Kitchen Renovation: My Vision & Design Selections

Y’all! I’ve embarked on a very exciting project to do a kitchen renovation in my townhouse! This post will be the first of several detailing my process to create my design, source contractors, pick out products, and do the remodel in Houston!

I’ve lived in my home for over 5 years now. For 5 years, I’ve been listening to my mother tell me that I need to expand my island. And for 5 years, I’ve resisted, because my kitchen is fine and I’m probably going to move out of this house and go abroad soon.

Then, COVID hit and both Kyle and I started spending waaay more time in our home than expected. Since my work travel is on pause, I’m saving tons, and we decided that we’re likely going to be in this house for a few more years, there’s no time like the present to do a nice kitchen reno!

My Kitchen Vision

I actually super love my kitchen–the layout, the cabinet color and modern style. All the appliances work fine, so there was no need to replace those. The changes that I wanted were primarily cosmetic and centered around upgrading the kitchen island. I have a ton of extra walking space between the kitchen and the living room, so there was plenty of room to extend it out a few feet.

As my mother had been subconsciously influencing me for several years, I had a list in mind of the things that I wanted to get done including:

• Replace the downdraft stove top
• Install a white farmhouse sink
• Enlarge the kitchen island and add a cookbook shelf and wine fridge
• Install white countertops
• Upgrade the backsplash

The visioning for this kitchen started officially when I was working out in Park City. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest picking design elements like the white farmhouse sink, tile and countertop options.

Check out my full inspo board–aptly named “Enjoyable Decor“!

Knowing what my home is worth and what I’ll likely sell it for in a few years, I didn’t want to invest more than I thought I’d be able to recoup. But I also wanted to make decisions that will make the house more livable and functional while I’m here for the time being.

Finalizing my Design

My house was built in 2007, so the design decisions somewhat reflects that mid-2000s aesthetic– chocolate countertops and maple colored cabinets. I do love the natural color of the cabinet wood as it matches my hardwood floors. It also builds upon all the natural light I have in the house and gives it a bit of a tree-house, Scandinavian vibe.

When brainstorming ideas, I got a lot of inspiration from mid-century modern design. I flagged so many things on my Pinterest board from Sugar & Cloth and Studio DYI.

I scoured the internet for hours picking out what I thought were my final design choices. Then I went to stores in person to finalize my selections. I visited Lowes, Home Depot and Floor & Decor. Overall, they all kind of had the same selection. But visiting all the stores ensured I was getting the right price.

One of the contractors I was originally considering was Houston Custom Carpets. Before they could give me a quote, they wanted me to come to their design studio in North Houston to pick out the exact items for things like tile and cabinets. It was a bit of a tedious trip, but playing with all the design options in person was really helpful to confirm the counter and backsplash choices. It’s hard to match whites properly!!

I ultimately decided going with the following items:

• 30in White Farmhouse Sink
• 38-Bottle Wine Fridge
• Silestone Calacatta Gold Quartz
• Hudson Brilliant White Picket Porcelain Tile

I kept the following features:

• American Standard SelectFlow Xavier Faucet
• GE Downdraft Cooktop (an in-production version would be the JennAir JX3 Downdraft).

I was very excited to replace my stainless steel sink with a divider with a big wide farmhouse sink. I could also get a hole cut in the new countertop for a soap dispenser! I’m all about de-cluttering spaces. I thought about getting a black faucet but my current one is SO GOOD. It’s got 4 spray options including a mister, which is so nice for conserving water when washing dishes

Any questions about my kitchen renovation? Let me know in the comments!