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Kitchen Remodel Update: The Cabinets Arrived!

by | Dec 1, 2016 | Decorating Inspiration, My Kitchen, My Small Kitchen Remodel

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Kitchen Remodel Update: The Cabinets Arrived!

Thank you all for your excitement over my kitchen design board, you make sharing this project so much fun. As you can imagine, I was SO thrilled to see the cabinets and the sink finally brought in! This is just a quick peek so you’ll know our cabinets arrived, but rest assured, you’ll get to see the finished product in the big reveal.

Also, remember that our plan is for the walls and ceiling to be painted white wood (even though what you see here currently is blue plaster walls and the unfinished wood ceiling).

Kitchen Remodel Update: The Cabinets Arrived!

Yes, this is us being our ridiculous selves. We can’t help it. As soon as the contractor left for the day, Courtney and I brought in dish towels and accessories and held up hardware and then took pictures of everything because WE COULD! Hahahah. Random, I know. I found the gray striped towels from Trader Joe’s, by the way, and the buffalo checks are from here. The cute wood measuring spoons are from Polder’s Old World Market.

We discovered our sink corners had cracked in the box during shipping, so it didn’t get fully installed. That was a disappointment, but the contractor went ahead and used the damaged sink to build the frame for it in the cabinet so at least we got to visualize how awesome it will be! We taped up the cracks in the porcelain since my contractor cut his hand on it. Now we are waiting for a replacement (for the sink, not his hand…his hand is still intact, thank goodness). Friday a template will be made for our countertops and our hardware will be installed. The countertops will be installed in about a week!

Kitchen Remodel Update: The Cabinets Arrived!

I’ve been so happy with how every detail came together this week. I always worry that a decision is going to be wrong, or something won’t look quite as good as I imagined it would in my mind. But so far this room feels just as light, efficient and beautiful as I hoped it would and maybe even better. Big sigh of relief.

If you’ve remodeled or built a house, tell me you’ve styled your kitchen before it was finished, too :-D.

Related Posts:

My Kitchen Design Board

Faucet and Farmhouse Sink Round Up

5 Ways to Update Your Kitchen Without A Major Remodel

51 Comments

  1. Cristina Festa

    I just finished my kitchen remodel a few weeks ago. My styling is farmhouse modern. I have white Shaker cabinets, with white subway tile backsplash with grey grout. On the floors I did 12×24 dark grey tile with grey grout. I have a long island with 2 wooden pendants. For styling I have a wooden rustic sign hanging over the entry that says HOME. I have a 3 tiered black tray that hold fruit. I tried to keep the stuff on the counters to a minimum. I bought drawer butcher blocks so the knives would not be left out and instead of keeping the cooking utensils out also I have them in the drawers near the stove. Love it so much better.

  2. Shelly

    So excited for you!!! I’ve never commented here before, but your dish towels just cracked me up and hit home so much I just had to! We’re renovating an almost 200 year old house right now and even though basically every room in the house is in shambles I’m forever over there trying out different throw pillow combinations, bringing knick knacks from my current house and styling them on the built ins in the living room…My husband thinks I’m a bit crazy but so much yes to styling before a house is finished:)

  3. Kay

    HA! Totally stage things midway through a remodel! (Kind of had to because our re-do is now in its 4th year!) Our most recent room completion is a bathroom with that same navy gingham check wallpaper! LOVE! I am going to order that pair of navy check dish towels + make a pillow for our adjacent bedroom! FUN! TY for the inspiration!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Ha, four years is a long time but I relate. Glad you found inspiration today, Kay! Enjoy the towels.

  4. Shannon k

    Are your ceilings 8 foot? I’m just curious if I would be able to incorporate an arch in my doorway? Looks fabulous

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Thanks! Yes, they are. I wondered the same thing about fitting in the arch, but it turned out great! Standard height ceilings are so cozy, I love them and I love how the space feels with the arch. It gives the room a bit more height and movement with the rounded top!

