Okay. Let's talk about the kitchen. You may recall from the full tour I gave that it's a decent size - certainly far bigger than my last apartments small galley style kitchen. There are things I love about this kitchen. For one, it has a window! LOVE. It's a u-shape, more than two people can be in there at a time, it has two ways in/out, there's a decent sized closet (which from here on out will be referred to as the pantry/broom closet), and there's more than enough cabinets and drawers for me. These are all positives. But then there's the finish on the cabinets...it feels/looks like they've been painted over one too many times. The countertop has seen better days. The colour on the wall is atrocious. There's the corner that provides extra space...but for what...and then there's the floor with six random black tiles that drive me kinda nutty and the overhead light fixture with no fixture.......
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The kitchen is a room I plan on spending some time in; I plan on finally getting out all the cookbooks I've acquired so I want the kitchen to look good and be functional...for myself and for when I'm hosting others (which I plan to do lots of!). And then there's the fact that I'm renting - so I don't want to do any major renovations or spend a ton of money...however I don't mind investing a bit into a space I plan on being in for a while. So, of course, let's start with the vision.
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Black. White. Wood. Ethnic textiles. Some brass. Some green plants. Some stuff. I don't think this combination will come as a surprise to any of you who have been reading Chronicled for any amount of time. It's a combination I've been really into for a while now and will be the foundation for the entire apartment; the common thread (threads?) in every room. I've had these kitchen pics above pinned to my Pinterest board for a while. I love that while they're stylish and good looking they are also functional and realistic for me and my regular person's budget. I love the open shelving. The black. The white subway tile with dark grout. The rug in the kitchen. And the stuff - the extras like artwork and plants and stuff that give it some personality.
So here's where I'm heading.
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Let's talk about it.
1/ The backsplash will be getting white subway tiles with dark grout. I love that combination. I'm on the fence as to whether I'll attempt this myself or get someone I know who does that kinda stuff to do it. While I don't think it's a super difficult DIY, at least from what I've read, he has all the supplies, tools, and has done it tons of times - what might take me a few days he could probably do in a weekend and, for this project, I'm all about instant gratification. I think the subway tiles will make the room look entirely different.
2/ Paint. The current salmony-mauvey colour has gots to go. For the most part, it's going white. Nice and fresh and bright. But, I need to get a black wall into this apartment somewhere. So the wall leading to the hallway is going black. Benjamin Moore Soot to be specific - which is really dark inky blue that reads black with very dark blue undertones (don't know why the image swat looks gray). At any rate, I. Can't. Wait.
3/ Instead of putting a small table in the kitchen I'm opting for open shelving and additional storage. A place to display some of the vintage teak bowls and chopping boards I've thrifted and bought, pretty cookbooks, some glass storage jars with rice and flour and other bulk items....and the microwave (on a lower shelf of course). Months ago I bought two of these kitchen islands at the IKEA when they were on sale for $20 each (a steal - they're usually $60 each). I'll put them side by side to function as one large island. Above I'm gonna DIY some open shelves like the ones Molly made for her living room.
4/ Daniel changed out the puny faucet in his rental, the ones that come standard in all rentals, and swears it was life changing. I'm gonna take his word for it and copy him.
5/ The tiles aren't too offensive - it's the random black squares that are. So the plan is to put down black peel and stick tiles or VCT tiles and then add an ethnic rug. The vintage Persian rug I bought will be perfect. I knew it was meant for a kitchen the moment I saw it.
6/ I've thrifted some pretty marble kitchen accessories that will probably class the space up a bit. A bit of marble has a way of adding that classy spendy look which in my case wasn't too spendy at all.
7/ Lighting. Long before I signed the lease to this apartment I envisioned one of those old enamel pendant lights going into either my future kitchen or dining area. I then thrifted said light at Christie's. But now I'm not sure if it's the right fixture for this kitchen. So we'll see. Otherwise, I'll continue to look until I find something that feels right.
8/ There will be stuff. A green plant or two. Some photographs/artwork. Some vintage tea tins that'll add a bit of uniqueness to the space.
And then I'm debating doing this to the kitchen cabinets. I love the look but it's one of those things where I'm debating "asking for permission or begging for forgiveness." My landlord is quite fair actually which makes me think if I show him some pics of what I want to do to the cabinets he'll see how great it looks and say "go ahead!" but there's that chance he'll want them to remain white in which case, what would I do......Anywho, my kitchen plan actually reminds me a lot of Daniel of Manhattan Nest's kitchen plan and Anna of Door Sixteen's kitchen plan - so I've been getting a whole bunch of great tips and ideas from both of them by following along with their kitchen renovations on their respective blogs. And, actually, Daniel recently revealed his on-a-budget-amazing-kitchen-makeover in the new home he and his fiance purchased and it's like he was literally in my head and did everything I want to do in my kitchen. Everything. Subway tiles with dark grout? Check. Wood? Check. Marble accessories? Check. VCT floor tiles? Check. Open shelving? Check. White upper cabinets and dark lower cabinets? Check. Fiddle leaf fig? Check. White walls? Check. He's even got the yellow stools I've been eyeing at Target....
