I really love this kitchen! So amazing what you did with a small space. The blue is really beautiful, much as I love a white kitchen, the blue is lovely and different.

Yay, another vintage sink rescued!! I love the color, the Shaker cabinets, the pantry, the blackboard, the kitty, the schoolhouse lights, everything. But most of all, I love that you stood firm for what you wanted in the face of naysayers.
The area where the fridge is now--was that just an empty space before?

I love all of your choices! Beautiful result!

Thanks Detroit_burb. I want the kitchen to have a vintage type feel, so I'm going to be sticking with the 3x6 subway tiles that you see in pics of old kitchens. I know the ceiling isn't level but I'm ok with things not being perfect in the kitchen. It's an old house, so if it did look perfect it'd be the only room. lol

hpny2, you have no idea how close I came to doing white....and it would've been lovely.......but I'm so happy I committed to the blue and I ended up loving it. Thanks so much!

iroll, where in the world do you see a kitty? I put up a gate to keep the animals out. lol. One cat seems to think that the marble is for her (b/c she's the queen) and any time she gets past the gate, she's laying there (see pic below). In the second pic I posted at the top you can see a freestanding table/cabinet that they had where the fridge is now (it has a wood top and a fire extinguisher on it in the last pic of the collage). I would've loved to have had that spot as counterspace as well, but I couldn't stand the fridge being where it was originally, plus the new fridge is much bigger than the old one (which I wanted), so it wouldn't have fit where the old fridge was. Thanks for loving the sink. I fought up until the last day of signing the contract for the cabinets. lol.

Thanks rebecca3142!! I'm really happy with how it turned out!

How did I miss this reveal? OMG, I love your kitchen! It's adorable and efficient and painted in blue, my favorite color. What a wonderful, vintage sink; I'm glad you kept it.

Sorry, no help with backsplash from me but I had to comment on your kitchen.

Precious kitchen! Awesome job!

Thank you Lisa_a!! I'm like how efficient it is too!!! I did go to my friends house yesterday and get instantly jealous over her expanse of beautiful countertop though. :-)

Thanks frmrswife!

Thank you Lisa_a!! I'm like how efficient it is too!!! I did go to my friends house yesterday and get instantly jealous over her expanse of beautiful countertop though. :-)

Thanks frmrswife!

I love your gorgeous kitchen. That blue is so bright and refreshing. And as a fellow cat owner, I love the way she matches your counter ;)

Totally charming kitchen. So light and peaceful and pretty.

Kitty on the marble countertop is the perfect accessory.

C

Thank you chiefy76 and scootermom!! She certainly thinks she's the perfect accessory to the kitchen!

I cannot wait for the subway tile to go in!

I was so sure I had commented on this before!

Well, I will make sure it posts this time--

I absolutely adore your kitchen! It is so charming! I love the blue cabinets, and that pantry is beyond CUTE! I want that pantry in my house! I am so glad you kept the sink, too. The marble is gorgeous and looks so right in this space.

Congratulations!

Your kitchen is exquisite. A favorite. Thanks for sharing it and showing it can be done: charming, functional, high end touches, historic, and nearly all made in USA.

I think you are my soul sister! I am so happy to find someone as stubborn as I am about salvaging the old and buying made in USA. Boy do I know how much extra time, leg work, and fending off eye rolls from contractors and vendors it takes. I couldn't wait to scroll down and see what made in USA counters you went with as that is the part that I am really stuck on right now. And then I saw you went for it. Italian Carerra. Maybe your kitchen is the shove I need to give myself to do the same. I am driving myself crazy over it. I don't know if it is rude, but may I ask about how much it cost for your counters including materials, fabrication and install, and around how many sq ft they are?

Your kitchen is beautiful. I love your choices. The blue cabinets, the marble, and your pantry just blew me away it is so darn cute! Great job!! Enjoy cooking in it and making many happy memories.

My tile's going in next week!! I'm so excited!!

