kitchen reveal

I know I promised this yesterday, but the kitchen was a mess the whole day. I was of course waiting for the kitchen to be spotless and kid-less to take the pictures...that never happened.

I realized that the kitchen is always the most clean first thing in the morning, so I took the pics while the kids were eating breakfast. Hence the pop-tart box on the island, placemats, etc.

Remember before?

New granite, backsplash, paint, and window valances.

I am completely in love with the tile. I found it on overstock.com


I installed it myself, which saved me a cool $500-$600 install price. The tile itself was only $300, and I bought a wet saw as opposed to renting one, just because I knew I had to work on the tile whenever I had the time. I didn't have a full day to just focus on tiling.


It took me 3 weeks to complete.

I bought the saw from Lowes for $89. Best money I ever spent. I made about 350 cuts, and it is still going strong!


Because the tile did not have a finished edge, I had to install trim pieces on the top around the window and on the edges.


I also bought new outlet covers. The cheap plastic ones just didn't cut it once the pretty tile was in place.

I bought the huge drum pendant over the kitchen sink from Ballard Designs. It was one of those adapter kits - all that was there before was a recessed light. Sure I could have gone with a smaller size, but why?

I went with a really dark brown paint on the walls. The kitchen feels so bright now with the glossy white tile and shiny countertops (not to mention all the windows), so I was ready to do something "wow".

The paint "wow"s me! I love it.

So, here is where I am today.



Deciding whether or not to paint this wall the dark brown also.

It's just paint, right? I'm thinking of trying it out...

And just because they were so good and cute:


Oh, and thank you Country Living for the reminder:

There it is, folks! Hope you have a great day.

I have also made a few changes to the dining room...will post that soon.