  5. Sarah

    Love the wooden spoon set! Can you share where it’s from?

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Yes, aren’t they darling? They are from Polder’s Old World Market, I just realized I left the source link off above, so I added it below the sink photo where I had the towel source. Thank you!

      • Joanne B.

        I too loved the wooden spoon set. But $299? That was a very harsh realization that while I really, really, do enjoy your blog and your sharing the renovations and decorating style in your home, I venture to say you and I are millions of miles away! I suddenly came to the harsh realization that even if I did someday decide to treat myself with a wooden spoon set for $299 (and that is not going to happen any time soon!) that would not be sitting in a drawer of my newly renovated kitchen with a refrigerator and stove that alone close to 10K. My husband and I live in what I think/always thought was a very nice, comfortable home. We make above the average annual salary but we are unable to re-do our entire home and get new everything and have multiple projects going at the same time, let alone justify a single solitary $299. set of wooden spoons. I realize this is YOUR job and I’m sure you do very well (that’s obvious) but visiting you blog today is just a reminder that I am simply not able to keep up with all I see on your one blog, let alone the others I follow as well. But yet you are a real person, just like me, who managed to create a small empire. Most of us don’t have the resources (economic or otherwise) to do this, and I am envious of your success, who wouldn’t be? Viewing your blog (as well as others) is like thumbing through the old Sears Christmas Wish Book when I was a child- and dreaming of getting this and that- it’s just not real. I don’t even know why I am writing this. I understand totally that this is your business and you have to keep changing it up to stay current. And it is a job I would not even want- you work hard and deserve all you have I suppose. And I DO still enjoy looking and will continue to do so! I suppose my problem is, after I close my laptop, trying to muster some excitement over my very nice yet 10 year old remodeled kitchen (with a frig that is a ticking time bomb and doesn’t match the dishwasher we replaced a few years ago) and my 20 year old living room furniture. I suppose I could get a few new dish towels to spruce up the kitchen and a couple of new throw pillows to jazz up the sofa, but somehow, it’s just not the same, is it? So while I DO enjoy your blog and your home- both are beautiful and a comfortable place to visit- the challenge remains: to be happy with what I have- and believe me- I am- but is is becoming increasingly difficult to remain so when the internet is teaming with blogs that encourage us to be happy with what we have and make it work when we are also shown brand new shiny kitchens we just can’t have. I think I get it now though- it is a matter of us doing as you say in your series of books- to enjoy what we have and create a comfortable home, but not as you do. And that is just not real. No hard feelings though! I will still visit daily, but I realize I am going to really have to work on separating myself from your reality and mine.

        • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

          Hi Joanne, thank you for sharing your heart. I never want anyone to feel less than encouraged here. To address the spoons, they were a gift to me from the owner, I would likely never be able to afford or choose to buy them for myself on a whim. :) But the family who gave them to me has a small business just like I do and I love to support them and I do think their products are a beautiful gift to offer someone or a gift to receive. If you wanted a special hand-crafted wedding, anniversary gift or Christmas gift they would be a treasure for a lifetime. I think quality gifts are special!

          I know how you feel as I often feel the same way about what seems to me like excess when I look through Instagram (I’ve shared that here before on the blog) because I follow some designers who have incredible houses and projects to work on on what seems like endless budgets. I can find myself feeling envious or discouraged about my 1950s one story and a basement ranch when my dream is a glorious rambling shingled home or a beautiful farmhouse with a charming setting and exterior facade!

          But I do try to just find the inspiration I can take away on my own budget. I deal with many of the same things you do. We don’t all have the same budgets or circumstances, but we can always find others who can do more than we could ever dream to, and obviously there will be people who do less either by choice or circumstance. As a blogger I can’t design everything I do or share fit everyone’s budget, but I do try to stay authentic and true to my principles and share the how and why of my decisions and try my best to give as many alternatives as I can for any budget.

