I took on the kitchen “makeover” early last year and completed it sometime in April. I think it shocks alot of people when they find out that this space was a “work with what you got” type of situation and NOT a full renovation.

We had no choice but to replace the range, because the previous owners did not maintain the home or exercise any pest control, and mice got into the stove and ate threw all the wiring…. on a $10,000 commercial grade range! We were not thrilled at the prospect of having to replace such an expensive appliance, and we had no choice but to go with another 48″ range because that’s what was there, and we were keeping all of the existing lower cabinets. I stumbled upon Zline products in my search for a good quality, yet affordable range and am overall very happy with my choice! I did go with the Autograph Edition, which was not much more than the regular style but had those little gold/brass accents that I just felt like fit much better with my other kitchen finishes.

The million dollar question: What is that green paint color on the cabinets?!?! Here it is, and here it shall live forever so please refer back to this blog post so I don’t have to sort through 100 Instagram messages every time I post a picture of the kitchen, asking what color the cabinets are, hehe.

So many people are constantly asking me where I got my shelving brackets from. One of my favorite small business shops for my home is Pepe & Carols. I absolutely love the look and the quality of everything I have ever purchased from them, but these ceiling mounted shelving brackets are definitely my favorite! I really love the look of them as opposed to your standard wall-mounted bracket, and those front brass vertical rods just add an extra and much needed pop against the dark red brick! The pot rack hanging over my range is also from Pepe and Carols, as well as my cabinet knobs! all beautiful, solid, unpolished, unlacquered brass!

Proudly supporting small business owners with this kitchen refresh, I hunted down my backsplash tile, plate rack and the sconces over the open shelving from shops I found on Etsy, and yet again, I was so so pleased with the products I received. The price for the look and the quality of both the tile and the lights is exceptional.

Ok ok, last but not least…. the brick. Ohhhhh, the brick. Absolutely, unequivocally the best design decision I made for this kitchen. It completely transformed this entire space, and made it look and feel like the kitchen had been gutted and completely re-done, as opposed to just given a face lift. My choice to build a surround, or hearth, around my range was inspired by all of the research that I had been doing of old, original English country kitchens. I also knew that removing the upper cabinets would be absolutely essential to being able to achieve the real feel of a true English kitchen, as I had also found in my studies that I never ever ever saw “cabinets”, but more so open shelving, plate racks, free-standing cubbords etc…. so I took down the uppers and essentially replaced them with all of the aforementioned!

Reaching out to General Shale and getting them onboard to partner with me on this kitchen refresh was THE BEST DECISION EVER I CANT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS COMPANY. The product, the people, all of it. They have set the bar SO HIGH, and it is not even in the least bit shocking to me that they are the oldest and largest manufacturer of brick in the USA.

I opted for a very dark maroon brick, primarily because to me, thats what brick looks like. Real, old brick is red. It’s not brown, it’s not gray, it’s red. But instead of going with the standard mortar color, I decided to mix my own because I did not want the grout lines to scream in your face and jump out at you. I wanted there to be a contrast, but slight. Same color family as the actual brick, just lighter. I wanted it to look like the mortar was colored with the brick dust itself, and I am so happy with how it turned out!

Links

Range // Shelf Brackets // Sconces // Cabinet Knobs // Brass Kitchen Rail // Plate Rack // Marble Cafe Tables // Thin Brick // Backsplash Tile