2014 House Update - Kitchen

Now that we've passed our 2 year homeiversary, we thought it would be fun to share where each of our rooms have come since moving in and where we are headed.  Over the next few months (remember, we usually only blog about once a week) we'll be sharing a room update.

2014 House Update - Kitchen

There were actually lots of kitchen updates this past fall.  Above you can see a sneak peak of some new stools in the bottom right, some very colorful artwork, and if you're good maybe you spotted the new oven! Below is the other corner of the kitchen where the new island is!!!!  Forget what the kitchen looked like before? Check out our kitchen in 2012 here!

Let's run down the list of goals for the kitchen and take note of where we've come in the past two years:

Kitchen
Paint walls - We used Benjamin Moore Gray Owl
Kitchen command center - You'll see in the photos, this is still going strong and we love it.
- Add in wall charges for iPhone docks
Mini mudroom
- Paint/finish bottom framed portion of mudroom
Artwork for walls - love my large framed kitchen towel! and clipboard art
New range
Add more counter space or island with new kitchen stools
Tile Backsplash
Install new light fixtures, possibly add recessed lighting
Update other appliances in the future, primarily the refrigerator and adding a hood above stove
Update sink faucet and possibly add hospital pedals
Extend the china cabinet into the kitchen so it's two sided
Replace the granite counter tops
Replace the kitchen floor tile

The artwork is new this year.  The large poster frame I scored at Michael's at a buy one, get one sale.  It was originally black, but was spray painted a gloss white.  The print inside is actually a dish towel from Crate and Barrel!  The clip board where I mount recipes I'm going to make now has a permanent print for when I'm not cooking.  This is a Meg Kearney original.

The command center is still going strong and we use it all the time!  The cell phones still don't actually have built in charges yet, which is a good think, because we would have needed to change it for the 5's!

Well, hello there GE Cafe Series Range.  I'm a bit obsessed and secretly (or not so secretly! <    edited by Matt) was so excited when our old range finally kicked the bucket.  It was on the list from the beginning to upgrade the Frigidaire range to something a bit higher end.  This GE ended up in our price ranges and I couldn't be happier.  There is a large center burner and this is also the dual fuel model.  I love how consistent the electric oven is and the gas top is a joy to cook on.  You can also see the new backsplash in this shot! This is new since move in, but I don't think we've shared it yet. It's a stainless steel subway tile from Lowe's.

Last but not least the new island.  We used to have a pub height hand me down table in here, but it was awkward, and certainly not helpful for cooking.  We're hoping to share more on the island build - Matt did it all himself!  He's become quite the carpenter.  It's built of precut/prethreaded black pipe ($200) for the frame.  A butcher block top leftover from an IKEA table my parents had ($0) and the shelves Matt built from reclaimed barn board out of my grandmother's basement ($0.)

There you have it - our updated kitchen two years later.  I have to say that I'm very happy.  The rest of our list involves a bit more complicated and expensive items (new floors and counter!) so I'm sure those will be much further down the line.

Have you updated your kitchen?  What's your favorite part?  What was your money well spent?