We made it! We are at the end of the One Room Challenge, and that means I am sharing all the details of our Cottage Kitchen Renovation! I actually can’t believe we accomplished all that we did over the last 5 weeks, but the real transformation really began to take shape over the last two weeks. We began to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as well as the looming “deadline” of the ORC.
If you are new here because of the One Room Challenge, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am Ashlea, the author behind this blog- which I started back in 2009 after the birth of my second son. I am now a mama to four beautiful children, and work alongside my husband Matt, running a creative production house. He is a film maker, and the amazing renovator behind our DIY house build (you can catch our house tour here) as well as the mover of mountains and maker of dreams come true in this cottage kitchen reno! In the summer I operate a small flower business called Meadow Farm Florals.
I love sharing inspiration for the home and heart, DIY’s and life adventures. I’m so glad you are here!
The Project
We have been waiting for a very long time to tackle our kitchen renovation, and I actually am still in total disbelief that this is our kitchen! To truly appreciate the transformation, I think I need to share a few before photos. If you would like to check out our video series you can do so here. (Blog Posts: week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5)
Here is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in 6 years ago.
I gave the old cabinets a facelift using some paint, and that made things feel a little more fresh and bright.
The Reveal
Enough about the old… here is our kitchen now! We still have little details to finish, like trim and paint, lighting, and hooking up appliances… but I am so excited to share it with you guys! You know that we are DIY people, and this was a huge project to take on with the two of us at the helm! Nothing ever goes quite according to plan, and of course it would be wonderful to be 100% DONE- but we are so close, and I couldn’t be happier with our progress.
We went with shaker doors from Kitch, paired with IKEA boxes, hinges and drawer slides. Kitch offers a huge selection of door profiles and styles, and they work seamlessly with IKEA boxes- so you can customize the cabinets to your style.
I love this sink so much! It is lovely, and clean and such a major improvement. Removing the wall made room for our peninsula, and I just love it. The kids can sit there for breakfast, and the amount of counter space is pretty surreal!
I tried many different color options on the peninsula, and in the end decided to go with a color match of the lower cabinets (though it looks almost white here, it isn’t!) It’s the perfect neutral backdrop, and allows me to bring in color in other ways. I also added these cool wooden corbels.
When in doubt, just add plants. Plants, and fresh flowers and if you’re really in doubt- sun hats! That’s my motto. I found these fun little scissors our on Vancouver Island, and I love em. I planned to add multiple shelves, but when I hung this one I like it as is. Maybe I’ll add more- I’m not sure?!
This hardware is so sturdy and wonderful. At first the visual heaviness of it had me feeling unsure, but once we got the kitchen cleaned up and I began to bring in some of our things, it started to feel just right.
I am so glad this pantry project worked out ( you can check out previous posts for details) it really is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen! That middle drawer has all of our kids dishes, and our four year old loves getting her stuff!
We didn’t really change the footprint of the kitchen, but it feels so much bigger! It is such a better use of space, and I love all of the drawers! I can not wait to get everything put away and organized.
I have to give a huge Thank you to our Sponsor Kitch, and to Liberty Hardware for partnering with us on this project!!
Thank you to you guys for cheering us on! I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of this kitchen as we finish the little details, and there are more angles to share… but it’s getting to be quite a lengthy post!
Thanks for stopping by today! Means so much.
-Miss ash
Source List:
Cabinet Doors: Kitch
Faucet : Pfister
Hardware: Liberty Hardware
Sink: Ikea
Cabinet Boxes: Ikea
Visit the Other Guest Participants Here:
This project is in collaboration with:
Ashlea your kitchen turned out amazing. I love it, it looks so light and bright. Really beautiful job. I’m sure your family is going to just love using it.
Thank you so much Danyelle! You’re so kind- can’t believe we get to keep it 😉
STUNNING! Your DIY abilities are off the chart.
Would love a view of what you see when standing on the inside of the penisula. Not clear on the floorplan of that area. Congrats on a job well done!
Thank you Kim!! I added a shot of the inside of our peninsula- so you can get an idea of how that looks. Our dining area is on the other side of the kitchen- which you can see in the floorplan drawing- which I also added 🙂 Don’t have a shot of the dining room at the moment!
hi Mizzzz Ash
absolutely amazing what you and Matt have done in six weeks… kitchen looks so fresh and crisp and the flowers are gorgeous…I love how the window looks out and it’s place above that gorgeous sink…the wood brackets on the island with the dark metal stools is a great contrast, so much character beautiful…
well done 😀✨✨✨
Thank you so much Mizz Deborah!! I think you’ve touched on some of my very favorite things in the new kitchen 🙂 Lots of planning and dreaming- so wonderful to be on the other side of this project!
I am so impressed by your talents Ashley and Matt …The kitchen has a WOW feel and yet is very family friendly.
An amazing accomplishment in 6 weeks
Thank you so much Auntie Mary! We are so enjoying it!
This is darling! Love all the details you’ve added. So very pretty.
thank you so much Libbie!
Wow! Just Wow! I love what you did! Everything is just gorgeous!
That means so much Linda! Thank you!! xo
What a beautiful, open space!! I love that you had the original cabinets but I can definitely understand the desire for new. It looks great!
Your kitchen is beautiful! I was trying to find the door fronts you used on the kitch website, but I couldn’t find a mist colour- did you do the painted mdf option?
Hi Lyndsey! Strange- it was one of their color options when we ordered. I’ll find out if that was the right color name 🙂
Where did you get the bar stools?
They are from Ikea!
Hi! Lovely kitchen! How did you do the ceilings? We are looking for a similar (yet waterproof) effect for our shower ceiling. Thanks!
The ceiling is pine tongue and groove planks. We do have them in our bathroom, with an oil based stain. They are not “waterproof” but don’t ever get wet and have been fine for the last 5 years with a fan in the bathroom for ventilation. Hope that helps!
Hi! What a fun reveal! I was wondering about the hood over your stove. Did you make it or buy it? I’m looking for something similar. Thanks!
Hi Barbara! Thanks so much! We made the hood over the stove 🙂 You can find details of how we did it here: http://mamasdance.com/custom-wood-range-hood/
Beautiful! Is that an ikea countertop? Which colour is it?
Thank you! Yes it is- it is the oak.
Can you tell me exactly where you found your drawer pulls. I have looked on liberty hardware and cannot find them. They are exactly what I have been looking for. Thank you!
Hi Peggy, I ordered them directly from Liberty Hardware, they’re called “Soft Industrial 3″ (76mm) Cabinet Cup Pull” Hope that helps!