Kitchen Renovation

It has been ages and ages since I've done a Small Space Style post so I thought it was about time!


For this installment I have a kitchen renovation in a 300 square foot West Village apartment owned by Jennifer Pade. Jennifer has a diary of the complete renovation with everything from design inspiration, budget and dealing with NY co-op boards on Apartment Therapy.

I can not believe my eyes! The before photos show a crumbling kitchen with ancient appliances, almost no counter space and not even one drawer.

The final results are amazing! Jennifer used Ikea cabinets and was able to incorporate ample storage, a GE speed oven and even a dishwasher in a drawer all in a space about 8x6!

Kitchen Inspiration

I think I may have found it! This kitchen designed by Toronto's The Design Co. is closest to my absolute dream kitchen.

I instantly fell in love with this design because it has tons of my favourite details all rolled into one great space! The white cabinets, marble counters, sparkly hardware, white china, red knobs on the stove and black windows have all been on my must have list for a while now. The Saarinen table paired with the black bistro chairs are just perfect. I especially like the high contrast between the white and black and the soft grey paint. To see more of their portfolio go here.

Also, if you would like more inspiration check out my my Pinterest boards: Kitchen Ideas here, Saarinen Tables here and Black Window and Doors here.

Happy Monday everyone!

Tiny London Kitchen Renovation

It has been ages and ages since I have done a post on...

I found this kitchen before and after over on Design Sponge and fell in love with it for it's tiny proportions and because it has my favourite and black and white colour combination.  

The tiny alcove kitchen gets a fun and frugal makeover and gains tons of character, more storage and new appliances.

The dated avocado cupboards are switched out for gorgeous black lacquered door fronts and the dingy floor and wall tiles are replaced with classic white and black tiles.

The kitchen in this 1930's flat had last been renovated in the 1960's.

Find other small spaces here, here and here.

Benjamin Moore Kitchen

I saw this kitchen featured on home day on City Line last week; it is part of the Benjamin Moore Colour Trends 2013 Home. I thought it was a good example of the power of paint. As you can see it is a suburban home with a typical kitchen layout that you have probably seen a million times.

Before...I don't really mind it. I would of added a white marble subway tile back splash, removed the fan and put up a cool hanging fixture, swapped out the chairs and added a graphic print in the form of Romans on the windows.

Afters:
Here are the two looks that the people at Benjamin Moore tried...I like everything about this look, but not the ceiling. I would have left the ceiling white.According to the colour forecasters yellow and blue is making a come back. Not the French Provincial combination of the 90's, but deeper tones like the ones below.

Ceiling: Marblehead gold  HC-11   
Walls:  Polo Blue 2062-10

  


The next look is good too. If you are renting or living in a space where you can't tile the back splash adding a modern and graphic stencil is a good alternative.

Ceiling:  Sparrow  AF-720
Walls:  Camouflage 2143-40

House Shopping and A Question

We have been casually looking for a new home for the past six months or so. There are two things that are making the decision of whether to stay or move very difficult. Firstly, we don't have to move, our home is perfectly fine. Secondly and most importantly, the prices in this part of the country are out of control. There is very little inventory in what would be considered the next level up for us. Most newer homes that are for sale now are way, way over a million dollars. Sometimes it becomes very discouraging. This is an example of what I am talking about...

 $850,000.00  Cute, but way too small.

 Where's the house? This is what you get for $799,000.00.

Or if you have a really big wallet or a sugar daddy you can have this hot mess for the measly sum of

$16,500,000.00.  No that is not a typo-that is sixteen and a half million. I kid you not! Oh, and by the way it is only 3 miles from the house above.

I would have to be payed at least 20 mill to live in this....a little too much for my tastes!

 The good news is we happened upon an open house on Sunday in one of our top neighborhoods and we were pleasantly surprised by a lovely new home on a great street just off the lake. I really liked almost everything about the house, but here is the problem....

I don't love the kitchen. I really wanted a new home with a kitchen that I adored. (as I type this I wonder if it even exists) The arrows point to the problems. I definitely wanted an industrial stove, the black faucet, light fixture, granite and hardware are not doing it for me. And the thing I dislike the most is the back splash; way too stripy.

Here is my question...Do you think I could change everything but the granite and achieve a kitchen that is light and bright with a bit of sparkle???

So readers please give me suggestions. Leave them in the comments section or if you prefer to comment by email please do. I would so appreciate the help!

Here are a few other shots

 Family Room

Back porch and yard.

 Thanks,

  Lisa