Shelayne and Ikeltz, Thank you! I keep seeing the word cute when people comment on my kitchen. While people who cherish sophisticated kitchens may scoff at a kitchen like mine, I have to say, I really enjoy my "cute" kitchen. It's like taking a Prozac every time I enter my kitchen...the cuteness really is a mood enhancer. :) Even when I'm stressed out trying to get a meal together for company, I'm still whistling while I work and I'm sure that's b/c I enjoy being in the room so much.

Brandywine72, I emailed your gmail account with my marble cost. I laughed when you mentioned the "eye rolls" of contractors. You hit the nail on the head with that one. As I mentioned in the email, I believe that Danby marble is quarried in Vermont. Other options I considered, and really liked, were pietra cardosa, soapstone, slate or wood (I ended up with wood in the pantry). But honestly, as interesting as those were to me, I just kept coming back to white marble. Once a countertop hooks you, you might as well stop looking at others if it's in your budget, bc it's just a waste of time and energy.

Please promise you will post pictures of your kitchen when the tile is in. This truly has been one of the most beautiful reveals I've seen. I am in the middle of a remodel myself, and your kitchen just spoke to my soul. I would take a kitchen like yours any day, over a so called "sophisticated" kitchen. I showed it to my hubby, and his first comment was that whoever did this kitchen had good vision to create such a great end product.

We are also doing carrara marble and I was just wondering how long did it take you to find the right slab?

magsnj, I see you are going with subway tile? Just wondering what your thoughts are on the grout color? I didn't see that mentioned above (sorry if I missed it) and I want to put forward the idea of a darker grout like in the pic below... maybe a med. grey would look fabulous with your blue cabs. Just such a neat look IMO and could be a perfect touch for your kitchen. Just thought I'd throw it out, fwiw.

Ikeltz, i promise i will post so many photos of the kitchen when it's done that you'll be sick of it. Lol. It took around 3 (non consecutive) days to find the marble. I went to four different stone yards (relatively close to each other in NJ), had my head slightly turned by Pietra Cardosa (fun fact, it's quarried very near to the place carrera marble is quarried), and then actually ended up going with a slab that my fabricator had. My fabricator stocks some slabs from the stone yard they do the most business with (and get the best price from). If i had known this when i started i would've saved myself some time. They had made some lovely selections. One thing i did that I'd recommend doing is going to see them make the template before cutting. My fabricator seemed to think it was odd that i wanted to be there (thank you Gardenweb), but i got the'lightening strike' vein placed exactly where i wanted it on my counter.

Thank your husband for his kind words!! After the number of inspiration magazines and books i went through, I'm sure I'm more plagiarist and less visionary. ;)

Thanks Deedles! I love that pic! Yesterday i put out a panicked post regarding my grout choice, ran to home dept, and came right back to my original choice. It's a greige color. Below is a pic with it in someone elses kitchen. It's called antique white by polyblend.

Here is a link that might be useful: my grout post

What a fantastic kitchen! So classic. I had a similar sink and pantry in our old farmhouse--I think my sink was a double though. I adore the paint color on the cabinets--it is hard to see it in these pics but pretty clear in your backsplash thread.

Deedles, i just showed DH the pic you posted and he has officially stopped talking to me. Lol

Here's a pic of subway tile progress made today. All the tile on that side will be going to the ceiling. As of today, I LOVE IT. :) Tomorrow the grout will be put on.

Ikeltz, i showed DH your comment bc it was so nice, and he said 'it speaks to her soul???? Is she sure it doesn't make her heart sing??' Lol. As i dragged him from kitchen place to kitchen place i would say things like 'it speaks to my soul'. Finally when i was trying to convince him of the blue ( he loves it now by the way, and tells people he chose it) i said 'it makes my heart sing!!!' I think that was the tipping point for him. :) thanks for the memory!

Whoa! That looks great! Man, you guys are fast, too. I think your grout will look perfect. Always like that slightly darker line with the subways. Anyway, super nice job on the tile.