          We splurge sometimes and scrimp and save sometimes. I try to get the most bang for my buck. We sit at the same 20 year old rickety dining room table we’ve had all along and my mom gave us her bed so we didn’t have to buy one ourselves!

          My hope is that you’d look past what you might see as NOT possible for yourself to see what is as you hear my heart, my motivation to be a good steward of what I have and see the reasonable choices I make to find contentment with everything I do (in light of my own limited options or sometimes ability to make a purchase) and find the inspiration there.

          You might remember this house wasn’t my dream house at all. I can get envious of bloggers or friends who live in less expensive parts of the country and have big glorious homes to live in and photograph. They paid a fraction of what we have to pay here for something that doesn’t begin to compare, but I work on being content and feeling blessed that I have a home. My home isn’t fancy at all. I have to live with my 1950s pink bathtub and sink and mint green tiles with grout that attracts the dirt! I wish that tub and sink was new and shiny, but I try to clean it and be grateful anyway. I don’t have a master suite with a incredible tub under a crystal chandelier. We don’t have a darling powder room, we share our pink and mint dated bathroom with our guests!

          You might remember that I had big aspirations and ideas of redoing my whole house at one point. I particularly dreamed about removing walls and making a larger kitchen. But in the end, I did what we often have to do. I looked at my budget and my goals and realized I needed to get back to reality. I not only didn’t have the funds for an incredible makeover of our kitchen,but even if someone would have come to me and said they wanted to sponsor my whole house makeover and it wouldn’t cost me a dime, I wanted to stay true to what I would do as a normal non-blogging person. My house is modest, so I kept the kitchen in the same place, left it the same modest size, and worked within the same layout so I could maximize my budget but not go crazy with the expenses. I bought a $175 faucet (even though my dream one was $1800), it was cheaper than the spoons! :)

          As far as the whole house makeover, remember I still have big dreams of redoing our fireplace. But for now, we settle for paint. I wanted to put planking in the hall but we just painted it white instead. I want to refinish our floors but we just use rugs to make it work. I had to rip out our driveway to replace the sewer which we knew as a part of our purchase, and we did a little bit extra concrete work in our side yard at the same time. But because I needed to get on to my kitchen project, I can’t afford to finish it all outside yet! As soon as I save up to do it, we’ll add railings to our side porch and a gate to our fence. It’s not an overnight project that’s for sure. The only other project we are doing right now is replacing the worn carpet downstairs and we added a small wall so I could have an office as a place where I can continue to work and pay the bills.

          Even if I do have the opportunity to work with a brand on a project or get something for our house, it isn’t just a luxury. I work my tail off on this blog so I have to get paid somehow to support our family, just like everyone else. :) I still choose what projects I do with care and real life in mind, no crazy luxuries in this house.

          So all that to say, I hope you see the heart and reality behind what you find here. I hope you will continue to find inspiration and know just like you, I’m trying to find contentment with what we can’t change and am so grateful for what we have the opportunity to do.

          • Joanne B.

            Thanks Melissa, for replying back to my ‘rant’. I know everything you say is so true and I do feel blessed to have what we do. It is comforting to know that you too question how to stay balanced sometimes! Maybe you need to tell us more about the old, undone, not so perfect stuff too! I really appreciate your kind answer and now I am feeling kind of seemingly ungrateful for the blessings we do have, but I know in my heart I am happy with all that I do have and for now, our home fits us. But I tell you what! We are planning on downsizing in the next few years and I won’t feel the least bit wasteful when I donate my old (but rarely used, pristine sofa) to Goodwill. Because I know it will probably be more to the person who takes it than what they have now. That one sentence- that while there are people who have more, there are also people who have less- got to me and I am embarrassed to seem so materialistic. Really I am not. (It you saw my house you’d know this). You ARE the real deal- your answer was perfect. Thanks for the reminder and I hope I did not offend you- I truly do enjoy your blog and love how you are true to yourself and your style- something I myself need to work on. Tanks for taking time from your busy day/life to respond!

