Hello Lovely Fixer Upper {Kitchen Reveal}

March 23, 2017

Serene white simple modern farmhouse kitchen with Minuet quartz and marble subway tile
Serene and Simple Modern Farmhouse Kitchen - Hello Lovely Studio

Welcome to our DIY renovated
modern farmhouse style kitchen!

I have shared glimpses here and there of the
kitchen at the Chicagoland fixer upper, but this
post will roll out some of the resources and
reflect upon how far the kitchen has come.

If you're new to the blog,
we're wrapping up a whole house
DIY reno, and we're half out
of our minds since we work full-time
in fields unrelated to construction.
Yes, m'am, things move at a pace
around here we'll call
L O V E L Y  T I M E.

Serene white kitchen with modern farmhouse style, white oak hardwood floor, and quartz countertop
Serene White Kitchen with Modern Farmhouse Style

In the end, we turned the space into a
modern farmhouse style kitchen
with a slightly European feel.
Here's how we made that happen.


It would have been swell to open the kitchen
to the adjoining dining room, but
that turned out to be too tricky so
we kept the cozy size
and re-designed the layout by
moving the frig, range, microwave,
dishwasher, peninsula...oh yeah,
by moving everything.

Below is how it looked when we
bought it...20 year old
vinyl cabinets, newer laminate
counters, and maple hardwoods
which looked pretty but were
ruined from water damage.

We salvaged all of this and moved
it down to create a basement workshop.



Demo is always a relief,
and after the area was gutted, we met with
kitchen designers and gathered our ideas.

As much as an island would be great,
it felt awkward wherever we taped it out.
I couldn't imagine working at it because
I would be oriented to the long
hallway and not the outdoors,
so I opted for a peninsula/bar
as before but pushed it out further,
stealing a foot from the breakfast area.

It was at this stage that I plastered the ceiling...yep, I became a mudder.
We moved a gas line,
recessed lights, and electrical outlets
to prepare for the new design.

What a happy day when the
white oak hardwood flooring went in!

Now we have more space in the working
area of the kitchen, and we may eventually
add a small island in the center,
but since I'm kind of a freak
about visual clutter, it's best
to take our time.

There are white custom Shaker style cabinets
from floor to ceiling on the frig wall
and no other upper cabinets.

Cabinet hardware pulls are the simplest
stainless modern ones I could find.

The dishwasher is hiding behind a panel
to the right of the sink.

Bosch stainless appliances,
a wall of polished subway marble tile,
a fireclay farm sink,
a bridge faucet,
a beverage frig,
new drywall,
beadboard on the bar and an accent wall,
and new Shaker style window trim
round out the plan...and what am I forgetting???

The quartz countertops!
The color choice was more challenging
than I prepared for, but I'm so happy
with the Minuet (LG Viatera) which

Minuet is an alabaster
white with light grey veining
that works beautifully with the
natural polished marble wall.

We used white grout on the tiled wall
which quiets the marble, and you may
recall these tiles are dear to me since our
Bella pitterpattered over each and every
one when they were laid out on the floor
just a couple of days before she got her wings.

It's a small humble kitchen, yet we managed to
fit lots of lovely useful things in here!

Minimal modern farmhouse white Shaker kitchen by Hello Lovely Studio
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal
I'll be sharing more with you in another post
about secrets of downsizing, and I don't mean
secrets of the variety "here's how to do it perfectly,"
but rather the realistic challenges you should be prepared
to encounter and some of the pitfalls you may
not have considered...adjusting to a much smaller
kitchen is harder than I imagined it would be.

Minimal modern farmhouse white Shaker kitchen by Hello Lovely Studio
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal
Serene white simple modern farmhouse kitchen with Minuet quartz and marble subway tile
Serene and Simple Modern Farmhouse Kitchen - Hello Lovely Studio

Murchison Hume products on my counter Hello Lovely Studio
Murchison Hume Must Haves
White modern farmhouse kitchen with Minuet quartz countertop
Viatera Minuet quartz countertop, Bosch appliances


Minimal modern farmhouse white Shaker kitchen by Hello Lovely Studio
Countertop: LG Hausys Viatera Quartz in Minuet

Hello Lovely Fixer Upper - Kitchen DURING

Hello Lovely Fixer Upper - Kitchen DURING

Hello Lovely Fixer Upper - Kitchen DURING

Minimal modern farmhouse white Shaker kitchen by Hello Lovely Studio
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal

Minimal modern farmhouse white Shaker kitchen by Hello Lovely Studio
Hello Lovely Studio - Window Seat in the Kitchen
Serene white modern farmhouse kitchen with Minuet quartz countertop and farmhouse table
Hello Lovely Studio - Chicagoland Fixer Upper Kitchen Reveal


Below are most of the resources for this kitchen:




Stainless Range Hood
 Bosch stainless cooktop
30" Bosch 800 Stainless Gas Cooktop


Bosch 36" Counter-depth French Door Refrigerator
(ours is a model with just one drawer)




Bosch Wall Microwave and Wall Oven







Kohler Parq Bridge Faucet

Polished Venatino Marble Subway Mosaic Tile

PAINT COLOR:
Benjamin Moore "White"

Yep. Just plain White with no word before or after it.
I used it throughout the whole house and for trim.
This is a pure bright white I needed to offset the
yellow cast of the light here which seemed to compromise
every other white I tried...even whites I have used in
the past which were cool, looked yellow here.

I may not be able to work a simple jigsaw puzzle
or know how to turn on a television, but this girl
can pick paint colors...cocky, yes, but I have been
doing it for other people forever and am confident
with my artist's eye.

So I created a graphic cheat sheet for white and grey
paint colors which have worked well in our homes.

Please pin it and let me know your opinion!

We used Ashley Gray in several rooms at our prior home.
Revere Pewter is what I used to glaze our bedroom
furniture, and Classic Gray is what I'm leaning
toward for the laundry room.



Vintage Dundee marmalade jar on romantic feminine modern farmhouse tablescape on rustic farm table
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal
I am still shopping for some vintage pieces
scaled better for the kitchen than our huge
harvest table, but these things take time,
and I have learned to be patient.


Vintage silver on white farmhouse table with gold and greenery
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal

Romantic modern farmhouse feminine tablescape on white farmhouse table with blush roses gold and green
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal

Modern farmhouse slow living tablescape on white farmhouse table with candlelight
Hello Lovely Studio - Kitchen Reveal

Hello Lovely Studio kitchen
The large painting is by Melissa James, and the smaller ones are by me

Thanks for touring our DIY kitchen reno progress,
and stay tuned for reveals of more rooms very soon.

If you missed the master bedroom reveal, you'll find it here.
The master bathroom reveal is right here.

Peace to you right where you are.



Hello Lovely Studio Michel pointe shoes ballet slippers denim


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8 comments

  1. Your Kitchen is beautiful, and I love the airy feeling in its grandeur....
    I also noticed you made a video.... I had to lol, a big smile because it was fab girl....Michele,
    I love your take off of VOGUE 73 questions....
    Your quick punchy answers were as if you were interview by vogue themselves.
    Your home is sensational...
    Xoxo
    Dore

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the love, French Cali girl--I am totally ready for Vogue just as soon as I learn to dress and check the mirror for how the back of my hair appears...ha! xox

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  2. It turned out awesome! You have transformed this house. Serene. The shutters from the bathroom are something I would love to try but not sure I could get the measuring all squared up! We are in the middle of updating our kitchen right now (we built our house 15 years ago, so we are ready for an enhancement-painting the cabinets, new granite countertops, bluestar custom color stove - that was fun selecting color/knobs! and new hardware) super inspirational, love the color for your laundry room...and whites are interesting to select...Benjamin Moore incredible white is what I am probably doing on the cabinets...enjoying your blog so much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Elaine! I was so nervous about the shutter measuring and ordering online but Barb at Riverwood Shutters made it a snap with emailing me exactly what she needed. When you have a real live person holding your hand AND building the product hen you are home free. Your project sounds gorgeous!!!

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  3. WOW! It looks beautiful!! You should be so happy! LOVE!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Leslie. With the construction done, I am now focused on details to make it personal and pretty...it has taken soooo long to get here with doing it ourselves...never again...probably. Ha!

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  4. Michele it is simple, understated, elegance in it's best form. So peaceful and serene, bright, fresh, airy. All the buzz words I love in describing a space. Great job and design!! Kudos to you and hubby!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, kathysue. i'm humbled by your words.

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Your comments add to the beauty...thanks in advance for your kindness.

blogher

Farmhouse Finds!