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All the Finishes

This weekend saw a lot of kitchen progress, having started our kitchen island, completing the hutch (we’ll share this week!) and finally hunkering down and choosing a stone for our counters! Overall, the base palette for the room is every bit black, gray and white as we’d been craving, but we’ll be bringing in shine and color with unlacquered brass and artwork – and we can’t forget about that pocket door!

kitchen-finishes-2

We are over the moon and so honored be teaming with Rejuvenation for the gorgeous hardware you see above (with a big, awesome bonus to come for you, too!), and we’ll be mixing oil rubbed bronze pulls on our white cabinets with vibrant brass on a black island. The island’s paint job is in the works, and not surprisingly, we landed on our favorite black, Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! by Clark+Kensington (inset). We’re sort of torn between pairing these bin or drawer pulls for those former-dresser-drawers, but we also sort of feel like we can’t go wrong with either. Decisions! Really, really fun ones.

But on to all the other finishes – you all spoke up loud and clear when it came to counters, and we totally heard you. While we thought we were leaning towards black, you made some great points that we hadn’t otherwise thought of: hidden grime, the never-ending cleaning battle and the reflection of under cabinet lights. We still really love the look of black counters with white cabinets, but from the very beginning, we were hoping to find something with a white base, and we honestly surprised even ourselves when we found ourselves switching gears to black granite. Cost was definitely a factor as well, with the black granite being slightly more affordable than quartz. But! After a good gut check and thinking: hey, what would make us die with happiness every time we walked into the kitchen?, we switched gears again, and we officially called dibs on a ridiculously gorgeous slab of White Macauba Quartzite. You can see our sample chunk in that photo!

For everything else, here’s what we’ve got: the largest panel of color is what we painted the walls, the medium white panel is our cabinets, and layered on top are a few of these subway tiles in a matte finish. To pick up on the darker veining in the quartzite counters and the black island, we’re leaning towards a charcoal grout which’ll really tie the room together.

But right now, right this minute, we wait. We wait for our cabinets to install (this week!), we wait for the fabricator to measure and cut our stone, and we wait for our transom window to arrive so we can complete the whole back door thing. The dishwasher, microwave, sink and faucet will get installed. And then, you guys, it’ll be a free for all. Tile! Baseboards! Rug! Art!

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  • Laura @ Rather Square2.3.15 - 8:56 AM

    I love the idea of an all-neutral kitchen color palette. I think that’s where we’ll end up going with ours down the road. It’s so much easier to add color with accessories that you can change up whenever you feel like it. I love your countertop choice too – it’s going to look great with the rest of the finishes (and timeless too)!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.3.15 - 9:44 AM

      Thank you! Yes, for something like the kitchen, we felt that timeless was the way to go. We obviously ignored that route with our big blue couch though, ha!ReplyCancel

  • Amanda2.3.15 - 9:06 AM

    You made a great choice with the countertops. It still provides the contrast you wanted but with easier maintenance that the black would (based on other’s accounts – I’ve never had black). And the all neutral pallette is so versatile – I’ve enjoyed watching your journey so far!

    And I’m so jealous you have a reason to paint something black. I’ve searched my home high and low and found nothing lol.ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.3.15 - 9:44 AM

      Thanks, Amanda! Isn’t it funny… I feel like just a couple years ago, we were all painting things white. Now it’s black. You just can’t beat those classic colors!ReplyCancel

  • krystal2.3.15 - 10:20 AM

    We just moved into an apartment with black granite countertops and even though I love how easy they are to clean they are a pain to get “streak-free.” I made an all natural spray to clean them after I read about citrus and vinegar etching away at the granite over time. It works well but they still need a good buffing to get the streaks out.

    I love the brass accents also. We just added a bunch of brass kitchen and bath accessories to our Etsy store and they are our most popular item right now.

    ~KrystalReplyCancel

    • Kim2.3.15 - 12:07 PM

      I think people are craving more warmth in their homes lately. We’ve definitely noticed a huge resurgence in all things brass, gold and dare I say beige? Even we find ourselves re-painting rooms with the warmest grays.ReplyCancel

  • Amy Leigh2.3.15 - 11:11 AM

    I am so excited to see how the final version of the kitchen turns out! I have a feeling it will be lovely! Black and white kitchens are my absolute favorite. We did the same thing, but added natural wood elements too for a bit of a rustic look. You’re smart to keep the ‘color’ limited to accessories that you can change out when you want – you’ll be glad you did that!ReplyCancel

  • katecooks2.3.15 - 11:32 AM

    I’m looking to add closet pulls to an Ikea Pax wardrobe — are these the Mission Drawer Pulls? Thanks!!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.3.15 - 11:41 AM

      They are! They have such a nice weight to them.ReplyCancel

  • kelsey2.3.15 - 11:52 AM

    LOVE how this kitchen is coming together. you are so thoughtful with your choices and i love hearing that you go back and forth and then land on something else. your decision making process is so authentic, thank you for sharing!!

    and i love the chocolate chunk photobombs along the way :-)ReplyCancel

  • Clever Girl Reviews2.3.15 - 12:46 PM

    I love the Quartzite!ReplyCancel

  • kate2.3.15 - 4:55 PM

    As soon as I read “tie the room together,” I was hoping that link went to a Big Lebowski clip…and it did! Jackpot!ReplyCancel

  • Julia@Cukoo4Design2.3.15 - 6:03 PM

    So exciting! That hardware!ReplyCancel

  • Maria2.4.15 - 10:15 AM

    We have white cabs with that exact Quartzite and white subway tiles with charcoal grout. We always get a million compliments… It looks great!ReplyCancel

  • Layne2.8.15 - 10:53 AM

    Good call on the countertops!ReplyCancel

  • Rae Mosher2.9.15 - 7:54 AM

    I have always enjoyed following along with your house reno journey, but today, I am simply commenting to thank you for that little taste of the Big Lebowski this morning. Turns out it was just what I needed. :)ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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