Our Kitchen Renovation

When we first moved into this house at the end of 2020, this kitchen was the death of me. It was very old and very grungy. So old in fact, that the hood range was from the 60’s and the fridge was from the late 80’s. It was a narrow kitchen that didn’t have enough room to add an island without taking down the main wall. Which I thought heavily about. In the end, I chose to leave majority of it up because I feel open concept living is heading out of trend. We also took out all the soffits throughout the space. That alone opened the space tremendously.

I wanted this kitchen to have an organic feel to it with natural textures. I absolutely love the look of soapstone. So, I knew it had to be the main feature of the kitchen. Alongside that amazing blue grey Ilve stove, of course.

I designed this entire kitchen around this beautiful stove. I originally wanted dark cabinets and lighter Quartzite countertops. Until I came across this stove in THIS color. I then built a design that would best show off the color and style of the Ilve stove. With that, lighter cabinets were a must with a strong contrast. The black soapstone countertops with the stained wood accents tied this space together better than I could have ever imagined.

I have always loved the look wood fluting gives to a space and knew I had to incorporate it. I decided to wrap it around the island and stain it ‘weathered oak’. I incorporate stained accents through out the kitchen to tie it all together with mainly using the pantry, island and sink cabinet.

We added automatic shades on the windows from Budget Blinds (in Scottsdale, AZ) and are very impressed with them. There is a battery-operated panel that inserts right into an electrical wall plate, along with an app on your phone. We also put blackout versions in our bedrooms and thoroughly enjoy them. Check out all the kitchen details below.