were back to normal around here, finally..although we were really only under the mess for about 6 weeks which really isn’ta huge deal when i look back at the transformation! were back to daily routines, capturing babies in the studio and of course already contemplating my next “project”. but before i forget, i wanted to jot down some pointers that really helped us along the way that might help someone else along their way.
BIGGEST tip ever, determine your must haves right away…and i mean write them down. anything at all. things you know for sure you want in your project. and heres why. every must have starts a chain reaction that makes the project, for me anyway, just fall into place.
MUST HAVE #1: my dying desire to have a decorative hood over my stove. not a big deal you say right? well it was kind of a big deal because the most used appliance in my home would not have a home over the stove because of my decorative hood, so where in the world was my microwave going to go!? i knew i didn’t want it on the counter, whats the point in gaining all this counter space if im going to clog it all up with “stuff” including a microwave? while planning the layout of the kitchen, we swayed between island, no island, peninsula, ugh. the microwave actually made the decision for us. it found its home in our island and its probably my favorite decision we made.
MUST HAVE #2: i was COMPLETELY overwhelmed at one point, wanna know why….handles. yup stupid cabinet handles had me on the verge of insanity. did i want gold, silver, a brushed bronze maybe. and styles..oh forget the styles. i searched online, i fell in love with some, even put them in my cart, but then decided i wanted something else. current utc time who knew. stupid handles. but then, like lighting, it hit me. i was making my search way to broad and way too complicated. i had a “must have” that was already purchased, waiting in its box before we even started demo. it was my light fixture for over our island, and guess what, it was silver. im a little crazy like “that” so of course the handles HAD to be silver. in a brief moment of clarity my search and decision was cut from 8965230 different handles to 2365 in a hot second, and it was super easy from there!
MUST HAVE #3: the love of my farm sink is of course already known, and it played a huge role in layout along this wall because of its size but more importantly it determined for me my back splash. i knew i wanted simple subway tile, which left me deciding white or cream, glass or porcelain and i realized quickly i didn’t want the sink or the back splash to really stand out (i was going for light and airy the whole way through) so done deal, biscuit subway tile it is.
color scheme of course is huge. if you can determine that from the beginning, your already half way there. i knew the “look” i was going for, so staining the floors was an easy color choice, as were cabinets and paint colors.
layout those must haves, even if its just a few things, it sure helps make the process less painful and you’ll (hopefully) quickly realize that these little things will make the big things much easier to choose.