LOL, that gave me a chuckle. Glad I could bring back some fun memories for you. Thanks for the tip regarding being present when the template is made. I'm envious of how quickly you found your slab. I don't think that will be the case for us. Where we live, (upstate NY) marble is not very popular, so it's going to be quite the challenge. Fortunately, we are working with a wonderful fabricator, who is going to help us find our perfect slab (they actually have a slab that is gorgeous, but sold for someone's bathroom, only 2cm anyway so we couldn't have used it) At least they know what I want in terms of shading and veining, since they have my dream slab.

I had to laugh when I read about all of your kitchen magazines. I too, have dozens of them. I told my DH that when our kitchen was finished, I would miss looking through all of my magazines. I don't think I can part with some of them. I will have to post pics of our remodel. DH is building the cabinets. Should be done by summer. Can't wait!

Ikeltz, you have no idea how jealous I am that your DJ can build cabinets. You're really lucky!!

The grout is in! While I think I could've gotten away with going a little darker and possibly more gray, I'm so happy with the way it looks that I'm not goingto harp on it.

A couple days of drying and then the shelves can go back up and I'll probably try to stage it and take out my good camera for the final reveal.

This post was edited by magsnj on Wed, Feb 12, 14 at 15:58

Looking at the above pic i probably should've gone darker. Lol. I'm so happy with it i just don't mind though

Looking at the above pic i probably should've gone darker. Lol. I'm so happy with it i just don't mind though

{{gwi:1618391}}

I love it with the color grout it has now. It has plenty of texture without outlining every tile. A great easy, inexpensive, I would suspect, very clean looking treatment of that wall behind the stove. And easy to take care of too! You've made a lot of great decisions with that small charming space. I can't wait to see your final reveal!

I LOVE it!! I think the grout you chose is perfect. My DH just took a gander and agrees. I'm not a fan of the grout taking center stage when it outlines the tile. This is perfect, especially with your gorgeous marble counters. I can't wait for the final reveal. Relax and enjoy your beautiful new kitchen. You've done a fantastic job.

Looks beautiful!! Can't wait for more photos!!!

magsnj,

As a fellow old house owner (mine is a 1925) you have done an absolutely fabulous job with your beautiful kitchen remodel! It has the vintage charm of yesterday and the modern function of today. Small kitchens can be absolutely wonderful. I love that you were able to reuse the beautiful original sink, the glassed cabinet to the right of the sink and re-purpose the cubby into a lovely pantry. Your choice of color for the kitchen cabinets is great, love the blue! I'm glad you were able to refinish the pine floors, they came out gorgeous. The classic carrera marble for your counters, again a timeless choice.

Great decision on the tile backsplash, perfect all the way to the ceiling. It looks great with the open shelving!

In our recent kitchen remodel, we chose the same subway tile for our backsplash, Arctic White Matte Daltile 3 x 6, but chose Alabaster for our grout color. Our cabinets are a white/cream color with white appliances. You were able to go with a little darker grout which looks great with your blue cabinets and stainless appliances. Excellent! You will love your choice of tile, we sure love ours.

Your kitchen stands out as one of my favorites! Great job!!

Looking forward to a final reveal soon. :)

I agree that the grout is perfect -- with the tile going to the ceiling (love that!), I think with any more contrast between tile and grout colors the grout lines themselves would take center stage - not what youâÂÂre going for here.

Wow, really gorgeous! The tile and grout look great. I love the application to the ceiling.

Looks great! Love the tile to the ceiling and absolutely can't wait to see it with the shelves and everything back up.

i love your pendants above the sink. Where did you find them?

NWRain-Gal, your kitchen is lovely. I love how you're able to display items at the top of your cabinets, and all of your choices really suit the age of your home perfectly! I love when people put thought into the character of their home as a whole, and not only what their favorite style may be or what is currently "in". Did you post a final reveal of your kitchen?

