In the case that you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve been slowly updating my kitchen since July..ish. It’s been a “phase by phase” type progress, moving through one thing at a time. It all started with my countertops.

I fell in love with a particular stone while I was shopping for a previous client, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. My guys over at iGranite only had one of these stones left, and I couldn’t let it go. So.. I didn’t. Obviously it started a snowball effect of changes, leading to a new custom DIY vent hood, matching poplar shelves, custom cabinet faces made by my favorite carpenter Mick at Southcoast Wood, new GE Café appliances, because obviously it’s necessary in a “new” kitchen, beautiful concrete backsplash from Clé Tile, custom light fixture from Illuminate Vintage, sink, faucet // an extra left over from a client’s reno // and pulls from a magic worker on Etsy that makes the most beautiful brass pulls I’ve ever seen.

I was feeling so inspired by clean color palettes and warm textures, I wanted to exude a modern elegance with an ode to my love for contemporary features.

The vent hood is basically my shining moment in my kitchen, one of the easiest DIYs I’ve ever taken on in my life. || I’ll put the directions in the next blog post, click here || Another big undertaking was getting the soffit taken out and really opening up the kitchen. What worried me about the soffit was the potential for duct work or plumbing being in there and ruining my plans to open up the space. Long story short, I wasn’t going to wait around for confirmation from a contractor one way or the other, I just grabbed a sledge hammer and went on a discovery mission to get it handled myself. All that was in there was air, and 2x4s, and one little angled pipe that was also pointless. My contractor called a plumber and had it rerouted through the outside wall within an hour and I had a patched ceiling that was soffit free.

To say I was prepared for a full blown renovation would be entirely inaccurate. I wasn’t prepared for the mess or things it would spur, but it definitely kickstarted the entire downstairs process. The recessed lights went in, the lighting on the entire floor got switched out, the entry wall got custom wood panels, and half the kitchen received its facelift. The space really feels like me. And that’s the only thing I ever aim for in design, is to get an emotional reaction with a space.

Let me refresh your brains on what it was.

b e f o r e

 

d u r i n g

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In typical Kayla fashion, I felt the need to continue the transition into the rest of the house, starting with the updated bar cart and declutter every other square foot of this house.

Next I’ll change out the accent chairs as well as the sofa that’s ordered and then we’ll have a whole new project fixing where all the crown molding was that I ripped out after installing the front panels. Fun, I know.

s o u r c e s

v e n t h o o d // custom diy | s h e l v e s // custom diy | p u l l s | r a n g e | f r i d g e | s i n k // unavailable but I linked a similar one | f a u c e t | b a c k s p l a s h | c o u n t e r t o p s | g l a s s w a r e | d i s h w a r e | p l a n t | p l a n t e r | s a t u r n b o w l| p e n d a n t // custom | r e c e s s e d l i g h t s | b a r c a r t // unavailable, linked the same one in black | p r i n t | p r i n t h a n g e r // custom diy | d i n i n g c h a i r s | d i n i n g t a b l e // vintage find on facebook marketplace |