Blog - Bower Power

I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. It’s time for the Pedraza Kitchen reveal! Wahoo! Hoorah! Yay! Hoody-Hoo! All excited sound effects aside….Let’s just get to it!

The Pedraza project was our biggest undertaking in 2016. You can read all about the plans and the story behind the renovation here. At the beginning of this undertaking, the area looked like this…

Their cramped kitchen had loads of wasted unused space and it was open to their laundry closet with a pass through to their dining area. Pretty much everything – from the layout to their appliances to the cabinetry was dysfunctional in some way or another. Both Danny & Charity like to cook making the kitchen their biggest sore spot when it came to entertaining and just everyday life.

After reviewing a ton of options, they decided that they would be willing to lose the access to their garage from the kitchen and gain a wall. A wall separating their kitchen from the laundry would allow them to increase their cabinet space (hello pantry!) and get a traditional L-shaped kitchen that had better flow and more elbow room. We also decided that opening up the doorway from the hall to the kitchen would give them even more light and space.

I would love to claim the decisions and design as my own….but really I only acted as a guide and stylist. Most of these decisions were their own. They would say, “we need a floor that would hide dog hair”….I would share a few options that I thought fit the bill, and they got to choose. They picked out the backsplash and the countertop and even the color of the paint. I felt like the effort was definitely collaborative – when they didn’t have an opinion we chose the thing we thought would suit their family and lifestyle the best. I say all that because this was a design recipe meant just for their family.

Here we go….

And here is the view from the foyer hall…

Before, the kitchen cabinets were original to the house. They didn’t close properly or provide sufficient space for the family. Since they didn’t have a pantry, they kept most of their dry goods and food in them along with their dishes.

After, the cabinets are taller and laid out to allow for more storage. Special thanks to RTACabinets for providing these and helping us design the layout! Here is the post all about them. And I especially love the dark cabinetry on the bottom and the white on the top. That brightens up the space while still providing warmth and contrast.

Before – the backsplash and countertop was a mix-n-match combo of travertine, ceramic floor tile, and carved wood.

Now the arabesque tile backsplash is the crown jewel of the space. The butcher block counters add warmth and charm. I can’t thank Floor & Decor enough for providing these amazing products. See this post about how we installed the backsplash and this one where we installed countertops.

Before the appliances were mix-n-match and falling apart. The fridge was much smaller than average sized fridges, the stove was falling apart and the dishwasher didn’t actually wash dishes.

Now the matching stainless Whirlpool appliances are perfect for this family of four-going-on-five. Not only do they function great but they look amazing too. And Charity was so excited to have ‘ice in the door’ on the fridge. It was equal parts hilarious and adorable 🙂

One of my favorite things was to build them a custom range hood. This project was easy and adds some rustic charm to the kitchen which is something they said they loved. I will explain more on this project in the future 🙂

Isn’t that finish just so pretty? I love seeing a little wood grain through.

The sink before was shallow and was right in the way of the dishwasher. If the dishwasher was open, then you couldn’t stand in front of the sink. It was a tricky situation when it came to loading 🙂

Now the dishwasher is next to the sink which makes loading really easy!

And the sink is deeper and has a really nice faucet which has motion activation. You can read all about the sink and the faucet here.

We staged the entire kitchen with new finds from various places. The color scheme for the accents all came from the Pioneer Woman collection at Walmart. They were colorful and fun and added a little pop to the space. Plus Charity loves her stuff 🙂

This is the view that is probably the one that Charity sees the most. She stands here all the time (like most moms do!) and it has her new little coffee station and her little mixing corner.

Meet Kermit. That’s what she had named her mixer and now she gets to see it all the time. Charity said – it’s so convenient to have it out!

The wall that is next to the opening used to be a little feeding station.

After the new layout, this area was a shallow spot that was perfect for a set of shelves. We also found a great way to keep the feeding station for their great dane Bella 🙂

And the kids love that they have a spot to put their chicken eggs. Yes, this sweet family has a coop that they collect eggs from every day.

More detail shots…

Overall, I am super proud of this project. And it’s not done just yet. We still have to share the foyer and dining room. They were tweaked in the process and I can’t wait to show you them as well.

Here are some of the old posts and the sources for the items shown….

If you want to know specific info on any of the other items, please just leave a comment and I will do my best! And thank you guys for your support and patience in this project. Seriously….we are so happy to have it complete and to be able to share it with you. I am so glad that they have this space now! Even Charity’s mom said that Christmas dinner tasted better because of this room and that was just the best compliment….because isn’t that what DIY is all about? Making life just a little sweeter with our spaces? And now I want to hear your favorite parts? That hood? That tile? That big ole horse of a pup? 🙂