shelf!

• My in-drawer knife block cleared a lot of space from our countertop.

• These drawer dividers were an impulse buy, but they’ve really helped me to corral my little kitchen gadgets. I got them in two sizes – 2.5” high for the smaller drawer and 6” high for the two larger drawers below.

• And I love my under-sink garbage can pull-out. We used to keep a large garbage can standing in the corner and it was good enough to have something I could move around, but it’s just a lot nicer to keep this out of sight.

At the very end of the project, Hector built these floating shelves for me, which are on both sides of the stove. I opted to keep them a natural wood color so they’d blend into the background rather than stand out in a walnut stain. I keep my salts and pepper in cute jars to the left, so they’re easy to access while I’m cooking. The bottles at the top of this pic hold my cooking oils (olive, avocado and rice bran) and the lower shelf holds some of my ridiculously large spice collection, at least the ones I use most often, including a lot of blends I make myself. It’s also the perfect height to read recipes on my iPad, without worrying about getting food on it while I’m cooking. The large rotating ceramic crock replaces the two utensil caddies I had before, again (say it with me now) clearing space on my countertop.

I’m just so happy to be done with it and to have such a lovely, functional space. The whole process took six weeks, but half of that was spent waiting to get on the soapstone provider’s schedule for measuring, fabrication and installation. One of the nice things about having such a small kitchen is that we were able to get away with using just a portion of a remnant, which was very budget-friendly.

If you’re considering any renovations to your house, I highly recommend Violet’s Designs and Menendez Contracting. Violet’s creativity and know-how are unmatched and Hector’s attention to detail and professionalism made what had the potential to be a frustrating six weeks a lot easier to handle, even working from home.