Every year, we like to do these kinds of posts to basically “review” our own stuff for you after a period of time. Projects, purchases, things you’re curious about. Over the weekend, I put a question box up on Instagram Stories and the curiosities came flooding in! Thank you for being so invested and following up. There were several things that were asked over and over and over again, so naturally those were included here. And there were a couple things that WE wanted to give you an update on.
1. The Kitchen, lots to unpack here–specifically:
How are the kitchen cabinets holding up?? and Would you still do a phase 1 again?! and Will your phase 2 kitchen be the same color?? How are the spray painted faucets?
Kitchen Phase 1 & Painting the Cabinets
It’s been a full year since we did a phase one, cheap-o makeover of our kitchen and now, more than ever, we’re so glad we did it. It was before the other big renovations started so we didn’t have any burn out and it was SO nice to have a pretty kitchen through a lot of the winter when no other spaces really reflected us here. We’re still enamored with the color–so much so that I’m already debating using it somewhere else in our house so it still exists here when we redo our kitchen (We’ve had our eye on a different color/material scheme for the full renovation probably next year).
The vertical tongue and groove has held up perfectly as a backsplash. And we’ve loved the open shelf above the range for quick-grab items. That and the smaller shelf below the seeded glass uppers have been really convenient and I can’t imagine our kitchen without them now. The seeded glass uppers have also really inspired us. They used to be beside the range and moving and repurposing them over here has really felt like a great middle ground, not closed storage or open shelves–a more airy approach to closed storage, if you will. I wouldn’t be surprised if some seeded glass showed up in our next kitchen. ;)
As for how it has worn, the cabinet paint has held up so wonderfully except around the base of the island between the breakfast nook and kitchen. I took a picture so you can see all the scuffs. I can’t say I’m surprised–lots of mini grocery carts and hover boards have ran into this! Haha. But if you’re worried about it long term, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a few coats of polycrylic over the base for added protection. Also painted plugs are bound to get scratched–the main reason I only painted the plates in our other rooms.
You can find the rest of the Kitchen sources here!
Painting the Kitchen Faucets
At the very end of the kitchen makeover, the oil-rubbed bronze faucets were staring me in the face and I couldn’t let them be. Chris make shifted a cardboard box around each of them (the main faucet, the prep sink faucet in the island and the pot filler) and I gave them a coat of Rustoleumblack spray paint with a built in primer.
Only recently, the large faucet has started to show some wear, especially where we might grab it most. I’m honestly impressed that it has done so well. I do think perhaps a coat of primer only under the black paint could have made it last longer, but for a get-me-by, I’m really happy we did it.
The prep sink looks mostly untouched. I’d still definitely say GO FOR IT as a short-term, phase 1 fix.
2. Pantry – “Do you regret painting it dark?”
No. I love the chocolate brown, it has held up GREAT on the shelves and it has made an otherwise dingy, no-natural light space feel luxe. Almost…chocolate like. As of now, our plans are to take out this pantry and extend the mud room and kitchen and move the pantry space to where the range currently is.
You can see a video tour of the pantry here!
3. Wood floors – “How are they holding up with kids and pets?”
Our floors are the real MVP. In our last house, we had faux wood tile installed because we were so worried about mainting wood with a large dog and three kids but this floor has been fantastic! We have even been wearing shoes in the house for most of the last year due to safety around all the construction debris and they clean up like a dream and haven’t noticed any dings or dents.
One thing that did take some getting used to is the ultra matte finish. It almost makes the floors look unfinished which worried me when spills happen, but there are zero stains or fading. It hides dirt a lot well, and when something is sticky or wet on the floor–it’s a lot easier to see and clean up!
4. Chairs. We got a lot of questions about our dining room chairs, but I wanted to review our Breakfast Nook Chairs, too because we’re actually having the opposite problem with the two. I love the look of the breakfast nook chairs. They’re comfortable and fit the vibe of our home so well. But the boucle fabric seat is a pain to keep clean with three young girls.
I vacuum it, wipe it with a rag and it still just attracts crumbs. I don’t think this is the best fabric for a dining seat. But! I love the look so much, I’ve decided to just get a more wipeable fabric and reupholster the seats!
You can find the rest of the Breakfast Nook sources here!
As for the Dining Room Chairs, most of you followed up your inquiry with (they look so uncomfortable!), and I can assure you they are not! We love to sit in them. They’re very comfortable. They are also extremely wipeable and a breeze to clean. A few weeks ago, I dragged one of the upholstered office chairs in here and it took the room up about 10 notches–gorgeous! But right now, we have way too much to spend money on than re-buying 20 dining chairs especially ones that do their job so well, so I think I’ll add some upholstered captains chairs to either end and maybe some curtains on the back wall to add some softness to the space. But besides whole-room aesthetics, we still really love these chairs.
You can find the Dining Room sources here!
5. How’s the Real Olive Tree. Oh, you mean Olive?! She’s….below average. After a lot of advice, I moved her to the balcony outside of our bedroom for lots of rays all summer. (And purchased this faux olive tree for the living room). She was doing really good, until one day I went out and the roofers had moved her and she FELL OVER. I brought her inside until they were done with all the major construction out there and I’m trying to nurse her back to health.
6. We never see the Office – “Is the layout working?” Oh! Here it is!! We are actually going to shift some things around already because we need to make room for two more desks! We moved Propertee in house and hired someone to run it full time, which has been a big step for us this year. We got a warehouse, but we also need a lot more storage. So we’re actually going to move wall to wall, floor to ceiling closed storage where the logo wall currently is and shift a bunch of things around. Good thing growing pains are fun when you’re in the design industry.
See more on the layout here!
You can find the Office sources here!
7. I’ve never seen the Fireplace in the living room on–does it work or what?!
Oof. Don’t get me started. The fireplace doesn’t work and has never worked because the HVAC team can’t get the exhaust to work. It’s extremely frustrating and every week they say they are coming this week to finish it. They did come this week for an hour (the first we’ve seen them since before Christmas) and looked at it and said they lost a remote or something for the blower. We’re crossing our fingers they get it sorted out before the weather turns again. When you see the fire on, that means we’re ALL CELEBRATING!!
Hope that answers a lot of your questions!!! If I didn’t answer yours, it probably means that it’s doing just fine! But feel free to sound off in the comments below. :)
I got the same chairs as your breakfast nook (CB2) and have the same problem – it’s a crumb magnet! But I love the look soooo much. Brilliant idea to reupholster! Definitely doing that. xoxo
Love your site! I have been debating a real olive tree versus faux, so this is super helpful… where did you end up getting your faux one from? Thank you!
Check out this post! https://chrislovesjulia.com/our-two-new-olive-trees-one-real-and-one-faux-and-a-round-up-of-the-best-at-every-price-point/
Can you post the link to when you painted the kitchen cabinets? I’d like to know what you used and what the cost was. I need this for a low budget reno until I can actually do a remodel.
Check out this post
What is the leather chair by the fireplace?
Why not?
Love the chair! What brand is it?
I would love to know your wall paint color in the living room. What shade of white and brand? Thank you. It’s beautiful.
It’s Sherwin Williams Alabaster
What color are the baseboards?
Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams.