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Design Advice: Tiffany’s Tasty Kitchen

July 22, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 8 Comments

Oh goodness, I just love a great kitchen makeover!! When Tiffany wrote in for a little advice in pulling her kitchen together, I jumped at the chance to whip up a design board for Tiffany and her hubby. Here’s what she had to say:

Hello! I just found your blog and I must say, your home is gorgeous! I love love LOVE your kitchen and den! My husband and I are actually in the process of redoing our kitchen, we just purchased new countertops and are in the process of picking out paint colors for our walls and cabinets. My question is, where did you get your backsplash, or, do you have any advice on a backsplash that would look nice with these color countertops . . . Also, if you’re so inclined, I’d love your advice on paint colors (our appliances are white and the floors will be a dark wood). Thanks SO much! ~ Tiffany

Before I fill you guys in on all the design quickie-goodness, here’s what this lovely couple is currently working with (minus the scalloped trim, mismatched trim and tired flooring):

Eeek, I’m so excited!! Talk about great bones, with oodles of ceiling-height cabinets – I’m drooling!! The look that Tiffany is going for is sophisticated yet comfortable, kind of a Restoration Hardware feel. You’ll notice that most of the designs that I’ve come up with incorporate mosaic tiles, which add a layer of texture and interest to the kitchen which is really a nice contrast to the flat cabinet fronts. Okay, here we go!!

Tiffany initially suggested this burnt orange paint color for the walls with off-white cabinets, but was at a loss as to what do to for the backsplash. Take a look at this warm and inviting kitchen that I whipped up, taking into account her suggestions:

[FYI: the paint colors may vary slightly due to your computer monitor, so be sure to check out the paint chips in person!!]

~ Wall Color: Onandaga Clay, Benjamin Moore

~ Cabinet Color: 1812 Swiss Coffee, Behr

~ Backsplash: SOHO BLEND ™ – Kaleidoscope ® Colorways ™ Mosaic Blends, $9.95 per 1.15 square foot

~ Drawer Pulls: Liberty Satin Nickel Stepped Pulls, $34.99 for 8 pulls

~ Cabinet Knobs: Liberty Satin Nickel Stepped Knobs, $27.99 for 8 knobs

Tiffany’s next option has a completely different feel and is chic, sophisticated and airy, with white cabinets, a shimmering glass backsplash and sleek hardware. This look would be fabulous with glass canisters on the countertop and silver accents. While the glass tile is a tad on the expensive side, the effect that it will give the kitchen is priceless.

~ Wall Color: 700E-3 Contemplation, Behr

~ Cabinet Color: W-B-600 Luster White, Behr

~ Backsplash: Easygoing; $15.95 per 0.949 square foot

~ Drawer Pulls: Amerock Manor Pull; $5.97 each

~ Cabinet Knobs: Amerock Manor Knob, Raised Square; $3.97

This stunner incorporates a lot of the same elements as the second kitchen design – white cabinets and sleek hardware, complemented by glass tile. But in this scenario, the glass tile is much more earthy and is set off by olive walls, and also picks up on the wood tones in the flooring. I like to think of it as a more neutral, yet equally interesting, version of the very first design.

~ Wall Color: 760D-5 Shortgrass Prairie, Behr

~ Cabinet Color: W-B-600 Luster White, Behr

~ Backsplash: Ivory Iridescent Glass Mosaic Tile; $8.99 per square foot

~ Drawer Pulls: Amerock Manor Pull; $5.97 each

~ Cabinet Knobs: Amerock Manor Knob, Raised Square; $3.97

And last but not least, Tiffany’s final option is casual and understated, with a backsplash in a classic (and totally affordable) white subway tile, updated with black grout for a little pop and interest. The neutral walls will complement the sand-colored countertops, and the steel blue cabinets provide a great contrast with the more subtle colors in the space. Finally, the sturdy satin nickel hardware will add a little oomph to the flat cabinetry.

~ Wall Color: 730C-1 White Clay, Behr

~ Cabinet Color: 740E-3 Prelude, Behr

~ Backsplash: 3 x 6 glossy white ceramic tiles; Home Depot has them for 21 cents a piece

~ Drawer Pulls: Belwith Satin Nickel Bungalow Pull; $4.97 each

~ Cabinet Knobs: Hickory Hardware Satin Nickel Bungalow Knob; $4.97 each

Thanks to this Design Quickie, Tiffany has four fabulous options that would look dynamite in her kitchen – all she has to do now is choose!! I can’t wait to hear what you guys think (especially Tiffany), and go ahead and fill us all in on which plan is your favorite.

Click on the following link to snag some design advice of your very own – Interior Design Services.

This post is shared with DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land.

Our Flip: Pretty Little Things

July 2, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 6 Comments

I’m a firm believer that cabinets should have hardware. For some reason, it really irks me when I see beautiful, naked cabinets – why miss out on an opportunity to add a little bling? Also, I just think it’s odd to claw at a cabinet or drawer to open it when you could just grab a knob or pull instead. But maybe that’s just me.

Anyway, yesterday was awesome because we finally got to pick out the hardware for the cabinets at the flip!! I was shocked when we counted up all of the hardware that we would need – 33 pulls and 50 knobs. Doesn’t that seem like a ton? I guess it’s not when you really think about it, because we needed hardware for the kitchen (and pantry), jack ‘n jill bath, laundry room bi-fold doors, bi-fold closet doors in the second bedroom, and a built-in desk in the fourth bedroom.

We were afraid that we would have a tough time finding hardware that we liked, but we were definitely wrong!! Our first trip to Home Depot yielded these beauties for the jack ‘n jill bath and the built-in desk:

[I know my pictures can't do them justice, so I added in their glamour shots from the Home Depot website]

Aren’t they pretty? I think they are going to look fab in those two secondary areas – they have some personality while still remaining affordable. Excellent!

