Kitchen Updates (and new flooring)!

A couple of weeks ago, we completed a few long awaited updates to our home! We have always wanted a home with hardwood flooring. It was a desire of ours even while living at our old home (and knowing that it wasn't the place to do it) so when we started looking for new homes, we knew that hardwoods would definitely be a part of it. Our current home was very much everything we were looking for, it just needed some changes to make it less cookie cutter and more "ours". We've been at our home how for 2 1/2 years, and have lived with the tile floor and basic carpeting it came with up until this point, knowing that we had other priorities to take care of first (namely, basement finishing). The time finally came and we are so happy with how it turned out!


The After:

We chose a 5" hand scraped maple, and while you cannot see it in the above photo, the planks are fairly distressed have quite a bit of natural wood dimpling. Having that characteristic in wood was really important to me so I didn't freak out every time Cameron dropped a hot wheel on the floor or came into the house with dirt covered roller blades. Jon actually dropped a wrench from a ladder the day we got the new floors in, and we couldn't even find the indention from the fall.

We also chose to change out our countertops to granite, and change the old backsplash (old pictures below). I've never been a big fan of granite as I generally tend to gravitate toward more "subtle" stone countertop patterns. Jon never really has much of an opinion when it comes to home decor, but really expressed his desire for granite in the kitchen. I ended up finding a beautiful granite slab I liked- not too busy or loud- and it looks incredible with our existing cabinets. 

We were able to use our old sink, and undermount it which has been awesome!

 
The Before (from move in day, hence the mess): Our kitchen came with laminate counters, and a tile backsplash and floor (also the same tile on the bar top there).

Another view of the "before"

 

I also had the chance to paint the entire living room and kitchen (what a project in itself!). Previously (see: The before) it was the paint color the builder had chosen, which was a beige with yellow-green undertones. I knew I wanted to lighten it up a bit (especially since we were bringing in dark flooring) so I chose 'Chocolate Froth' by Behr (a creamy white) for the majority of the main level and 'Mocha Accent' by Behr for the accent wall you can see above. LOVE those choices. I probably went through 15 paint samples before I landed on these.

Previously, the microwave had its home above the stove, but its been down for weeks and I LOVE not having it (and all its bulkiness) there. The plan is to tile up a bit further, and install a hood. A smaller microwave will go inside the pantry. Also, the floor reads pretty red in this picture, even though it's not. 

The dining nook. Oh, this table set has seen better days. It is really beat up but the size is so perfect for our family and the nook that it's in. I have been looking for a different table for many, many months, one that's the same size but has the capability of extending to seat more people. I have come up empty handed (bar height tables are hard to find!) so Ive decided to build a new table top with a leaf, and use the existing table base and install an extender. I scored some really sweet (and ridiculously cheap) new chairs from Restoration Hardware right before Christmas that will be a part of the new "set" once I'm done.

That's about it! The living room is pretty bare bones and I hope to share more later as I find a rug and some artwork to hang on the walls (that have largely remained blank!). Hope you enjoyed a tour of our updates! =)