I'm so happy that everyone likes the tile/grout as much as I do! On the other side of the kitchen (I haven't shown it yet b/c the door still needs to be painted blue) I only went up 50 inches, and while I still think that's the correct decision on that side, it looks really neat up to the ceiling on the range side.

revovatesue, I bought my pendants (and all of my other kitchen lighting) off of an Etsy store called Lucent Lampworks. It was very important to me that I buy as much as I could in the USA, and these lights are from Doylestown PA, made of all made in USA components except for one part that he said you really can't find made here (I forget what part it was). I actually drove out and saw the lights before I purchased them and you couldn't meet a nicer person than Brad. He has many lovely pieces:

Lights: Lucent Lampworks (Doylestown PA, USA)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lucentlampworks

Here is a link that might be useful: etsy link

This post was edited by magsnj on Wed, Feb 12, 14 at 15:24

Perfection!

Such an inspiration! Another GWebber just pointed me in your direction, as I try to figure out how to lay out my very small, somewhat awkward kitchen. What' you've done with yours is beautiful!

Adorable, stylish, and charming, the blue being *perfect* for a smaller-sized kitchen! IMO, the great thing about a small kitchen is you can be more creative and colorful, making it even more personalized.

Magsnj,

Thanks for the kind words. I love my upper lighted display cabinets too. So glad I changed my decision from clear glass to seeded glass. Much more of a vintage look, and they weren't that much more costly then clear glass.

I haven't posted a reveal just yet because we are not quite done. We are at the loose end, fine tuning stage now.

We've been at it since August 2013. Whew! We did run into some surprises along the way, and that delayed the timeline. Old houses...gotta love them!!

I have to learn how to post multiple pictures before I can do my reveal. Learning curve! :)

Everything about it looks amazing. What a wonderful project, I'm so glad you are happy because you should be.

I am just getting around to thinking about sort of making plans to redo my smaller kitchen at some point in the vague future. I hope you don't mind being one of my role models.

It is the way and the law that our pets must match the kitchen, kitty clearly understands this and since she is not blue, she goes to the marble.

You know, looking at the tile/grout again, I've revised my thoughts on the darker grout. In such a small space it could have been 'grid-ey' and became too visually advancing. I think you made the right call. So gol dang cute in there!

How's the kitchen remodel coming? Would love to see an update!

I love your kitchen and tile choice!!!

I'm going to have pics posted this w/e. I just finished repainting the shelves and the door today (It was supposed to be done a month ago..... but I think it's taken that long to forget the trauma of putting the open shelves up over the tile.... long story)

I can't wait to get the pics up! It'll give me a sense of closure. :)

This post was edited by magsnj on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 21:15

This is my FAVORITE FAVORITE GW kitchen. It has soul and personality. I look at your pictures and just want to wander in there and linger, feeling the coziness and healing properties of that welcoming and nurturing space. It feels like a li'l ol' soft grandma with arms outstretched waiting to hug me. It does NOT remind me of so many cold, hard casket like fancy kitchens in the pictures. This one has a warm heartbeat throughout. Fantastic job, and I'm sure with the elbow grease/blood/sweat/tears you put into her you'll love her all the more over the years!!

This is my favourite GW kitchen. I could never have your kitchen because my home is a characterless condo, but I love your choices. I find the colour of blue you chose for the cabinets UTTERLY charming and fresh-looking.

Have the shelves gone back up yet? I would love to see the finished wall. You have created such a darling, perfectly done kitchen. Love it. Really love it.

You're all really too kind! I just finished taking the photos and I'm about to upload and post..... my problem is that I have SO many that I really like. :). I'm going to figure out a way to edit so it's only an absurd amount.... but I'm going to post a lot, darn it, b/c for all the work you put into kitchen remodels, you should be able to show it all! LOL.

I just posted the photos of the COMPLETED kitchen :).....I thought a hundred comments were the limit so I started a new thread:

Here is a link that might be useful: New thread with photos

This post was edited by magsnj on Sat, Apr 5, 14 at 20:50