Bayfield Cottage Kitchen Makeover

"I am excccccessively fond of a cottage." - Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Here's the photos of our kitchen from the previous owners. These were professional photos, so the kitchen actually looks better than it did in real life. Photoshop is an amazing tool. Just say'in. ;)

Again, previous owners when the house was for sale. Now, there is nothing wrong with this kitchen at all. It's functional and gets the job done, but it's just not us. Way to boring and not enough cozy cottage feel. We knew we wanted a white kitchen and after two and half years of living here, it was time.

Also, we never liked this area to the right of the fridge. It was awkward and frankly a waste of space. We like having a pantry. Not that we have tons of food, but we like all of our food items to be in one place and organized. I don't like wasting food and I feel if I can see what I have in one place then, I will use what I have and not waste.

So, I contacted the same people, Hollingsworth Cabinetry, who did our custom bookcase in the living room, which we really love.

They are true craftspeople and it shows in the quality of their work. I had them draw up a custom pantry to fit that awkward space.

We had to wait about a month for the cabinet to be built, which gave David plenty of time for demolition.

He found these pictures behind the cabinet. I think the older lady was the second owner of the house. We are the fourth owners.

Here's how it looked after demolition of the cabinets and tile. The hardwood is solid white oak, which was popular back in 2001 when it was built.

Even though the wall would be covered by the new pantry, David couldn't stand not making it perfect. ;)

Our pantry arrived right after Halloween.

Roll our shelves. Yaaaay!!

Next, starting on November 7th, David took down all the doors and sanded them and the cabinet frames. Yes, it was a large, giant, huge MESS even with plastic covering everything and blocking off rooms!

He then spent the next few weeks painting the doors and frames. I got new knobs and pulls and then, the weekend before Christmas, he removed the booger backsplash with the ugly grey grout. They had adhered it to the sheetrock and boy oh boy did that get destroyed taking the tile off. Yet again, another large MESS!

After a gazillion trips to the store for tile samples and not liking one single thing, I decided I was going to trust my gut and go "old school" with a simple beadboard backsplash. Plus, it only cost $54 for the entire thing instead of $2500. Yaaaay!

Our island already had beadboard around it and also the end of the lower cabinet near the sink. So, I had David add a piece of beadboard to the end of the upper cabinet to make it cohesive.

Next it was time to add some crown moulding to the top of the cabinets. This takes them from looking like boxes to looking like high end and custom.

David bought a special mitering tool and it worked great! Everything fit perfectly!

Hi honey! Looking good! :)

Then, I got another wild hare idea and decided that the end of the top cabinet looked a little boring. If you remember from the photos at the top, the previous owners had photos hanging there. Well, I decided we needed three little shelves instead to put some "what nots" on. hee,hee,hee. David did a great job building them and making the edges curve. Once everything was secure, he painted them the same white.

My next big idea was to address this sad looking window. It needed something to make it look more important instead of just a box.

So, I had David add a crown moulding shelf above the window.

It brings your eye up and makes the window look finished. Pretty huh?

Then, I really wanted a new stove. The one that was here was 18 years old and while it worked, it had some issues. Also, I'm a Vegetarian of 11 years and David is not. I love this stove because I can cook two different things that need different temperatures at the same time. Like roasted veggies with balsamic seasonings for me and chicken tenders for David (yes, he eats like a toddler). Plus, it's just the two of us and the little oven on top is perfect when we don't need to heat up an entire oven. :)

So after all my dreaming, pondering and designing and then all of David's incredible hard work to make it a reality (he really is amazing), I absolutely love how my little cottage kitchen turned out.

I would love to change out the countertops to a lighter, warm color, but the budget has to wait another few years for that. However, I did get some new stools and the warm texture they add and the fact that they slip under the counter, out of the way, was just a perfect finishing touch for now.

The leaf and bird piece on the island is handmade by my dear friend and talented artist, Natascha Rieper. It was a gift to myself this year, but David really likes it too.

This is actually a media cabinet from Pottery Barn, but it stores all our extra platters, place mats, etc. It breaks up the kitchen from being "all white cabinets." Sabrina even has her Italian pottery bowls in the kitchen. She deserves fancy dinnerware after all those years living outside and being homeless.

I like the element of a furniture piece mixed in with cabinetry.

Preparing food in there and eating it here"Sparks Joy."

Yes, I am truly fond of a cottage, especially my little Bayfield Cottage surrounded by trees and under Carolina blue skies. I count my blessings every single day.

See ya back here next week!

Light, Love and Hugs,
Michelle