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Tuesday 12 May 2015

My Kitchen | The Reveal

To all of you who have been following my kitchen reno... thank you so much for your patience. It's been over a month since my last progress post, but it got to the point where it was so close that I just had to wait until it was finished (or 99% finished) before I showed you. Here is a reminder of where we've come from, or read all about the full kitchen renovation in these previous posts.




I can't tell you how ecstatic we are with our finished kitchen! Not only does it look amazing and just how we wanted it, but it is so functional, with so much more storage, and it's a joy to work in! A huge thank you to Rick and his team - Ben and Shane - from Sunshine Joinery. Rick listened to everything we asked for and worked closely with us to create our perfect kitchen. The guys were all a pleasure to have in our home, and their workmanship was faultless.





I wanted the kitchen to fit seamlessly into our house, which is a 1940's bungalow. We took a classic look and gave it a contemporary spin by using panelled, soft-close, handleless cabinetry. The lack of handles gives it a clean, contemporary feel, while the panelling ties in with the era of our home.




You'll remember how I deliberated over the tile choice for our splash back... well, we love our final choice - the Cube Collection from Tile Space, supplied by Napier Ceramic Tiles. I wanted the tiles to contrast the stone marble-look bench top while also complimenting it. I also love the geometric pattern juxtaposed with the vertical panelling in the cabinets. The bench top we chose is an engineered stone called Smart Quartz by Granite Pacifica, colour Mont Blanc, installed by John and his team at Pinnacle Stone.




The wooden shelf is one of our favourite details. Rick made it from our old mantle pieces, so there is history and a story to tell there. The led down lights underneath add additional task lighting to that corner.






One of the things I was certain I wanted was cupboards that went right to the ceiling. They didn't in our old kitchen, and the tops of them were a serious dust collector. It also uses every available space for storage which was important to me. The very top shelves house those things that we don't use all the time, but are still necessary.




The two places we needed handles were on the pull out pantry, and the bi-fold cupboards into another pantry. I'm crazy in love with our brass handles from Schoolhouse Electric. The lines are clean and simple and echo the handles on the fridge/freezer and oven, but the under side is rounded to mould to your fingers - gorgeous! The beautiful Skandi tea towel is from Izzy & Jean.






I was also adamant I was going to have a black stone sink to contrast all the white. It is awesome and big enough to fit a roasting pan! I chose a beautiful Paini matt black tap supplied by Plumbing World in Napier.





One of the few things to finish is to fit a piece of the stone bench top behind the sink and under the window sill - that's happening this week. Plus I'm searching for the perfect piece of art for the wall between the kitchen and dining room windows (will keep you posted on that).

Also, we have some white roller blinds previously used on our kitchen and dining room windows, but because of all the white, I want to have some roman blinds made up in a beautiful fabric - I'm thinking blue and white ikat, similar to the ones we put in this client's dining room.




The pendant lights above the breakfast bar are another fave of mine. They're a Bibby + Brady special from a favourite supplier of ours, so any enquiries can come to me :) Because it's quite a small kitchen, the glass shades don't take up much visual space, and they don't block the view to the tiles and wooden shelf behind. I've pinched some bulbs from our bedroom, but I plan to add some yummy filament bulbs soon.





Our floors are another big win for us. We love the effect of the different boards, and the brass strips that separate them. Barry from Bay Floor Sanding did an amazing job sanding and polishing them, and our awesome builder, Glynn Pritchard - GCP Construction Ltd - had the task of laying the horizontal rimu boards and routering (is that a word?) the brass strips in.




Rather than having bar stools at the breakfast bar, we opted for more cupboards and an open shelf - perfect for adding some colour and pattern.





We still have a little bit to finish off in the dining room. Sunshine Joinery are going to make us a built-in corner bench seat. This will be a fantastic spot to get comfy and admire the kitchen :) It will also bring more storage under the seats. Our American oak dining room table is absolutely gorgeous and made for us by Francois of Le Workshop, and the Italian dining chairs were a brilliant TradeMe find. Opposite the table Glynn has built us a European laundry, and Sunshine Joinery are also making us a set of bi-fold doors for here. When all of that is finished I'll bring you a separate dining room reveal blog post.




I also have to give thanks to the rest of our amazing team - Davyd Auckram the electrician, John Riggs the plumber, Morris the plasterer, and Mark & Pete (my hubby & father-n-law) the painters. This renovation has been a testament to how you need a really great team around you, and plenty of time to project manage it all. This is something Dael & I, at Bibby + Brady, specialise in, so if you would like us to design and project manage your renovations, we'd love to work with you.

41 comments:

  1. Gabrielle Scott12 May 2015 at 16:14

    Love the look, Vic. The tiles look fantastic!

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    1. Thanks Gabrielle. Aren't those tiles amazing?! They're really textural too, most people go up and rub them :) x

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    2. Hi there, sorry if this is a repeat post - I couldn't tell if my first try worked. I have bought these same tiles and was wondering what colour grout you used - was it a light grey? It looks great.

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    3. Hi Tessa. I narrowed it down to two grey grouts, and ended up going for the slightly darker, mid grey. I wanted to pattern to be a feature, so not too subtle. But I also think a light grey would give the same effect. I definitely didn't want to use white grout. x

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  2. It is gorgeous!! We have just finished our kitchen too and chose the same tap *swoon* Well done, it looks amazing - can't wait to see the dining room! Jo :-)

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    1. Thanks so much Jo, great choice in tap! ;) I hope it doesn't take us too long to finish the dining room, watch this space x

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  3. Vic that is amazing. Awesome.