            • Linda Phillips

              Joanne, I’m in the same boat as you. I follow Melissa’s blog and enjoy it, but I too have the same feelings you expressed so well. I just wanted to share you are not alone.

          • Judy

            “I can get envious of bloggers or friends who live in less expensive parts of the country” – oh yes – I get that. Vancouver, Canada is now one of the top three most expensive cities in the world in which to purchase a home. So ‘home’ ownership increasingly means ‘apartment’ with little income left over for the luxury of renovating.

            The contentment with what you have as a home decorator is laudable.

  6. Valerie

    Looking good. Can’t wait to see the finished product! BTW, I enjoy your blog very much, My only regret is that I don’t have more time to read through it!

  7. Kathy

    It is going to be beautiful, can’t wait to see the reveal. Amazed by your talent to find the perfect pieces for your kitchen.

  8. Jo Jo

    Beautiful! Sorry about the damaged sink…isn’t it always what Happens? You’re in the home stretch & you’re hit with another delay. But you’ve got this! ???. I love the floors and the cabinets look so fresh! I love that you were playing with the styling! I did THE SAME thing when our home was being built! Haha. Your hardware knobs on the cabinets are like little jewels! Love! This space will be absolutely gorgeous and warm. Can’t wait to see more! ?

  9. Loran Polder | Old World Kitchen

    It is all coming along so beautifully, Melissa! What a fun surprise to see those measuring spoons in your kitchen… thank you so much for sharing our work. I would totally be styling my unfinished kitchen too ;-) Happy December 1st!

  10. Lauren O.

    We just finished a total kitchen remodel in June. Yes, I styled it before it was finished. It drove my husband crazy! Haha!!

  11. Jackie Nordeman

    I am a decorator/designer and recently subscribed to your blog. Your style and colour choices make me “giddy” with delight! I always get excited over a client’s project but now I also get excited about your project! You inspire me! Thank you for sharing your project progress! Your excitement is infectious!!!

  12. Sylvia Heacock

    After the painters had the first 2 coats on our cabinets, I had to get out a few pieces of Fiestawarea and see how the colors would look in our open shelving cabinet. It was exciting to see and imagine the various pieces of cups, dishes, bowls, and serving pieces that will fill that space. Today our quartz countertops are to go in as well as the sink. (Our sink arrived in one piece!) So fun to hear your excitement is shared with your daughter. I have been sending emails to sisters and friends with the progress. We are in the home stretch of this renovation and I am itching to bake some Christmas goodies in the oven of our new range that is currently sitting in our garage.

  13. Anne

    I did not style a kitchen in progess, but last time we moved rooms around and had our floors refinished, I put my plants and candles etc. on the windowsills, so that they were styled and pretty to look at, while the rest was chaos :-)

  14. Krystal

    lol I sometimes take it one step further – just last night I was purchasing new bedding and pillows for my bedroom. I got a bedspread I loved but was having a hard time visualizing the pillows I wanted on it. So I set it up in my cart and propped up a variety of pillow groupings on it as I would on my bed and took pictures of each … right there in the middle of the pillow aisle. Sometimes these things just need to be done. :)

    Looking forward to your reveal! It’s going to be just beautiful, I can already tell.

  15. Melinda Young

    I can feel your excitement! It’s going to be gorgeous!

  16. JJ Jenney

    I did not style my kitchen when it was being done but I sure hugged my farm sink when it was dry fit. My contractor left me a big sign saying “do not touch or hug” after he installed it for real. He didn’t want me messing up the caulk while it dried. What can I say? I love my farm sink!!

  17. Kelly

    Can you get into more detail on selecting the style of door front of the cabinets and is it flush inset vs euro style ?? and using integrated cabinet fronts for appliances. How do you describe the style of your home and what style you are trying to achieve in the kitchen??

  18. Andrea

    Hi! Everything is beautiful! Wondering what cabinet manufacturer you decided on?

