Kitchen Planning Progress

Check out all the exquisite decor inspiration for my kitchen planning progress!

We’re moving forward in the planning stages of our kitchen renovation {you can find the full kitchen tour and my initial kitchen plans if you want to get up to speed}. On Friday, I finally ended up going to the local cabinet store that our builder purchased our kitchen cabinets from. After doing a little research earlier in the week, we determined that our current exterior cabinets are the Aristokraft Durham in the thermofoil finish {which is essentially a laminate}.

Thermofoil Kitchen Cabinets

The bad news – the cabinets shouldn’t be painted. Apparently adhesion is not very likely {although several of you on Instagram said you have painted thermofoil with good success}. The cabinet company recommended just replacing the kitchen cabinets entirely if I’m looking for a truly white cabinet. Insert me freaking out right here. However, according to the cabinet company rep, it may not be as expensive as I’m thinking and maybe not much more than paying to have the cabinets all painted since the style I like is basic Shaker. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks when I get the bid back – but I’m not holding out a lot of hope. Fortunately, the island is already Shaker style and currently wood, so I won’t need to replace anything there.

Shaker Style Kitchen Cabinets

I had a few others on Instagram recommend checking with a local craftsman about having new doors built. I found someone via Instagram and I’ve asked for a bid for Shaker style cabinets with glass uppers and the option to build out a bad ass range hood like the one below {which would require us to lose the cabinets on either side of our range currently}. If I’m dreaming, I might as well dream big, right?! I only plan to do a full kitchen makeover once so there’s no room for error or second-guessing any picks. Here is the look I referenced:

As far as high-level plans go, this is what I’m leaning towards at this point:

White exterior cabinets

Light to mid-toned gray island {possibly the color of  the inside of our front door?}

Carrara-like quartz on all counters {leaning towards Caeserstone’s Frosty Carrara but still to be determined}

A bridge faucet {the price on this one seems too good to pass up – and it has great reviews!}

White Moroccan tile backsplash {similar to the one in our last house}

New hardware – thinking a combo of knobs and pulls

As much as I’ve long loved white subway tiles, I feel they might be a bit safe and predictable. I am still in love with the Moroccan style tiles we used in our last house {these ones – killer price!} and will likely go that route – although I really love this basketweave tile and this slightly elongated Moroccan tile options too. I feel like this route is just much more “me”.

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