It's so so good I urge you to visit his blog and take a look at the rest of the transformation.
At any rate, I've already started tackling the kitchen (if you follow me on instagram - @kayinto - you already knew this!) and it's already looking so much better. Progress updates coming soon!
Question: Are any of you fixing up and improving your own small rental kitchen? What are your plans?
Black. White. Wood. Ethnic textiles. Some brass. Some green plants. Some stuff. I don't think this combination will come as a surprise to any of you who have been reading Chronicled for any amount of time. It's a combination I've been really into for a while now and will be the foundation for the entire apartment; the common thread (threads?) in every room. I've had these kitchen pics above pinned to my Pinterest board for a while. I love that while they're stylish and good looking they are also functional and realistic for me and my regular person's budget. I love the open shelving. The black. The white subway tile with dark grout. The rug in the kitchen. And the stuff - the extras like artwork and plants and stuff that give it some personality.
So here's where I'm heading.
Let's talk about it.
1/ The backsplash will be getting white subway tiles with dark grout. I love that combination. I'm on the fence as to whether I'll attempt this myself or get someone I know who does that kinda stuff to do it. While I don't think it's a super difficult DIY, at least from what I've read, he has all the supplies, tools, and has done it tons of times - what might take me a few days he could probably do in a weekend and, for this project, I'm all about instant gratification. I think the subway tiles will make the room look entirely different.
2/ Paint. The current salmony-mauvey colour has gots to go. For the most part, it's going white. Nice and fresh and bright. But, I need to get a black wall into this apartment somewhere. So the wall leading to the hallway is going black. Benjamin Moore Soot to be specific - which is really dark inky blue that reads black with very dark blue undertones (don't know why the image swat looks gray). At any rate, I. Can't. Wait.
3/ Instead of putting a small table in the kitchen I'm opting for open shelving and additional storage. A place to display some of the vintage teak bowls and chopping boards I've thrifted and bought, pretty cookbooks, some glass storage jars with rice and flour and other bulk items....and the microwave (on a lower shelf of course). Months ago I bought two of these kitchen islands at the IKEA when they were on sale for $20 each (a steal - they're usually $60 each). I'll put them side by side to function as one large island. Above I'm gonna DIY some open shelves like the ones Molly made for her living room.
4/ Daniel changed out the puny faucet in his rental, the ones that come standard in all rentals, and swears it was life changing. I'm gonna take his word for it and copy him.
5/ The tiles aren't too offensive - it's the random black squares that are. So the plan is to put down black peel and stick tiles or VCT tiles and then add an ethnic rug. The vintage Persian rug I bought will be perfect. I knew it was meant for a kitchen the moment I saw it.
6/ I've thrifted some pretty marble kitchen accessories that will probably class the space up a bit. A bit of marble has a way of adding that classy spendy look which in my case wasn't too spendy at all.
7/ Lighting. Long before I signed the lease to this apartment I envisioned one of those old enamel pendant lights going into either my future kitchen or dining area. I then thrifted said light at Christie's. But now I'm not sure if it's the right fixture for this kitchen. So we'll see. Otherwise, I'll continue to look until I find something that feels right.
8/ There will be stuff. A green plant or two. Some photographs/artwork. Some vintage tea tins that'll add a bit of uniqueness to the space.
And then I'm debating doing this to the kitchen cabinets. I love the look but it's one of those things where I'm debating "asking for permission or begging for forgiveness." My landlord is quite fair actually which makes me think if I show him some pics of what I want to do to the cabinets he'll see how great it looks and say "go ahead!" but there's that chance he'll want them to remain white in which case, what would I do......Anywho, my kitchen plan actually reminds me a lot of Daniel of Manhattan Nest's kitchen plan and Anna of Door Sixteen's kitchen plan - so I've been getting a whole bunch of great tips and ideas from both of them by following along with their kitchen renovations on their respective blogs. And, actually, Daniel recently revealed his on-a-budget-amazing-kitchen-makeover in the new home he and his fiance purchased and it's like he was literally in my head and did everything I want to do in my kitchen. Everything. Subway tiles with dark grout? Check. Wood? Check. Marble accessories? Check. VCT floor tiles? Check. Open shelving? Check. White upper cabinets and dark lower cabinets? Check. Fiddle leaf fig? Check. White walls? Check. He's even got the yellow stools I've been eyeing at Target....
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| Daniel's Kitchen: The Big Reveal |
At any rate, I've already started tackling the kitchen (if you follow me on instagram - @kayinto - you already knew this!) and it's already looking so much better. Progress updates coming soon!
Question: Are any of you fixing up and improving your own small rental kitchen? What are your plans?