Kitchen Progress- Montrose Project

It officially took me a whole four weeks into the new year to fail at my resolution/goal of posting one blog each week!!! Seriously, where has the month of February gone?!? I have a lot of exciting projects going on right now that I can’t wait to start sharing with you, but today I’m going to revisit the our project on Morse Street that I shared last time. The plan is to add a contemporary edge to this more traditional home, starting in the kitchen.

From the start of this project, my client’s number one request was to extend the island out larger. Since we were planning to replace the countertops, we thought we would add legs and extend the countertop out, but after looking at the storage provided by the island (only two utensil drawers and a single cabinet below each), we decided that rather than trying to retrofit the existing island it would be better to design a new one that provided ample storage. We made the island almost twice the size of the original and then added five large drawers on one side and three drawers and one larger cabinet with a deep pullout on the other. The side where the gas cooktop will be located has two utensil drawers on either side. We lost the cabinets below these drawers to allow for the larger drawers on the side which function better. We then added legs out beyond the base of the island to allow for barstools to be pulled up on three sides. While this island is massive, it still feels proportionate to the space and provides the entertaining space the homeowner desired. 

Custom island 

Painters busy working on the ceilings

The island will be painted dark gray to add some contrast to the white cabinets on the perimeter of the kitchen. While the original dark brown marble counters and tumbled travertine backsplash were not bad choices, they did not fit the light, bright clean lines my client was wanting. The countertops will be replaced with a white based granite with various shades of gray and little touches of maroon. To compliment the dark gray island, I selected a charcoal gray, beveled glass subway tile, which bounces the light around the room. The homeowner wanted a large, single basin sink and a more modern faucet. We went with a stainless steel farmhouse-style sink and a tall, industrial faucet. 

Backsplash demo!!! Original countertops + sink/faucet

Granite slab--love the movement on the stone

Backsplash compliments the granite beautifully

Island color

The fireplace in the connected family room is also getting a makeover. The original fireplace mantle did not feel proportionate to the size of the room and the ceiling height so we knew that needed to be addressed right away. The plan is to remove the mantle and tile the entire center portion of the fireplace with a modern gray tile. Code requires a non-combustible material in front of a gas or wood-burning fireplace, so we will use a dark slate tile on the floor so there is little contrast against the dark hardwood floors in the room. The built-ins also felt far too traditional so we decided to keep the base cabinets and replace the upper portion with floating shelves for a cleaner look. The base cabinets will be painted the same dark gray as the island and the floating shelves will be stained a lighter gray. 

12x24" tile for fireplace wall-- great texture and shimmer 

Classic gray stain for the floating shelves

Slate for the floor in front of the fireplace

That's all I have for today. Next time I will be sharing the kitchen with the replaced countertops and installed backsplash. It’s such a transformation from the original design. And wait until you see all the fabulous wallpaper that we are using in this home- it will knock your socks off! In the coming weeks I’ll also be introducing a few new projects I have working right now as well. So many good things- can’t wait to get you all up to speed!