It may not be finished, but I have lots to update you on about our kitchen! We got appliances the week we moved in because of course we needed to be able to store food and cook, but besides that, we've come a long way! As a reminder, here's what the kitchen looked like before:
That second picture really shows how badly the backsplash clashed with the countertops. Yikes! As I mentioned in the design plans post, in order to install the slide-in range that I wanted (a range that's flush with the countertop height and doesn't have a back portion that sticks up and covers the backsplash) and not burn up the drywall we needed to have backsplash behind the range (STILL can't understand why they would've left backsplash off that portion!). And since the tile clashed terribly, we bit the bullet and ripped out the backsplash while we were moving in (actually my mother-in-law did that part, so huge thanks to her!), and then installed new backsplash a few days later.
We bought the tile and oyster grey grout from Home Depot, where we also rented a wet saw to cut the edge pieces. With the help of my father-in-law (and YouTube), we were able to get almost all the tile up on Saturday afternoon, with just about 2 hours worth of work to finish up on Sunday. The tile set for a couple days (I think 48-72 hours is recommended) before I grouted and cleaned off the tile. And then we were able to install the range! Not bad for a couple days work.
We also pretty much immediately took out that ugly light that was hanging over the peninsula. It was in my face while cooking and talking to people in the kitchen, and just generally not pretty, so I really didn't care that taking it down would leave a hole in the ceiling for a few months while we got the time and tools to replace it with a can light. We were finally able to put a can light in that spot (with some trial and error), and getting rid of the hanging fixture allowed us to put a hanging lantern over the dining table to replace that generic flush mount.
It feels so much brighter with the white backsplash, and so much more open with those small changes to the lighting. It just makes way more sense to have the kitchen/peninsula open and the focal point fixture over the table!
And last week I noticed a great sale on the dining chairs that I had purchased slipcovers for last year (this is real life budgeting!) so I ordered 4. I'm loving having a soft touch of fabric in the kitchen, the white ties in really well with the backsplash, and they are SO much more comfortable than the wood chairs we were previously using.
This corner looks a bit empty because we are still missing window shades and artwork, but I'm so happy with the progress we've made! Seeing these pictures and looking back at my inspiration gets me even more excited to get the cabinets painted and change out the hardware - it's amazing how big of a difference small changes can make!