One Room Challenge Week 6 -- The Before and After Kitchen Reveal !

Welcome to my little corner of the One Room Challenge Link Up, where first things first, I want to thank you for following my journey these past weeks and for your supportive and lovely comments!  It has meant the world to me.   As for our host and cheerleader, Linda, of Calling it Home, well, let's just say I could hug her for getting me a newly styled kitchen!!

When I decided to jump in and do this, I wanted to make sure that the end result was truly reflective of the style of 6 Wilson, which, in turn, is a true reflection of my personal design style.  I did up this statement months ago, and I keep it on my side bar.  I think the new kitchen fits right in!

And now on to the reveal!!...


OH yeah!  I'm feeling pretty accomplished over here at 6 Wilson.  The six week, One Room Challenge has come to an end and I made it!!!!!!!!!!!  Project Kitchen Face Lift is complete, and I couldn't be happier.  Thanks to Linda of Calling it Home and her do or die challenge,  and my husband for jumping in with his mad DIY skills, we now have a kitchen I actually enjoy.

Before we get to the rest of the "Afters," let's take a quick look back at where it all started.  I had to keep the cabinets as is (it was time to just embrace what wasn't changing any time soon). Wasn't planning on new counters until my man said "didn't you want new counter tops (week 2.5!)?"   Ended up getting a new chandelier, sink and faucet, too, which will all be reusable when we expand the kitchen in a few years. 

Here's the same wall as above, when I started...

Here's the other Before view...

And six stressful fun-filled weeks later, here's the result...

If you've been following along, you know I took an antique chest and turned it into a small island on wheels.  We are desperate for more storage in this kitchen, and this old/new baby does the trick.

I love that the original, worn marble top has chips and scratches, bringing it's own story to where our family gathers.

I choose creamy ivory subway tiles because I wanted a clean, unfussy feeling, and I've always loved the look of a brick pattern.  The fact that they are on trend, along with the gray walls, is not at all why I chose them.  When we decided to replace the counter tops, it was a game changer, and I knew instantly that I wanted to do my take on a black and ivory kitchen (my favorite).  Gray walls was the natural choice to hold its own against the bossy cabinets.

A new sink and faucet wasn't in the original plan, but since we were changing the formica, well, you know how that goes.  I think I have to confess true love for this faucet.  I also switched to a 9" single sink and it's nothing short of heaven.

The wall behind the table and chairs has been my nemesis for seven years.  I hung the print and mirrors (Before pic) when we moved in, and since I didn't love the rest of the kitchen, I was never motivated to turn it into what I knew it could be.  Until now.

Most of what's on this wall has a story, and that's what I like about it.

The monogram is from a shopping trip down South with a dear friend.  The tile art is something my daughter did a few years ago, and I held on to it for the black and ivory room I'd do someday.  And the pen and ink my other daughter did.

 The Wedgewood pitcher is from an antiquing afternoon, and I adore the hunt scene on it and the dog on the handle.  It's all about details, don't you think?

I went with a chrome chandelier to compliment the chrome faucet on the other side of the room, and to bring a little shine and reflection to counter all the black.  Love. It.  I looked for something a bit more mod, but at the end of the day, everything was too big for my short ceilings and the space in general.  It also speaks to my love of classic lines.

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 Here's a bit of the detail on the chair pads I made.  I thought at first that I would slip cover the whole chair, but in the end I decided to leave the graphic lines of the backs exposed and just go for a sassy skirt...

Even though these were a pain in the butt to make, I'm so glad I did, as I've always wanted chairs with pleated skirts.

As for the Roman shade, for the first time in my entire life, I had something made for me!!  I think the house shook when I told my family at dinner one night that I was having someone else do it.  I have never done that.  It's a control thing, mostly, I think.  Okay, and the fact that I was brought up to not pay for something you can do yourself (the Yankee in me, I suppose?)

I have a big thing for open shelves in a kitchen, but since my husband so doesn't, (and I try really hard to be a partner first, designer second), we compromised on no doors for a while on the dishes cabinet, with that leading to glass doors down the road ;-)

And that, my friends, ends my One Room Challenge adventure!  I will do a quick post in the next few days about the behind the scenes, the things that influenced my choices, and what's it's really like to change a room in 6 weeks while life goes on, oblivious to impending deadlines!

Now I'm off to catch up on the Top 20, and journey through the reveals of all my fellow Link Up Participants!  Come along for the fun ;-)