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  4. A slightly random question...what is the name of the pink you used to have on the wall in your old kitchen?! New kitchen looks lovely by the way :)

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    1. Thanks Sarah. I loved that pink too, it was chalk board paint by Hudson Paint, colour Sweet 13. We've also used Resene Smitten and Resene Scrumtious before, check them out.

      PS: my maiden name is Uttley, maybe we're related :) x

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    2. Vic, you didn't grow up in Karori by any chance, did you? I lived on Blakey Ave as a child and some very lovely Uttley girls used to babysit me - including a Vicky who was wonderful at drawing cartoon animals ;-). It would be funny if it was you. x Monica

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    3. Hi Monica. How funny, yes, that's me. I remember babysitting you and your brother, you were such great kids :) Definitely my easiest babysitting children - so excited by my amateur drawings. Hope all is well. Vic x

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  5. Love it! We're planning a new kitchen so I sent my husband the link - a rare thumbs up from him! The traditional look cupboards are lovely. Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see the dining room

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    1. Thanks Lauren, so pleased your hubby likes it too :) Good luck with your kitchen, sing out if you need any help with designs or sourcing x

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  6. Love it Vic, dying to know if the cabinets and drawers are push release or is there a gap to put your fingers in to pull open?

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    1. Hi Karen. There is a negative detail just under the bench top that allows your fingers to pull open the top drawers, and the cupboards. The drawers below this are push to open, and all have soft close doors - divine! x

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  7. Gorgeous! You might consider jesslaine.com for the painting between the kitchen and dining room - I have a few of hers and the colors might look great here!

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  8. What kind of bench top did you use and in what color? It looks like a light grey?

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    1. Hi Janet. Yes, it is a very light grey, we chose an engineered stone called Smart Quartz by Granite Pacifica, colour Mont Blanc. I wanted a subtle marble look, but engineered stone (with about 5% resin) is more forgiving than marble or granite. Silestone is another great option for engineered stone. x

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  9. You must be thrilled, Vic?! Looks fabulous - and great advert for your skills. I bet you are loving the extra storage space?? I am loving the style links through to the other rooms, too. All looks extremely user friendly and stylish!! Yay!! x

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    1. Thanks Rachel. Yes, the storage is awesome!!! I am in heaven with the new kitchen and dining room :) x

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  10. Beautiful! Just perfect.

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  11. Love it!! And that black sink is wicked!!! I see the tap is from Plumbing World, but what about the sink, were can I get one of those??? :-)

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  12. Love it! Great renovation! The black sink is wicked!! I see the black tap is from Plumbing World, but what about the sink, where can I get one of those?? Thanks :-)

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    1. Thanks Rebecca. If you click on the "black stone sink" link in the text above, it will show you. Otherwise we, at Bibby + Brady, will be happy to order you one - just let me know. x

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  13. This gives me hope that our small kitchen can look AMAZING!!

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    1. Happy to inspire you :) Let me now if you need any help with the design or sourcing x

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  14. The lighting fixtures are fabulous and white is so refreshing. It seems more people are starting to opt for white over black or stainless steel.

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  15. Hey lovely lady, I'm doing my kitchen up now and wondered where you bought your sink and black tap from? I have a similar colour scheme to your kitchen (wood and white) - do you like the sink colour and size (with drainer?). Thanks! Larnie x

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    1. Hey Larnie. Yes, I love our sink and tap. I opted for the bigger single sink (as opposed to the double sink) as it's big enough to fit a roasting pan in, which is brilliant. Really happy with the colour and quality. I got the tap from Plumbing World, and our kitchen guy provided the sink, but there is a link above in the text for both. Hope that answers all your questions. Good luck with your kitchen reno. x

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  16. Hello we have a similar space to renovate this year. I love this look but why did u choose white wear instead of silver like I see in many other designs. Thanks

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    1. Hi Melanie. My husband's request was for a 'white kitchen', and he was really keen to have white appliances too. It makes the kitchen look a little more seamless rather than breaking it up with silver appliances. Good luck with your renos. x

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  17. Your kitchen is beautiful! I have a question about the tile backsplash, I've been painstakingly searching for the perfect tile and I finally got a bit of excitement when I came across yours! I saw it as a star or snowflake type pattern but then when I went to the sellers website and they said "cube" my brain then switched and started seeing cubes! Then I thought I was totally going to lose my mind. Do you find that you notice more of a star or cube pattern when looking at it (in real life, not on a computer screen)? Thanks!

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    1. Hi Meg. Yep, it's a bit of a left brain, right brain thing - different people see different things. I see the star or snowflake primarily, but if I concentrate on the shapes I can see the cubes. If the first thing you saw was the star, then I'm pretty sure that's what you'll naturally see if you put them in your home. But, as I said, someone else might instantly see cubes.

      Sorry, that may not be of any help :) but I can say that we love our tiles and get many compliments on them x

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    2. Thanks so much for the reply, it definitely does help. I suppose it will be a conversation piece! :)

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    3. I can guarantee that :) Enjoy x

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  18. Hi! We love your kitchen & are using it as inspiration for our kitchen renovatio & were wonderi g what colour & finish you chose for your cupboards?

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    1. I'm glad I've inspired you. The colour we used is Resene Alabaster, it's a fresh, bright white. Great in rooms with plenty of natural light. If your kitchen doesn't get much natural light I would suggest a slightly warmer white like Resene Half Bianca. The finish is matt. If you want any further interior advice, check out our website http://bibbyandbrady.co.nz/ Vic x

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  19. Hello, just wondering what plaster you used behind the sink and if you used special paint? I'd love to not tile behind my sink but Hubby is insisting we have to.. Cheers

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It's lovely to hear from you. Thanks for your comment. Best wishes, Vic xxx