This kitchen renovation reveal post has been a long time coming! Here’s the backstory and ALL the resources featured in the countless snippets/videos/photos I’ve shared over the past ten months. Finally, it’s finished so I can invite you in for a cup of tea or a stiff cocktail, meaning, it’s finished enough to share with the internet!

If you follow me on instagram, you’ve probably seen quite a few snaps of our new kitchen along the way since I’m too impatient to really keep it all hush hush for the proper reveal post. But this is the first time I’ve shared the kitchen in it’s entirety +  it feels good to take some time to journal about the full space to share with you!

I honestly didn’t anticipate how long it would take me to write this post! While I put together this reveal, I was reminded how much we actually did to create our kitchen space and what a journey it has been! This space was just a glimmer in my eye a year ago – just design ideas, inspiration in the form of Pinterest boards + a dream of a unique space I could create in. It’s amazing to me how much can change in a year!

When we moved in, this was a kitchenette with a desk space nestled up next to it (hover over + click to the next photo on the slider below for the gross BEFORE photo)!  What a wild difference. We didn’t change the layout, we just ripped out the old cabinets (sold them, didn’t throw them out!) then installed appliances + new cabinets to fit the entire wall. It feels like an entirely new space!

HERE IS THE BEFORE & AFTER

THE PROCESS & PROGRESS…

Long story short, it’s been QUITE the process + it’s incredible to see it all finished and finally enjoy cooking meals in here. When I’m blending up my bulletproof coffee in the morning, I constantly think – I can’t believe this is my kitchen! I’ve never had a space like this. I spent so much time researching, finding inspiration, going to garage sales + thrift stores every Saturday morning, finding the right pieces online, running to the hardware store for the 1000th time (it became our second home) – and the kitchen we have now is even better than I imagined!

The process of redoing the kitchen, living room + master bedroom took about 6-7 months because we did them all at once! Yes, it was very stressful at times. This timeline includes the delays that happened with our cabinets and tile flooring (doing a renovation in Hawai’i is a whole different ball game!) and the time the last few weeks when our amazing friends wrapped up the backsplash and floating shelves after we left for Maine this summer.

We really wanted the kitchen to feel bright and airy, eclectic yet classic! I don’t know if that makes sense in anyone else’s mind beyond my own BUT I had a vision. I wanted the space to evoke a feeling, have pieces from all around the world and feel lived in and inviting.

Initially, we had planned to go with white subway tile but after much consideration, we decided to go with our hearts and ultimately decided on the ocean-inspired Aqua Hexagon tiles from Fireclay Tile for our backsplash! We thought, what better to inspire the space than the ocean? The aqua blue water here in Hawai’i is one of our favorite things in the world and we wanted to invite that color inside. This was totally out of my comfort zone but now I am SO glad we did it!

Beyond the switch in the tile, which really sets the tone, we kept steady with the design elements we had wanted from the beginning. An emphasis on white, brass + wood. We went with open shelving that was made from local jacaranda wood. We sanded and sealed the shelves ourselves + mounted the brackets to the studs to get a seamless look with the tile. We went with a shaker style cabinet in a slightly off-white and with geometric hardware to compliment the hexagon tile.

From the beginning, I wanted a farmhouse sink + was so thrilled to have found one on Amazon! We encountered a LOT of wonky shipping costs + delays, so you can imagine my surprise when the sink had reasonably priced shipping and arrived in THREE DAYS! Now granted, we got the wrong sink twice and had to send it back twice which was a pain BUT the third time was the charm and we love the big, open sink. We ordered a lot of the items for the kitchen on Amazon after pricing them out across multiple websites. The sink, faucet + drain can be found on there (linked below).

Overall, we are really pleased with how the kitchen (and the rest of our space) came out! I’m excited to share all the hard work with you + welcome you into the final outcome! Hope you enjoyed the kitchen renovation reveal along with the before + afters!

KITCHEN ACCESSORY SOURCES: