I'm thrilled to finally showcase this project I fondly call Whole House Half House! We nickname all of our projects and call it that because we covered the whole house in new paint from stem to stern, with finished construction only on the lower half.
Scope of work: We updated the kitchen, powder room, bar area, fireplace surround and added new decor in the living room and kitchen, with new paint including walls, trim, and ceiling throughout all three floors.
Today we're showing the new kitchen off and living room updates, with the rest following later this month. One thing I want to point out from the beginning - painting alone does WONDERS to making a space feel brand new. If you don't have the budget to do a full renovation, or it doesn't make sense with your plans for the property, that is one way to make a big impact quickly...although remember there are rules to follow to get it right as we discussed in this previous post.
Without further ado, scroll through to see this space go from Tuscan brown to bright, white and transitional!
Kitchen Transformation
The black builder grade back splash and countertops were the first thing I noticed walking into this kitchen. It was making the whole space feel dated, dark, and just generally not happy. The Tuscan brown wall color wasn't doing anything for brightening up the kitchen either.
You can also see that the island isn't truly centered in the kitchen while the very large refrigerator takes up most of the right corner wall. Overall the space as a whole felt very weighted to the right.
In the back left corner, there was a built in desk that was popular in builder grade homes in the 90s and early 2000s. While our clients did utilize that space pretty frequently, they didn't love how easily the clutter could build up there.
Here's a close up of the desk area. You can see these clients still had a desktop computer, printer, and cubbies above for miscellaneous storage, and while they wanted to keep the organization it brought into their everyday lives, they didn't necessarily want to see it constantly throughout their day. Get ready for the refresh...
I know. It feels good doesn't it? Don't you just want to take a big deep breath in this space now?! We used this same off white paint color throughout the house, and also painted the cabinets to give them new life. We selected a beautiful textured subway white tile for the new backsplash, and replaced the cabinet hardware with brass knobs and pulls for the drawers to bridge the gap between completely modernizing just the kitchen within the traditional context of their home.
As we do with every project, we began by discussing our clients goals, needs, and investment amount. Since this home is not their forever home, they decided it wasn't worth the investment to completely gut the space or to replace the upper cabinets to go all the way up to the ceiling. What was important to them? Creating an updated space with a larger island that included seating space, a place for organizing a busy household but not necessarily included a desk space, and improve the lighting or lack thereof.
Since they have a dedicated work space upstairs, we decided to get rid of the dated desk. We also wanted to keep the sight line of drawers consistent, so we raised the lower cabinets in that section and added a long drawer for office supplies and pens to live in. We used a mix of smaller drawers on one side along with a deeper storage area behind new cabinet doors that holds a pull out shelf for their printer and other tech components. #hideyourtechclutter We had new doors for the cabinets above the old desk area custom made to match with the rest of the cabinet doors and hide those cubbies, which definitely made that entire wall look more cohesive.
Ahhh, the power of pendant lighting. Adding three new pendants above the island was the perfect way to take up visual space between the vast open area above the counter up to the ceiling. We all loved the delicate structure of these pendants and how it can really elevate a kitchen that isn't undergoing massive changes.
Remember our off-kilter island? These clients wanted a bit more seating, especially since they were losing a desk chair in the corner. We painted the existing island and extended the span of the counter itself by a few feet into a waterfall top that allowed for four stools to be tucked underneath.
On a daily basis, with their college-age kids away at school, there are only two people living in the house, and they have since told me that they eat all of their meals together at this little extension and just love it!
This dining table was one of this couple's first purchases as a married couple, so it's definitely a piece that needed to stay (in my humble opinion). We updated this area with leather woven chairs, and not too much else! A little goes a long way!
They have two very large picture windows into their backyard, and the reflection of the pool bounces light throughout the kitchen and onto the textured subway tiles in such a beautiful way! I love unexpected surprises like that in a project - little moments of everyday joy.
Plus I have picture proof that the other non-human occupants of the house also love this space. #RafflesandZeusRule
Living Room Updates
Our clients really wanted to focus more on the kitchen, so we are still working with their existing furniture in the adjoining living room. For now we added new throw pillows and soft goods to their sand linen sofas and chairs to freshen the space.
We updated the fireplace surround which had a huge impact in the living room area. We removed the heavy trim fluting as well as the dated granite tile surround. We replaced it with a beautiful black solid stone surround for a look that is timeless and classic and perfection in my book. The all over white paint (walls, trim, ceiling) revitalized this room as well, and also toned down the orange undertone in the existing wood floor.
We used a large portion of our clients own accessories to restyle the bookshelves flanking the bookcase, and only added a few things to their coffee table below. They've lived around the world and have a fantastic collection of things to choose from.
I'll leave you with the equally as beautiful view behind the sofa which holds an amazing gallery of art painted by our clients' very talented children over the years (if I remember correctly one of these was painted by their daughter as a fifth grader!) and installed by their very handy dad. #beautifulandtalentedfamily
Stay tuned later this month to see the adorable powder bathroom and bar area around the corner that really transformed this entire downstairs area!