When we bought our house, it had been on the market for a while. The whole house was built in 1979 and had been meticulously maintained, but never really updated. Considering how hot the Seattle market is, I think people walked in and were overwhelmed with the amount of updates it would require. We saw past that and saw the layout, the property, the location, and the view and fell in love. After the price was dropped enough to make it worthwhile, we bought the house and moved into in December 2015. My dad and I refreshed the upstairs by ripping up all the carpet and installing wood like tile, removing the old brown doors and trim, new carpet in bedrooms, updating fixtures, and renovated the guest bath. We then sold our house in Texas and used the 7 years of equity to pay for a full kitchen remodel.

The kitchen had a lot of design issues. It had a dropped ceiling, the “U” shaped design with upper cabinets that blocked the eating area, a very narrow entry, and a sectioned off dining room to name a few. While functional, it was terrible to use and entertain with.

We decided to go with IKEA on the recommendation of some friends and seeing some of their finished kitchens. We liked the features and price point of their products plus they had a 15% gift card back sale lowering the price considerably. Home Depot was going to be more to just resurface our current kitchen and layout which was about half the cabinets we ended up using in our build. We also liked the idea that will little ones, we could replace fronts easily and quickly if they were damaged.

Originally we used the IKEA in house designers. They came and looked at the kitchen and built out a mediocre kitchen. They didn’t have any big ideas to change things and worked within the current constraints of the kitchen. Not satisfied with the results, we hired a non-IKEA employed designer who specializes in IKEA products. She thought outside the box and brought lots of great ideas. She removed one of the main windows and relocated the sink to another wall to give us a huge back cooking wall. She decided on the pony wall at the end of the island to give a small separation feel to the kitchen and dining room.

Some other changes we made were to take down the wall between the kitchen and dining room, remove the hall pantry to open up the entry, add gas for range (my favorite feature), prep sink, adding a warming drawer and beverage center, all under cabinet LEDs, all power under the cabinets and not the walls, and add a butcher block section to the island. The butcher block was a compromise. I always wanted butcher block but my wife wasn’t keen on the idea. While searching for granite that would cover the whole 10’7” island in one slab (a jumbo slab), we can across a quartz we loved. It didn’t come in a jumbo slab so after some negotiating, she agreed to the section at the end near the prep to be butcher block. This allowed us to get the quartz she loved and the butcher block I wanted.

Another cool feature is the featured backsplash. It uses a system called “Kitchen Pallete” that allows us to switch out the featured section inside the rope tiles easily and quickly. You simple push to release the old pallete, move it out, tile a new pallete and install it. It allows us to refresh the kitchen when we feel and be creative

We started 8 weeks ago and the project came on time and budget. We still have a few minor things to touch up, fix, or add (such as floating shelves to the right of the kitchen door and covering up the other brick wall with reclaimed wood), but it is now functional and we have used to actually cook in. I love my new kitchen. As someone who loves to cook, I am finally excited to cook again. I shared the layout with people here and got some great feedback and some naysayers who said the design was poor. We took some suggestions to heart and went with our gut/advice from our designer. In the end, we have a great kitchen that works amazing for us. If you are doing a kitchen, definitely get feedback, but don’t be afraid to do what works for you J

Below are some of the materials we used in the build. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you to all who gave advice during this adventure!

Cabinets- IKEA Sektion and Bodbyn white doors

Countertop – Pental Vellum

Butcherblock – John Boos blended walnut with oil finish

Backsplash – Pental Moda Vetro Cultural Brick ES07

Featured Tile: Porcelanosa Glacier Moon Metallic Creamas

Featured Tile Pallete System – Kitchen Pallete

Flooring - Montagna Gunstock 6 in. x 24 in. Glazed Porcelain

Hardware: Amerock BP1586WN Inspirations Knob in Weather Nickel and Amerock BP1590WN Inspirations 3in Pull in Weathered Nickel.

Pendant Lights: Elk Lighting Brooksdale Pendant in Satin Nickel

Before Pictures: