Please show me your backsplash...

[ksinger]

Missy, all your kitchens are lovely and warm - even the one you're re-doing. I particularly like the Brooklyn one too. And your kitties of course. So cute! I'm finding there is a growing urge these days, to get a cat. But my husband and I are currently in negotiations about the breed of our next dog, so a cat will have to wait a bit.

 

[missy]

Missy, all your kitchens are lovely and warm - even the one you're re-doing. I particularly like the Brooklyn one too. And your kitties of course. So cute! I'm finding there is a growing urge these days, to get a cat. But my husband and I are currently in negotiations about the breed of our next dog, so a cat will have to wait a bit.

Thanks Karen. I was always a dog girl as I grew up with dogs from when I was first born but after I graduated school and moved into my first real apartment (after living on college and graduate school campuses) in the early 90s I adopted my first cat and I never looked back. Cats are much easier to care for in that you can have a life and not be tied down as much as with a dog because as you know having a dog is just like having a child.
I love dogs and dream of adopting one or two in the future but not anytime soon. And the kitties are so much fun. Smart and sassy and always keep us on our toes (in the best possible way).

If you decide to adopt a dog you could adopt a kitty at the same time and if they are introduced to the household at the same time you will end up with fast and forever best friends. I am speaking from experience and nothing is more precious than a cat and dog who love each other. My parent's dog Tara used to groom herself like a cat because she grew up watching the kitties groom themselves and it was an incredibly adorable sight to see.

As for the kitchens it's funny. When we first moved to this beach house I absolutely loathed all the beige in the kitchen and everything just blended (there is no contrast in that kitchen)and it wasn't my cup of tea. However the nearer I get to demolishing it all the more I am not hating it as much and almost (almost not quite) appreciating the kitchen as it is.
Haha buyer's remorse I think since we already paid for half the reno. Too late to change my mind now.

We have a problem with the kitchen layout and we are just going with what we cannot change and that's the ceiling beams. Many of them are support beams and we were initially planning to demolish all the beams and put in one or 2 support structures so we could bring the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling which is my preference. After meeting with the architect and the carpenter we quickly realized we are better off leaving it as is and just working around it. So they are going to build around the beams to make it look more continuous but it won't be exactly the look I want. Hopefully it will look clean/smart enough.

And we are leaving the huge brick wall in the kitchen as I didn't want to get rid of it but it is a pain to work around and is preventing my open kitchen layout from coming to reality. I just didn't want to destroy the brick wall. This is the original part of the beach house which started out as a brick bungalow in 1923. I love the history and I love the feel of it so we decided to leave it as is. Again it is a compromise to the layout I envisioned but it is one I can live with...I didn't want to get rid of all the character in our kitchen and I love the history.

 

[junebug17]

Bonfire and Missy, thank you for the nice words -

Bonfire, your kitchen is really beautiful, love the choices you made.

Missy, the tile you picked out is beautiful! It’s going to look great.. I’ve always liked the brick wall in your home, always thought it had character - now that I know it’s from 1923 I like it even more! Very cool.

 

[Octo2005]

Congrats on the new kitchen! It sounds like it will be beautiful. I love the tile that you picked out and think it will look great with the counters. I think going with the more elongated subway tile will give it a more modern feel. In an earlier post you mentioned that you liked the herringbone pattern, have you thought about doing a small accent over the stove? I think that would be a great way to increase the visual interest and incorporate the herringbone without being to overwhelming.

 

[missy]

Congrats on the new kitchen! It sounds like it will be beautiful. I love the tile that you picked out and think it will look great with the counters. I think going with the more elongated subway tile will give it a more modern feel. In an earlier post you mentioned that you liked the herringbone pattern, have you thought about doing a small accent over the stove? I think that would be a great way to increase the visual interest and incorporate the herringbone without being to overwhelming.

Thanks you Octo2005! A wonderful idea and I was thinking of adding the herringbone as an accent over the stove (haha great minds think alike what can I say!) but for now I think I will leave it as is and perhaps we can add that accent in the future. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed as I have been making so many decisions all I am unsure of LOL. I do love your suggestion and perhaps it is something we can do in the future. Thank you for weighing in and I appreciate it.

 

[missy]

Bonfire and Missy, thank you for the nice words -

Bonfire, your kitchen is really beautiful, love the choices you made.

Missy, the tile you picked out is beautiful! It’s going to look great.. I’ve always liked the brick wall in your home, always thought it had character - now that I know it’s from 1923 I like it even more! Very cool.

Thank you Junie! And thank you for all your help along the way. XOXO.

 

[mrs-b]

Missy - this is apropos of nothing, granted, but here's a couple of photos of my non-back splash kitchen in my apt in LA. I'm including it because it has a similar color palette, I think, to what you're going for, but in mine, it's the floor that picks up the gray. It's a duplex, so not a huge kitchen, but it works just fine for the 2 of us. I believe the house was built around 1906, but was split into 2 duplexes in the 1980's. We have a lovely shared back yard and free standing garages. It's a perfect getaway place to escape east coast winters and to stop over on our way to Australia.



The kitchen is attached to the dining area, which I'm including because, well, yanno...Christmas....

 

[mrs-b]

And lastly - my kitchen in my house in Australia. This hasn't been mine for long, and doing it up has been / will be a loooong labor of love, as we intend to extend somewhat, which is always a nightmare with old houses. The counters are waxed reclaimed antique wood and the 'backsplash' is painted wood panelling. I'll change the existing appliances in there to something very retro at some point, and put a hood over the oven then as well. There's an unfinished fireplace in there also, and my plan is to gut it, line the remaining brick shell, and convert it into a pantry. I'm including a small photo of part of the kitchen and one of the front of the house - which is tiny and utterly adorable! It was built around 1930, is set in a semi rural/suburban area and has the most glorious garden!.

 

[missy]

mrs-b thank you so much for sharing the additional photos and I love your spaces. Homey, functional and beautiful at the same time. They all feel like happy and very peaceful places to be...Lovely!

 

[doberman]

Upstairs: can't take the whole thing but here are pieces. You get the idea.





Downstairs:

Hand painted /fired tiles. They've held up beautifully.

 

[december-fire]

@mrs-b , lovely kitchens!
But east coast, LA and Australia?
I'd never know where I was or what time it was.
Have fun with the Australian reno.

 

[december-fire]

@doberman , your upstairs kitchen is beautiful!
Love your stove! Are you the cook?

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b , lovely kitchens!
But east coast, LA and Australia?
I'd never know where I was or what time it was.
Have fun with the Australian reno.

Seriously, @december-fire - I wake up on a daily basis and the first thing I think is "now, where am I..."

Seriously.

All three options are awesome tho, altho the house in Australia will take a long time to do up, as we want to do it as authentically as possible, and that will involve hand made stained glass windows, hewn sandstone to re-do under the house, and redoing ALL the plumbing, as we want to widen the house, put on a new roof with a much steeper angle, and put another bedroom and bathroom upstairs - plus all other manner of things. There is also a natural spring on the property, which we want to redirect into a stone lined pool, which we can use for swimming. It's a BIG project, but it's where we'll retire. So it's worth the effort. Even with all of that, I think it will only end up being around 2000 sq ft.

 

[missy]

Doberman I love your kitchen. Very earthy and homey and cozy!

mrs-b kudos to you guys for making it all look so easy and smooth. I know I thought I wanted to retire at the beach house and now I am pretty sure I cannot give up our Brooklyn home anytime soon. I don't know if you feel this way but I sure feel it is such a pain to take care of more than one home and we only have 2 and they are both fairly close in distance to each other. But my dh thinks it is more than worth the effort (and expense). I, OTOH, am not so sure but as long as he is the one doing most of the work with going back and forth and caring for it all I cannot complain. I could not imagine having homes so far apart in different countries though. Kudos to you guys for making it all work so well!

And LOL yes occasionally in the summer especially I wake up and think where the heck are we today.


ETA I was going through some old pics from our first beach house and came across a few of Greg's very first DIY projects. He made this medicine cabinet and the BBQ. Sadly we left both behind when we moved to this current beach house but a new built by Greg BBQ is in the works for a future project. In all his spare time. LOL.

His first ever project. Medicine cabinet at our first beach house. Made from scratch. In the arts and crafts style we both love.




I cannot find a better BBQ photo right now but here is another one of Greg's first projects. Stone BBQ. Double burner. Veggies and Meat separated for me.



As long as I am sharing here is another one of his early projects. He made this bar at our last house. In this pic it isn't yet finished though as the backsplash had to be added.
And he made the Newel post on the staircase too.

 

[december-fire]

Seriously, @december-fire - I wake up on a daily basis and the first thing I think is "now, where am I..."

Seriously.

All three options are awesome tho, altho the house in Australia will take a long time to do up, as we want to do it as authentically as possible, and that will involve hand made stained glass windows, hewn sandstone to re-do under the house, and redoing ALL the plumbing, as we want to widen the house, put on a new roof with a much steeper angle, and put another bedroom and bathroom upstairs - plus all other manner of things. There is also a natural spring on the property, which we want to redirect into a stone lined pool, which we can use for swimming. It's a BIG project, but it's where we'll retire. So it's worth the effort. Even with all of that, I think it will only end up being around 2000 sq ft.

mrs-b, it sounds like a wonderful labour of love! Who cares how long it takes!
I'm so happy for you and your DH!

 

[december-fire]

Missy, your DH is very talented! He's done beautiful work!

Obviously, he loves doing this kind of thing. It shows in the results; the details, the planning and execution. Things with a personal touch or story are so special.

And he cooks? You should probably keep him around.

 

[junebug17]

Missy, wow!!! Greg did an amazing job on those projects, they are beautiful and so professionally done!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I love all the photos, it would be so hard to pick. I can’t wait to redo my kitchen when my DH retires in a few months. Right next w my backsplash is cobalt blue and white tile set on point. DH tiled it when we moved I. Because I always wanted blue and white. Next time, it will be some marble tile for me as well with white ikea cabinets. I am not sure what the counters will be yet. I am kinda partial to dark counters but we will see. Missy, all your kitchens are lovely!

 

[missy]

Aww thank you so much December-fire, Junie and luv2sparkle.

luv2sparkle your thoughts re your next kitchen redo sound lovely. I might have something similar to show you in a few months fingers crossed. We just picked up our Carrara gray marble backsplash. If I had chosen dark counters (and that was a possibility but I decided against it as I already have black granite counters in Brooklyn) I would have chosen a white backsplash I think. I am also partial to blue as well but wanted a change. I think there are many choices that look pretty however.

 

[swingirl]

Wow! Your kitchens are all so pretty. Different styles and colors. I like the white kitchen trend. It's so clean looking. The marble tiles get my vote. They look interesting without demanding too much focus. My mom's kitchen was turquoise with a pink stove! Then I remember the trend to earth colors--gold, orange, avocado. Even back then I didn't warm up to those colors. White seems timeless. Good luck with your remodel.

 

[missy]

Wow! Your kitchens are all so pretty. Different styles and colors. I like the white kitchen trend. It's so clean looking. The marble tiles get my vote. They look interesting without demanding too much focus. My mom's kitchen was turquoise with a pink stove! Then I remember the trend to earth colors--gold, orange, avocado. Even back then I didn't warm up to those colors. White seems timeless. Good luck with your remodel.

Thank you swingirl! Haha yes turquoise with pink. I remember those days. Growing up we had loud wallpaper and crazy colors. Oh those wild 50s/60s and 70s. And when we moved to our first beach house the guest bathroom upstairs was pink tile with a pink tiled shower. Original (to the house) pink tile from the late 50s.

 

[Tekate]

I will (even tho as you know I am lazy with pix ) Missy the kitchen handles that look like crescents are not my fav, I had them in the rental we had b4 deciding if we would buy in Maine. They are hard to clean, if you get dough on your hands and it get on the back of the handle(s) it's yucky (of course I AM a cleanliness nutjob).. I like the handles(knobs?) that are less visible also. My decorator lady (a sweetheart) said she would bring me the bid and stuff in December (I'm waiting) but I don't really mind since I'm all in Xmas mode as my boys and DIL are coming!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous @DAF! Good luck and please keep us posted. I would love it if everyone doing a reno would share with us.

 

[Tekate]

@missy I will let you know the next time we/I go to Brooklyn! I hope to in the spring.. Brooklyn is way different than it was in the 70s.. my nephews brownstone is gorgeous. My niece lives near Williamsburg and my nephew lives in Clinton Hill. xo

 

[mrs-b]

Thank you swingirl! Haha yes turquoise with pink. I remember those days. Growing up we had loud wallpaper and crazy colors. Oh those wild 50s/60s and 70s. And when we moved to our first beach house the guest bathroom upstairs was pink tile with a pink tiled shower. Original (to the house) pink tile from the late 50s.

Oooooo - I HAVE to show you this! This was the bathroom when I bought my home in Boston. It had already been 'modernized' - having originally started with a pink tub, sink and toilet!!



We switched the floor, took out all the pink fixtures and replaced with plain white, and replaced the shower door with frameless glass doors. We left the edging pink tiles and pink walls - and I LOVE it.

 

[swingirl]

I love the checkered floor. The pink and black compliment each other. Very nice combo. And you didn't have to spend a fortune to get a new look.

 

[Mayk]

Missy... I'm a big fan of the white backslash. (Too many years living with the architect he's brainwashed me). We went with clear glass.

I love the marble (grey and white) too. Really loved the white cabinets on the top and grey on the bottom!

I'm not much help. I loved everything you shared.

Here's ours.

 

[missy]

Love your backsplash MayK! Classic and timeless and elegant.

mrs-b love your twist on the 50s bathroom. I’ve always loved black and White checked floors. Fun!

Tekate it’s a date

 

[jaaron]

Mine are in boxes at the tile place waiting for the cabinet maker to finish - this, but the marble background is white-white and the pattern marble is a light blue-grey. I hope to actually see it on the wall one day...

Everyone's are so unique and gorgeous. They make me tempted to re-think my choice.

 

[junebug17]

Mine are in boxes at the tile place waiting for the cabinet maker to finish - this, but the marble background is white-white and the pattern marble is a light blue-grey. I hope to actually see it on the wall one day...

Everyone's are so unique and gorgeous. They make me tempted to re-think my choice.

Jaaron, I love those tiles, your kitchen is going to look fabulous!

 

[missy]

Jaaron gorgeous backsplash tiles. I'm with Junebug...your kitchen is going to look beautiful!