Kitchen Makeover: What I’m NOT Going to Miss

We had some crazy weather last night! A major storm passed through and knocked out at least 6 trees in our neighborhood alone and we were without power for 6 hours. It was actually kind of fun. John and I ordered pizza and played games in the sunroom by candlelight. Romantic, huh?

I’m starting to get really excited about the kitchen makeover. Remember my trip to Ikea for the butcherblock countertops? We’re almost ready to tackle that project, so I’ve been looking around my kitchen and thinking about the things that I’m NOT going to miss.

Faux green-marble laminate countertops:

Yes, they are beautiful and it’s a shame to waste such quality craftsmanship, but there’s something about warmth of the butcherblock that speaks to me:


We were going to get the less expensive Lagan Countertops from Ikea. They are thinner and birch wood, but they were out of stock and I’m actually really glad. We bought the more expensive Numerar, which are thicker and made of oak. Since I don’t really expect to replace these counters again, the extra couple hundred dollars is worth it.

Nasty Area Behind the Sink:
The edge of the countertops and the edge of the sink meet so closely that there’s no way to get back there and clean. Plus water runs back there pretty often. I’m not looking forward to removing the sink and seeing what it looks like back there. It’s going to be pretty narsty.

All in all, the countertops were $676 (which is still a pretty cheap price compared to other countertops) but we’ve been saving giftcards for a while and we only spent $120 out of our pocket for these. Not bad, huh?

The Faucet:
This one is fine, I know, but it’s a pretty outdated and scratched up. We bought this Chloe Pull-Down Faucet in Brushed Nickel:

I’m pretty sure I’ve dreamt about this faucet.

This was a bit of a splurge for us at $188 (though we certainly could have bought one MUCH more expensive). I wasn’t able to find anything on ebay or Craigslist that I liked as much and I really think that a pretty faucet makes a big impact in a kitchen.

The Sink:
Now, I will miss how enormous this sink is and at some point in the distant past, this was a super high-end sink. It an Americast enamel cast iron sink which retails now for about $600. BUT I won’t miss scrapping the finish every time I use a metal pan or these rusted places on the sides:


Ugh, that seriously grosess me out.

So, we’re getting a nice stainless steel undermount sink that we found on eBay for $85 (including shipping):

Finally, we’re down to the new backsplash. Currently we have a wall, which tends to get pretty gross. I would love to do tile, but since we’ve already spent $400 out of pocket, we’re trying to do something less costly. Here’s what I’m thinking:


This is the Star Diamond Moroccan Stencil from Royal Designs Studios. I like that it kinda looks like tile, but I’m torn on color and do I do a single color or do two colors (one on the star and one on the square)? Do I use the blue that I currently have on the walls in there or do I mix it up with some accent colors? What do you think?

I’m going to top the whole thing off with some plexiglass to make for easy cleaning like this pin:


What’s your vote on the backsplash colors?