Alexis Senge JohnsonThis post is sponsored by Kichler and many of the products mentioned below were received as a part of a partnership.
All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views.
The project that was 8 years in the making has finally come to completion and I’m so excited to share it all with you. We moved into a fixer-upper with the plan that we would save up and start working on it and then our boys joined the family so the saving took a bit longer than expected. In the end, it was totally worth the wait because it gave us plenty of time to oogle all the final pieces we’d want to polish off the renovation.
We decided to go bold with our kitchen and throw in a little accent tile pizzaz to balance off the clean lines of the cabinets and counters. We balanced that out a bit when we added the seeded glass doors into our new top cabinets to showcase our traditional white china and milk glass pieces. We had under cabinet lighting that was rigged by the previous homeowners and knew we liked the idea so finding a better option was important to us. When the new cabinets were installed we were happy to put in a light rail which made it easier to install LED light tape both under the counters as well as in the display cabinets. Kichler Lighting has a great selection of pieces to pull this off, so I recommend checking them out if you’re thinking of adding something similar in your space.
Our powder room has some special touches of its own now but it’s overall a bit more subdued than the kitchen. One big addition there, and you’ll understand me if you’re a parent with potty training aged boys, was the half wall of accent tile. If you’re even slightly contemplating it….DO IT! With our toilet being so close to the wall I can tell you it certainly makes cleaning the space much easier when the boys aren’t paying attention. As soon as the accent tiles went in for the kitchen and powder room we knew the lighting needed to be upgraded throughout to bring the final look to fruition.
We spent hours strolling the aisles of Lowe’s comparing all the fixtures from Kichler. Our kitchen has had florescent lighting as the predominate light source since it was built and that might be why I’ve always hated being in the space during the evenings. We decided it was time for some more focused lighting for the space. We finally added lighting over the island, for the first time since we’ve moved in here, and I don’t regret the decision one bit.
My husband started by removing the dated fluorescent lights and installed recessed 6.5” LED lights in both boxes, as well as over the sink and stove. Next came two of these these beautiful Aldean old bronze farmhouse seeded cone pendant lights with LED bulbs. They are part of the Kichler line that is exclusive to Lowe’s so plan on heading there if you’re a fan of them as well. My husband’s style can only be described as formal farmhouse, so I though these would be a great compromise with the more modern choices selected throughout the kitchen. I fell in love with the seeded glass and thought it brought it a bit of a more rustic traditional style into the space. Once we picked out the pendants that started to guide us for the remaining lights we needed to replace. We went with the Winslow 3-light old bronze modern/contemporary mini chandelier for our dining nook. The seeded glass ties these both together perfectly and it gives the best glow in the evenings when the boys work at the dining nook as we are putting the finishing touches on dinner. Once those were replaced we started questioning the fan in our living room since our open concept puts it all within the same space.
In the end we choose the Mediterranean walnut with bronze accent 52” 5-blade LED ceiling fan with remote. It’s another Lowe’s exclusive, so you won’t find it on Kichler’s main website. I love the sleek twist to the blades and my husband loves the variety of fan speeds and lighting levels that the remote allows us. These piece are only a few of the fixtures that have made our house finally start to feel like it’s truly our home.
We added anti-fatigue mats in the seaside pattern from House of Noa in for the kitchen and laundry room. Ruggable rugs quickly became the only type you’ll find throughout the house. We’re now up to three downstairs and four upstairs and I don’t know why I waited so long to get them. With a 2 year old that still potty training and an older dog that had plenty of accidents last year, I 100% stand by the awesomeness that is a Ruggable rug. I can’t rave about them enough so if you meet me in person now you a hot conversation starter for me. (If you’re thinking about getting them yourself let me know and I’ll share a 15% discount with you for your first purchase.)
While this covered our main downstairs living area, there was still so much left to tackle throughout the house. Next up are the entryways, powder bathroom and the master bedroom so stay tuned as the remodel update continues!
