Week 2: Kitchen Transformation - Expect the unexpected

This week I want to share something special with you..my original kitchen design sketches. But first here are some thoughts about this week..

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In life, things happen that don’t go according to plan. No matter how diligent, detail oriented and planful you are, there will always be unexpected surprises that may force you to make spontaneous decisions on the fly. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected and go with the flow. Example from this week:

Lighting: I was planning to have LED lights under the island cabinets, in the toe kick area.

What’s a toe kick? It’s the recessed area under the lower base cabinets (kitchens and bathrooms) that allow your toes to fit in the space underneath. You can then stand comfortably close and upright and you won’t kick your toes repeatedly on your cabinets and ding them up unnecessarily.

As mentioned, the back side of our island wasn’t built with a toe kick, so there’s no place for the LED strip to hide (doh!). We already had electrical work completed in the island and I didn’t want it to go to waste.

So we decided to place the LED lights under the countertops. I actually think this will look just as cool. Here’s a photo of lighting under both the counter and the toe kick area. Nice, right?

Because our island now doesn’t have a toe kick, we will need to install floors as close to the cabinets as possible. However, there may still be a small gap between the floor and cabinets. What do we do? We could add a strip of molding or we could caulk the gap, but I thought this is an opportunity to do something unique. So, we’re going to try and place a small strip of brass trim in the gap between the cabinet and the wood floors.

Last week I shared some inspiration photos. This week I’m sharing some of my initial design sketches. Which one(s) will be my final design? There’s nothing like putting pen to paper! Also – I don’t know AutoCAD 😉

Let’s recap what’s happened so far:

• Design of new kitchen
• Sourced and purchased materials including quartz, sinks, faucets, hardware
• Selected paint colors
• Confirmed and coordinated with all contractors to optimize remodeling schedule (I will share my project plan with you at the end)
• Demo demo demo
• Built and installed base cabinets and drawers
• Prepped electrical for new LED lighting
• Added plumbing for new prep sink/faucet

What’s next:

• Install new European oak floors and baseboards
• Install new countertops, backsplash
• Create new hood design
• Install new shelving
• Install new LED lighting
• Install new butcher block countertop and cabinets
• Install new sinks/faucets
• Install new hardware
• Paint cabinets
• Install appliances
• Final cleaning

I’m so excited for week 3 – we should have floors installed! Stay tuned 🙂

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | The Reveal