Kitchen Renovation Part 2: Materials and Finishes
Once we determined our kitchen layout (see Kitchen Renovation: Part 1 blog post here!) we needed to confirm the materials and finishes of the space to start the manufacturing and order/shipping processes. The materials and finishes stage refers to the choices for every surface in the room (walls, trim, ceiling, cabinets, countertops, etc). It's the part people think will be the most fun but can also result in a homeowner feeling overwhelmed with the number of decisions that must be made (often with a contractor asking for your final choices by ‘the end of the week’ to avoid delays). Luckily, I had experience with this process and had already completed the work needed before hand, so the decision making process more streamlined and less stressful. Here are my tips for those considering any renovation project:
Create a mood board for your room(s) before you even talk to a contractor. Start to consider the style you are looking for, the elements you’d like in your design, e.g. island, open shelving, custom hood vent cover, and gather some inspiration photos of what you like. You do not need to source each material at this stage as this is a concept design stage only. Creating a mood board and some design goals also acts as a great way to vett potential contractors. If you are particular about what you want you will need a contractor who works with you to create that vision, not someone who talks you out of your choices or is dismissive of your ideas. By sharing your plans with prospective contractors you may get some insight into how seriously they will take your plans during execution.
If you can’t be flexible you may have to be rich. Almost anything is possible if you have deep pockets. If you have a budget there may be some elements in your design concept that don’t come to fruition. Be prepared to pivot. It’s all part of the process.
Knowing you may have to be flexible, it is best to start your materials selection with your most risky element. This way, should you not find what you need, you can modify your design accordingly and not waste time visiting showrooms and choosing materials that will, as a result, be scrapped.
Lastly, there are a million paint colours out there so there is no need to create a room around a paint colour. Choose your materials then select the wall or cabinetry colour by seeing how paint samples look with your final materials in the lighting of your space (this process will be covered in a future post).
As someone who often follows my own advice I had started a mood board months before we called anyone to quote us for the work and so when looking at sourcing my materials for our kitchen I had a vision in mind. This allowed me to explain, to sales associates what I was looking for and quickly narrow down the samples from every option in their store to fewer than 10 selections that met my specifics. This gave me somewhere to start and from there I could focus on what I was searching for with requests like “Do you have something like this but a slightly darker shade?”
See my kitchen mood board below. Remember, products on a mood board are not sourced, but used to convey the design at a conceptual level. Links are provided below where applicable. The concept was to have a mostly white kitchen, to significantly increase the light in the room and carry the new light from our added patio door throughout the rest of the house. I also wanted to balance all the white walls and cabinetry with warm toned wood and contrasting island cabinets and flooring that looked like a dark slate. I knew we would have stainless appliances and we had matte black finishes on hardware elsewhere in our home. I love mixing metals and was confident, if done right I could pull off brass accents in the kitchen (and plan to use them elsewhere as we update the other rooms in our house). I wanted mostly white quartz countertops with some bold veining and a coordinating tile that appeared hands craped to add colour, texture and movement. Lastly, I dreamed of a tongue and groove ceiling and its easily one of my favourite parts of the whole kitchen.
Julia DeDecker Interiors: Kitchen Mood Board
Linear Pendant: Rejuvenation, Schoolhouse pendant: Wayfair, Floating shelf: image for concept from Pottery Barn, Hardware: Rejuvenation, Fridge: Kitchen aid, Sink: Kohler, flooring, faucet, ceiling, cabinets and tile and counter top images for concept purposes only (unknown sources).