Restoration Hardware was the next stop on our quest for hardware. We fell in love with their hardware when we were buying pulls and knobs for our own master bath – they have some really beautiful, classic designs. On the downside, they are pretty darn expensive, so we promised ourselves that we would only buy hardware for the master bath. Here’s what we chose:

I love them!!! Want to hear something funny? We actually had a bag of leftover hardware to return to Restoration Hardware that I hadn’t peeked into in about 6 months – when we got to the register to buy the new stuff and return the old stuff, it turns out that we had picked the very same knobs again!! I guess we must have really liked them, right?

And you probably noticed that we got two sizes of pulls for the master bath – that’s because the drawer fronts in front of the sinks are pretty big, and the drawers in between the two sinks are much smaller. Using two different sizes of pulls will add a little visual interest to the vanity, and keep everything in scale.

By the way, if you’re thinking about buying hardware from Restoration Hardware, I would advise planning ahead – most of their hardware is special-order only these days, which is kind of a bummer. They still have a little stock left over in the back so we were able to score all of our hardware in the same day by driving around to two different stores, but otherwise we would have had to wait for a week.

Next we were off to Lowe’s – we were hoping that they had a few different styles of hardware that Home Depot didn’t have. Turns out, Lowe’s has a much better selection of hardware – I was totally impressed!! Take a gander at all of this playground o’ hardware:

Four whole sections of hardware!!! And most of it was in-stock (as opposed to special order), so I was a happy girl. I absolutely love this collection of hardware:

This collection is chunky and very heavy to the touch, which is a great quality for hardware to have. I love how sturdy it looks, and I think it’s going to look great in the new kitchen.

We were pretty consistent with the hardware throughout the flip – almost all of it is satin nickel, except for the polished nickel in the master bath (for a little extra swank). We think that will make the house feel even more cohesive, and hopefully it will all look great with the other finishes we picked out. I can’t wait to show you guys the house when it’s all finished!!

So now I’ve spilled the beans on the hardware in the flip – what sorts of goodies adorn your cabinets?

Images courtesy of Restoration Hardware, Lowe’s and Home Depot.

Christy’s Fireplace Dilemma

April 24, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 6 Comments

Fireplaces are at the very top of the list of things that people wish for when they’re searching for homes – fireplaces are all warm and cozy, and make a house feel like a home. So what’s a girl to do when she snags a house with a fireplace, but she hates the way it looks? That’s the position Christy was in when she sent me this email:

Hi Liz,

So here’s the snapshot of our fireplace. We hate the brass surround on the glass doors/screen. Do you think we could paint it black or silver and it would look decent? Alternatively, we could buy a smaller one that still does the job. We have to keep our daughter out of it, obviously! What say you? Muchas gracias for your thoughts! ~ Christy

I know Christy isn’t the only one with this dilemma – isn’t it crazy how popular those brass fire surrounds used to be? We had a similar surround on our fireplace before we demolished and rebuilt the whole thing because of some crazy, shiny stone.

Here’s the brass surround that Christy’s living with:

Luckily Christy won’t need to do anything drastic to get her fireplace into fantastic form – all it’s going to take is an afternoon with one of these guys:

Here’s the down and dirty on how to turn that dated, brass fireplace surround into a total showstopper:

1. Pick your poison. It’s pretty cool – these days they make a high heat spray paint that can be used to spray paint just about anything that gets hot, from grills to exhaust pipes to . . . you guessed it . . . fireplace surrounds. It’s specially formulated to withstand insane temperatures, and is safe to use to paint your fireplace surround. These paints are easy to pick up at places like Home Depot and Lowe’s, and come in a few colors and finishes, like black (flat and glossy), white, hunter green, silver and gold. In Christy’s case, I think a coat of flat black paint would make her fireplace look dynamite by picking up on the darker bricks in the fireplace as well as the bookcase and chair that sit nearby. [Edit: Stove Bright also makes high heat paints (including primer and cleaner/paint prepper) that come in a huge assortment of colors that can be ordered online, and Thurmalox makes a clear stove paint that can provide a glossy finish.]

2. Unscrew the fireplace surround from the fireplace. There should be screws holding the surround into the fireplace – just find them and unscrew the whole shebang (and be sure to hang onto your screws).

3. Head outside. This high heat spray paint is pretty toxic stuff, so be sure to do this project either outside or in an open garage. Once you’re outdoors, unscrew the brass trim from the doors. Lay the trim on newspaper or a tarp and spray the trim in thin, even passes. Tape off the glass part of the doors with newspaper and painters tape to protect the glass, and then go to town spray painting the doors. [Edit: To ensure extra adhesion, you may want to clean and sand the doors before you begin spray painting them.]

4. Let it dry. Although spray paint dries pretty quickly, try to give the trim and doors at least a day to dry before you put them back up just to be safe. Once the trim and doors are dry, find your screws and put those babies back in place!

5. Brag a little. Your friends will be totally jealous that your fireplace now looks so awesome. If you feel like being nice, you can tell them how easy this project was.

Totally doable, right?? And if you are debating between painting the surround and replacing it, like Christy, you don’t have anything to lose by giving painting a try before you spend a bunch of money replacing the surround – that simple $5 can of spray paint will probably do the trick!!

Have any of you tried this project? Got any projects that you’d like to tackle but need some advice? Fire away!! You can leave your question in the comments or shoot me an email here.

And by the way – see that fab mantle above Christy’s fireplace? And the beautiful hearth? Christy and her husband made the mantle from scratch, and Christy’s husband and dad tiled the hearth. Skills, I tell you!! How awesome is that??

Images courtesy of Rustoleum. This post is shared with Hooked on Houses.