We just finished opening up and completely re-doing our kitchen. Completely changed the feel of our house and is great for entertaining and cooking, couldn't be happier. We designed it all ourselves and we had a contractor do most of the construction- we finish plastered, primed and painted, plus a little help from dad on a few things.

BEFORE: We had a wall in between our dining and living rooms in an otherwise traditional but open living area (we live in a 1929 New England Two-Family with a bungalow-type layout common in this area). Our kitchen was big enough that people could congregate there when we entertained, but it didn't make it easy to work and I always felt I had my back to the conversation.

We had a door going from the kitchen to a hall the bedrooms are off of, but never used it because another door inches away in the dining room led to the same space. Having only 12 inches on either side of the stove was a major pain for cooking. Note the old ironing board cabinet (turned spice cabinet).

AFTER: We tore down the wall and gutted the kitchen. It's great for entertaining now and we love spending time around the kitchen. You can actually see completely through the whole length of our house between tearing the wall down and replacing the back door with full pane glass.

We splurged on the counters since we loved soapstone- we were a little worried about the softness, but my dad has soapstone and they've aged nicely- the scratches and dings almost look like they should be there. We actually ended up with a soapstone called "Noire" that has more shale and less talc in it so it's surprisingly hard. Only small scratches so far rub right out when we wax them (this is the most satisfying work to do around the kitchen so we don't mine it!) We love how the cherry bar top softens up the white and black of the kitchen, my dad made it and it is probably our favorite part.

Sink: Kohler Whitehaven - LOVE this sink. It's a "fake" farmers sink because it can fit over a standard sink cabinet, isn't a sink bowl sticking out but the apron is so nice- makes it much easier to do dishes and I love the size and durability (it is iron instead of most farmers sinks that are clay- I got nervous about a disposal cracking the clay). It goes deeper than the apron does.

Counters: Dorado Soapstone - Noire

Faucet: Kohler Carmichael

Tile: Fireclay 3X6 field in white wash

Grout: Natural Gray

Kitchen hardware: Restoration Hardware- ephram pull (6 and 8"), traditional glass knob in polished nickel

Cabinets: Cabinet Giant Ice White Shaker RTA (this is where we went more budget friendly, but they're really nice- painted, soft close, dovetail joints, no particle board)

Bar Top: Custom made by my dad- 3 2in thick solid cherry planks (but you really can't tell it's three pieces - looks like one solid piece, wood is expensive! Another splurge there, but I just didn't like the butcher block in such a prominent place), finished with Tung Oil. Thanks Dad!

Dining room paint: Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue

Kitchen Paint: Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

Pendant Lights: Old railroad insulators via etsy with some brass couplings added from home depot

We moved the tall shallow cabinet beside the fridge to this new location- it's an original to the house ironing-board cabinet that was in the wall we took down. We cut the wood ironing board to make shelves and use it as a spice cabinet. It's GREAT storage and has so much character. We're going to paint it a light sage green. The light now streams through the back door and we have great storage in the built-ins in the pantry, topped with a salad-bowl finished cherry butcher-block from Lumber Liquidators (there we went budget... still love it).

Space to work beside the stove!! I also love not having the microwave over the stove, adds so much to how it feels and looks more luxurious. We ran the duct outside while we had the ceiling open. Really appreciate it. We moved the microave (same one) to a shelf in the back hall where it fits perfectly, looks built in. Love the tall cabinets even though I can't reach the top shelf. We lost a little bit of upper cabinet space and moved food into the right cabinet. We keep plates/bowls in one of these big drawers and it working great for us. A few months later we still have partially empty cabinets/drawers :-)

Stools: we had a hard time finding any tall enough for such a tall bar, but I found these "National Public Seating" school supply industrial stools that work perfect and were only $30 a piece. I thought I was going to paint them a fun color, but like them how they are for now.

We love how there's still separation between the two rooms and we could maintain the wainscoting in the dining room. We really wanted to keep with the character of our house.

Thanks for looking!