Moving from a conceptual stage to a materials and finishes schedule will sometimes include compromise or flexibility in design. In reality the above concept could have been executed exactly… for a cost. That's the thing about dealing with real projects for most people (me)… there are real constraints such as your budget. Also, the manufacturing and delivery timelines in today’s world that can be enough of a nuisance to sway your decision on materials just to get your materials within a reasonable timeline. Here’s what caused my pivots in the above design concept:
I really wanted a dark floor to provide contrast with the rest of the other lighter materials. My early searching online hadn’t shown me any options I felt confident in, which is why I started my sourcing with the floors - I considered the flooring the riskiest element on my mood board. The only flooring I could find that I could live with was real stone (of course!), which was (sadly) not in budget. I had to pivot to what floor I could live with that would work with the materials in our adjacent rooms and that was available in budget - a greige luxury vinyl grouted tile (Richmond Vinyl). This tile was not dark enough to provide me the exact contrast I was looking for which made me reconsider our wood stain as well.
I visited a showroom to look for sinks and faucets learning more about the beautiful shimmery cast iron sinks like the Kohler one I included in my kitchen mood board. I quickly learned that, although beautiful, the cast iron care and maintenance was too much to commit to (for me!). Don’t let me scare you away from this sink because it is beautiful and depending on your expected use can be a great choice, but do ask the sales associate about it if you are considering cast iron or fire clay sinks. My family needs something very low maintenance that can withstand a lot of bumps, scrapes etc. and so we decided to order a silgranit apron-front sink from Blanco in white. I'll do a more in depth post about this sink once we've used it for awhile but so far, no complaints!.
Since switching to silgranit sink I decided to go with a more modern faucet, and switched to the Kohler ballera faucet in stainless steel satin finish which matches the existing and new appliances.
Lastly, we thought we would be able to eliminate the bulkhead completely above the sink but we ended up with just a smaller bulkhead which caused another pivot from a pendant light above the sink to a small flush mount from a local lighting store, J.D. Lighting.
The change in lighting over the sink wasn’t realized until late in the process but the sink, faucet, flooring and cabinet colours and stain were all selected at the same time. I made certain I had a cohesive design before making purchases or having the cabinets painted or stained. Below is the Sample Board which shows the final selection of materials and finishes for the kitchen. I kept this up to date as I made selections and have updated with the final lighting selections as well for the purpose of this blog entry. Links provided below.
Julia DeDecker Interiors: Sample Board
Contractor: Joe’s Carpentry, Cabinetry: Carver Cabinetry, Tile: Marazzi luxecraft taupe 3x12in subway (Verns Carpet One, Tillsonburg), Countertop: StonEx STQuartz in Calacatta, Refrigerator: Kitchen Aid (Hurleys, Tillsonburg ON), Cabinet Hardware: Rejuvenation, Sink Blanco Ikon, Faucet: Kohler Bellera, Flooring: Richmond Vinyl Stone Trendz LVT, Mirabel 12x24 (Vern’s Carpet One). Paint (ceiling, walls trim and cabinetry) Benjamin Moore- Cloud White OC-130, Linear Pendant: Wayfair.ca, Brass flush mount: J.D. Lighting
Although I had to pivot in my design due to constraints and some design elements that were unavoidable (the bulkhead) I was able to stay on track with my design vision by knowing my design concept early on and choosing my materials and finishes only after I knew they would work together. I also saved myself some time and heartache by strategically sourcing my flooring first as I knew it would likely be the hardest item to find. This is something that can be managed on your own, but you must be prepared for many decisions in a short amount of time and as always, if you feel you need assistance or expertise to assist in that process give me call! I can help you with floor planning, completing a conceptual design board (mood board) to capture your design vision to keep you on track during your renovation as well as be there along the way to assist in selecting your materials and finishes that that will bring that design to life. Check out the after photos of my kitchen renovation below (before photos here).
Thanks for sticking with me through this lengthy post, There is so much more detailed information on the design decisions I made in the kitchen that were glossed over this time, e.g. tiled hood vent, mixing metals, mixing cabinet hardware, lighting choices and I will share that information in future posts. In the next installment of the kitchen saga I will be talking about accessories! The wrong accessories can derail the best designed kitchens but it’s actually simple to edit your countertops and complete your design with thoughtful and functional accessories to create the fantastic result you are seeking.
