My best gift this year was remodeling the kitchen in our new (to us!) 1968 Tudor-style home. Originally, the plan was to save up to do a project this big but after just a few short months cooking in the kitchen with one light above and a refrigerator practically on top of the stove, I knew that was not going to happen if I was going to live here and entertain friends and family the way I wanted to when we moved here.

My goal was a family-friendly space with lots of light, as the large window in the breakfast area looks out onto the screened-in porch so it's pretty dim here on the north side of the house. I wanted classic as a bow to the Tudor-style and for a style that will last but with modern appeal. We were also on a reasonable budget so we were not going to spend the earth on this remodel.

You can see that the biggest difference came when we removed the soffit and upper cabinets, and eliminating the peninsula to create an open feel with more light and a better traffic pattern. We relocated the fridge and a pantry into one of two large closets in the hallway adjacent to the cooking area to create cabinet and counter space on either side of the range with a double-oven and microwave above. The perimeter cabinetry is a coffee-glazed maple and the island (distressed black-painted cherry) has three stools my three kids use daily in addition to tons of storage and work space and built-in garbage drawer. The pulls are all oil-rubbed bronze with copper accents so they can be seen better on the black of the island.

The floor was the greatest dilemma as it was carpeted in the kitchen (yes, carpet) when we moved in. We wanted it to flow into the adjacent foyer and hallways and powder room but didn't want more hardwood like in the adjacent living, dining and family rooms. My husband spent three days with an air hammer removing the mustard hexagonal tiles and underlayment from the foyer and powder room to make way for a new subfloor and then beautiful travertine tile laid in a brick pattern for a bit of interest. My contractor about killed me over the floor (as I was originally going to go with ceramic) but even he admitted it looked great when he was done with the over 500 sq. ft. 10 days later.

After about 15 samples of random shades of green paint testers for the walls, I turned to Houzz to look at green rooms and discovered Benjamin Moore's Dill Pickle for the walls. This worked perfectly with the red accents I wanted in the room and the fresh, bright feel I was looking for to bring life into a darker room. So happy with the final result! Thought I'd share for anyone needing ideas for their space in case anything inspired like the pictures I used on Houzz when I was designing.