  19. Sallie

    Pre-styling is part of the FUN!! Yes, I’ve been doing that with my current bathroom remodel (still waiting for non-broken cabinet, correct countertop, and a toilet that fits!), holding up shower curtain, towels, door pulls, etc. to the cabinet that’s currently in there (unfinished). We just get too excited to WAIT, right!? Your kitchen is going to look SO GOOD!! I can’t wait for the reveal! Squeeee!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Yay! Thank you. Yes we wait so long for progress that the minute there’s anything pretty in a room you just can’t help but want to have fun styling it haha!

  20. Jennifer

    Hi Melissa,
    It looks lovely! Sophisticated in an understated way! I have learned so much as you describe your process for decision-making. I was surprised that you chose tile instead of wood for the floors. Could you tell me about how you came to that decision?
    Thanks!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Our decision to use tile was more specific to this house, the layout and other design elements than anything else. We’ve had kitchens with wood floors and kitchens with tile and there are pros and cons to each. For me it mostly comes down to what else you have to work with in the space or adjoining rooms as well as personal preference. We wrestled with the flooring options for our kitchen for a long time so I’ll have a detailed post down the road with the whys of our final decision! :)

  21. Sarah

    Thank you for sharing your process! It’s so helpful and inspiring! We are looking to redo our kitchen and trying to figure out the best options with cabinets. Do you mind sharing what you have liked…do you use custom or pre-fab? Sorry if you already talked about this and I missed it! Thank you!!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Hi Sarah, I haven’t done a post about the cabinets yet so you haven’t missed anything. But yes, I have stuff to share about it! We did not get custom cabinets. It was more affordable to get standard but quality cabinets made through a fabricator. We also used overlay doors which are more affordable but also give you more storage space which in a tiny kitchen we definitely need! Hope that helps, I’ll do a post specifically about the cabinets though to answer any other questions!

  22. Carol

    Always excited to see your progress. Everything is beautiful!

  23. Diane Cummings

    Melissa!! Your kitchen is looking fabulous! You are going to enjoy it so much when it is all finished. So far, your selections are beautiful! Too bad for the cracked corners on the sink, but that will be replaced and look beautiful. Love the towels by the way and the hardware. So fun watching this come along, thanks for sharing.
    Diane

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Thank you, Diane! I can’t wait to cook in it (and I don’t even love cooking, ha!). :)

  24. Charmagne

    “I always worry that a decision is going to be wrong, or something won’t look quite as good as I imagined it would in my mind.”

    Thank you for sharing this! We’re planning our kitchen renovation (I’ve been planning it unofficially for 11 years, but the renovation is happening IRL beginning January 2nd) and doubt is creeping in. So glad to know that someone with impeccable taste is just like me :)

  25. Barbara Lavallee

    I totally get it! I hugged and kissed my kitchen backsplash before it was even grouted! I was so happy/relieved with it!
    I can’t wait to see your finished project, it already looks beautiful, tea towels and all!! Lol!

  26. Christi

    I’m so excited! I love seeing dreams come together for people. Your very meticulous in what you do it seems. I’m sure everything will be awesome.

  27. sandyc

    Melissa, I’m so excited to see the progress of your kitchen and, again, so thrilled that you chose to make your galley kitchen a fantastic galley kitchen. It’s such a right decision for your home, I think, and I’m sure your house will thank you many times over for as long as you live there.

    Off the subject, but reminded with your first pic of the cabinets. You blogged earlier in the year about the window bench you were ordering. And later you talked about how to hang your drapes on that window. However, I don’t find any blog about whether the bench ever happened and, although pics of your finished dining room show the drapes to the left or right of the window, no pics show the window itself. The pic from your kitchen would have been the perfect angle to see under the window but the cabinets blocked the view. Was there some post/s I missed along the way – maybe they went into computer never-nerve land. I’m curious to know and feel very out of it that I don’t. Clue me in, please.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      You didn’t miss it, I did order a bench and somehow it got lost in transit, or somewhere other than here :). I was bummed, but it has been reordered and I’m hoping it will be here before Christmas! I will happily show the bench when it arrives, I think it is going to work well so I can’t wait. Meanwhile, now you know why the window is blank and that side has not been shown since. There’s nothing there to show yet! You are not out of it at all, you’re quite observant! You’ll notice the same absence in my Christmas tour Monday. SIGH! Thanks, Sandy :).

