Kitchen Fun

Yesterday we headed out to Woodstock to do a little light shopping for the kitchen while the rest of the world worked.  We found a backsplash we love (but probably will be putting off as long as possible or substituting something else for because even though I found it at about 1/2 price online it's still more than we want to pay...) and a couple of other possibilities. I've been searching online for lighting and new hardware, and have found some wonderful deals I'm really happy with.

So far we've decided on a light mocha color on the walls, above bright white beadboard wainscoting with a chair rail. The ceiling fan will be replaced, and the outdated light fixtures above the sink will be changed out for beautiful traditional pendant lights. The cabinets will be refinished and outfitted with new hardware. The counter will be completely reinvented with a concrete epoxy product that can be tinted to go with the rest of the colors.  I've picked out the new faucet, which will match the one I've just installed in the bathroom. The backsplash is up in the air...I'm thinking we'll end up going with the first (and much cheaper -- about 10% of the cost) option of beadboard painted a coordinating color. There's still the possibility, though, that we may spring for the glass mosaic tile backsplash...

This is similar to what we're planning to do with the beadboard wainscoting, though we're undecided on the chair rail at the moment.  Also, pay no attention to the paint color on the top...ours will be mocha.  The baseboards will be simple 1x4" pine, painted white to match the wainscoting, and the door/window trim will be changed out to match.  This will eventually be done throughout the entire house:

Here's one of the possibilities for the new ceiling fan:

And the pendant lights, with which I've fallen irrevocably in love...there will be two of these in the front window, one above each side of the corner sink:

New hardware for the cabinets, after they're refaced:

The new faucet:

And the controversial backsplash:

It's really beautiful, and fits in with the palette we're planning to use.  We originally found this at a tile store in Woodstock yesterday for $18.51 a square foot.  I came home and found it online for $11.99 a square foot -- bonus!  Looks like we're going to need about 27 square feet, including a little extra so we're certain we have enough tiles, so this works out to $323.73 plus shipping.

Not bad, when compared to other tiles...or the in-store price for this particular tile.

But I can't help thinking about saving that extra scratch.  I had originally thought I'd like a beadboard backsplash to give it more of a country cottage feel, and I keep going back to that.  The tile is really beautiful, but we'll see how things pan out.

Here's an example of a kitchen I found on Google with beadboard wainscoting for the backsplash...not my color palette, but it gives you a pretty good idea what I'm talking about:

Either way, you can be sure I'll get this done as frugally as possible.  Everything I've found so far in the pics above is at about 1/2 price compared to what I'd pay in stores...

After preliminary pricing, it looks like I have the ability to have my entire kitchen redone - labor included - for $1500 (with beadboard backsplash) or $2000 (with glass mosaic tile backsplash).

Stay tuned for updates!