Kitchen Renovation

I adore the house that Sean bought a year before we met. It is a charming row house and it is in a fun neighborhood. I honestly don't think that I could have been happier anywhere else as a newlywed. Sean is a great handyman has has been renovating it on his own little by little. For example - he remodeled this half bathroom all on his own. 

and it turned out great!

Despite the charm of the house, there was one room that I was not in love with.... the kitchen. The last update must have been in the 70s (I am bummed that I don't have a picture of the hideous, oil stained curtains). The yellow paint, clay tiles and sandstone backsplash were not our favorites. We did like the cabinets - they were just in a need of a re-stain and they'd look great. 

We realized that we were going to need to re-do our kitchen floor before renting out the place when some of our tiles started cracking and the floor in the pantry started to feel like it was about to give in. We later discovered that before there had been no drain installed with the water heater and water was just being let out onto the subfloor. As a result the subfloor and joyces were completely rotten. 

This was what our contractors found when they had torn up the tile. The floor was COMPLETELY rotten.

After having three contractors commit to the job and then bailing, we found one that was able to give us a great deal on a total kitchen remodel. That meant a new floor, a new backsplash (yay!), new paint and new cabinets! (This contracting company had just redone a bunch of condos and had extra grey cabinets that they were essentially trying to get rid of for free - we feel very lucky to have found them!)

Goodbye ugly backsplash!

Goodbye ugly tile!

Hello new floor, backsplash, cabinets, and paint! You've done wonders! 

We really like how it is turned out! My one regret is the white grout. I was pressured into making that decision quickly and made the wrong choice. To me, it makes the floor look 80s. My mother also pointed out that white gout will not stay white in a kitchen. I went ahead and bought grey grout dye and will change the color of the grout before we leave. 

I just love the backsplash so much! I am glad that we were able to work with the granite top as well
 - we couldn't afford a new one.