  28. Linda Grubbs

    Melissa, I am loving the progress on your kitchen! I love checking in on you every couple of days….I have to say I think you and your family seem like wonderful, kind, terrific people. Thank you for what you do, and who you are!!

  29. Tardevil

    Remodeling is painful (I just spent my summer doing it), but it will be so worth it. Love the direction you are headed and I look forward to seeing the results!

  30. Sheila

    Just did our kitchen. I searched for months for white paint. I finally settled on BM Dove White. Now I see my cabinets as yellow not white ? I wish I could have afforded a professional to help me. Now I’m living with my mistake but it is better than the brown and orange I had before. Just wish I had the white cabinets of my dreams

  31. Sandy

    So excited for you!! This kitchen will be fantastic. I was wondering if you might go with grey tile floors, seems a perfect choice since you have similar in your hallways. I love following your progress and can’t wait to see the finished project. Will you be cooking for Christmas?

  32. Michelle

    Melissa, what a kind and thoughtful way you responded to Joanne. It really shows the warm, loving kind- hearted person you truly are. Gives me another reason to love reading your blog.

  33. Jean | DelightfulRepast.com

    Melissa, it looks grand! I’m so happy for you. We remodeled our kitchen nearly 10 years ago now, and it still looks great and functions beautifully, wouldn’t change a thing! (Which is a good thing because I don’t think my husband could survive another remodel! :D )

  34. Sandy Jacobson

    Hi Melissa, We just recently remodeled our kitchen and I picked the same exact farmhouse sink by Kohler. Thank goodness the corner didn’t crack, but we had to build reinforcements to support the weight of the sink upon installation. It’s a beautiful sink and I’m definitely loving it. Have fun, its always exciting and nerve racking at the same time while during a remodel. Can’t wait to see your new kitchen completed. I’m sure it will look fabulous. Blessings! :O)

  35. Loribeth

    Your kitchen sounds like it’s going to be beautiful!
    When we bought our house last year, I completely redesigned the kitchen. Had an Amish cabinet maker custom make the cabinets. We had to pick them up at his farm and install them ourselves because he didn’t deliver. I love how they turned out. Like you, I had it completely styled even before the kitchen was finished. That’s part of the fun!

  36. susan

    I built a home several years ago and was combing through the decorating magazines like crazy, wanting something unique not all white. I came across several kitchens that used one color for the base cabinets and another for the wall cabinets. I liked them so I ordered them. When they arrived my contractor called to say the wrong cabinets came in, they were two different colors! He was speechless when I explained they were right. No one could imagine they would look very good. When my family and friends came to see them, they were also speechless with amazement at how well they looked. I still get compliments on my cabinets, and I STILL love them ;-)

  37. Angela

    Hi Melissa, congrats on the progress and it is looking sooo good! I am currently beginning a house renovation myself with the kitchen being the first room. Can you believe I am starting this renovation while living in a different country! We will be moving back to our home in South Carolina and your style is such a wonderful inspiration!! I was actually researching apron sink when your post came into my email so Apron sink – check, tongue and grove ceiling -check, white shaker cabinets – almost check, lol. Who and how did you decide on the brand of cabinets? I’m sure there will be an amazing post revealing this but can you give us a hint? I’m running out of design time before we back home. I call it home but we have never gotten to actually live there. My husbands job took us to Canada shortly after we bought the house but we never gave it up, thank goodness.

    Looking forward to seeing your continued progress and the wonderful reveal to come! Please, please, please give us a hint of the cabinet information : ) Thanks and all the very best!

 

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