Arrowroot Homestead

Kitchen Remodel-Before and After 100 Year Old Farmhouse

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I share how dark and dated our kitchen remodel started and how it progressed in to this more functional and beautiful space for my family to enjoy.

Disclosure No. 1-I want to be very transparent that this has taken us 7 years to complete. I have said this before (find the last post on the phases our kitchen went through in that 7 years here) but I think it is important to remember that it is not practical for most of us to do a renovation as fast as they seem to do them on tv. So give yourself a break. Also I think the outcome is better the more you live in the space as you change it little by little. The more time you give yourself to think about how your room could function better for the present and the foreseeable future the better the outcome.

Disclosure No. 2-Please keep in mind that this kitchen is not for show, and is used multiple times a day every day. I think we should normalize lived in kitchens. I did make sure to clean it up like I would before having guests over. In our everyday lives this kitchen is a bit of a workhorse and she shows it. I just want to acknowledge that it does feel hard to compete with other people’s homes on the internet, and I do not want to add to that comparison. This is my kitchen at its best right now, and normally there are dishes in the sink and things left on the counter because we use this space a lot.

Ok now that I have gotten all of that off my chest, time for the fun part: the before and afters. At least that’s always my favorite part of remodels. Eek I can’t believe we have reached this point.

Before and After

Here she is in all her glory. I love how move brighter and happier this kitchen feels. Never under estimate the power of a fresh coat of paint. I ended up going with a white (Valspar Du Jour) on the top cabinets and warm grey (Valspar Villa Grey) on the base cabinets and tall cabinet next to the refrigerator. My thought was that the refrigerator would blend better with the tall warm grey cabinet since they are side by side. The range hood and coffee bar are a more subtle minty color (Valspar Mint Whisper) that I personally have always loved.

I shared most of the phases this kitchen renovation went through in the last post (find that here) so I won’t go too much into that again. Mostly I was focusing on making this space not so dark and dated. I think I succeeded and then some, if I may be so bold.

It just feels so much homier (is this a word?) and cozier than I even originally imagined it being. I think that is due to the sentimental items I’ve really displayed and put to use in here. I will go more into that further along in the post.

Farmhouse Kitchen renovation turn old cabinets into coffee bar

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Kitchen Design Process

I shared in a post a couple years ago my design plans for this kitchen. (You can find that post here.) My thought process behind a lot of the big decisions in this space like the lighting, sink and butcher block counters have already been hashed out there. So I won’t go back into that too much. I’ll mostly be talking over some of the other finishing details that were added since then.

Feel free to go back to that post though and see why I made some of the decisions I did. If you have a kitchen of your own that you are thinking about redoing in some facet I walk through key elements to think about when redoing a kitchen. You may find those helpful when looking at making your own space more functional and beautiful.

Finishing Touches-Sentimental Items

Some of my favorite things that make this kitchen feel like home are the more sentimental items. Like the recipe cards hand written by different family members. I have them displayed in brass hanging frames under the upper cabinets on the same wall as the range. I actually have a couple more recipe cards I need to get frames for so I can add to that. This is something anyone can easily do and it’s easy on the budget.

Another sentimental item is the small wood/yellow bookshelf that was my Mom’s when she was a little girl. This makes it so much more special. I like to imagine the books and things she may have had on there as a kid. I still can’t believe how perfectly it fits in here. This was a very recent addition, and I have been loving it so much. (if you are really observant you will notice we modified this bookshelf in between the first set of pics being taken and this one, I love it even more now it works so well for us)

If you don’t have a bookshelf in your kitchen I highly recommend it. It’s been really nice having a place for my cookbooks, but even more so the kids have been enjoying it for their library and homeschool books. It has been so sweet when I’m in there cooking or cleaning up they pull down books and ask me questions. It’s a great way to start some conversations and sneak in some learning while doing everyday tasks. Also the basket we keep here works well as a little charging station and a place to stash extra homeschool items like flashcards.

One last sentimental item I wanted to point out is the expandable metal trivet hanging (I was able to find a similar metal trivet on Amazon) on the range hood that was from a great grandmother on my husband’s side of the family I believe. If you have any sentimental items that are functional and beautiful display them as much as possible. To me that is like the trifecta.

Finishing Touches-Last but not least

This has been a bit trendy, but I think it’s a classic that has become trendy. If you want your kitchen to feel extra cozy add a little lamp. I added our little blue lamp in the corner this past winter when it was getting dark so early and I have been enjoying it in here ever since. It’s just such a nice warm glow and it adds a little ambiance.

I’ve been tempted by these candle warmer lamps I’ve seen around. They are super cute and provide a nice warm glow that also warms up your candle. Seems a little safer to use with kiddos in the house, I wonder how well they would work with my beeswax candles.

Last but not least I love adding plants into spaces to help literally give it more life. I have herbs on the back of the farmhouse sink which seems like such a no brainer. It’s easy to keep them watered there, and they are beautiful and useful. Fresh herbs really take meals to the next level.

I also have some plant cuttings that I’ve been working on propagating up on top of the upper cabinet. I originally put them there to keep them away from the cats, but I like them so much I have left them way longer than I intended to. The cuttings actually have pretty big roots and have been ready to be planted for awhile, but I’m going to miss having them up there so I’ve been dragging my feet a bit.

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