Saturday, April 30, 2011

Before & After - Arabesque Love

This is my most recent kitchen remodel project. I collaborated with Dwell Construction as my contractor and the results are stunning, in my humble opinion. We replaced everything except the floor tile!
This is what the space looked like when the home was purchased. Clearly very dated, in not only the decor, but the scale of the cabinet uppers and the finish out materials.

This home was built in the late 90's and the finish out materials are clearly indicative of that...including shiny brass, ugh! We ripped those dated cabinets out of there and put in not only beautiful cabinets but much more functional ones as well. The real beauty of designing your own cabinets is planning for exactly what you need and a place for everything.
Here is what she looks like today...
Big difference, huh?! :-)
I took the cabinets all the way to the ceiling to really take advantage of every inch of storage space possible. This, aesthetically, just looks beautiful too. It draws your eye up and takes advantage of the ceiling height. The cabinets have lots of new organizational features that the original cabinets didn't offer. Some of the features include, a pop-up mechanism for the client's KitchenAid stand mixer in the far right base cabinet, pullouts behind the doors for ease of reach and finding items and the skinny cabinets on either side of the new Viking cooktop are pull-out spice cabinets, among other many other things.
Here is another view of how the kitchen looked before...
We also increased the island size in our renovation. This special client has a big family and entertains frequently. The larger island size is obviously an advantage for her yummy spreads and buffet style dinners.


Closeup of the new island.


The arabesque backsplash tiles from Mission Stone and Tile are probably one of my favorite specifications for the kitchen. Check out their site, my in-kitchen herb garden is their highlight photo :-) They were a pretty penny but we didn't need very much square footage and I think they add loads of character. I have yet to tire of the classic and traditional subway tile, but it is fun to throw in a different shape to mix things up every now and then. Notice the new pot filler behind the cooktop as well. Pot fillers are a nice luxury if you have the opportunity to put one in.
The new Viking cooktop :-)


Pot filler close up. So convenient!


New Viking double ovens :-)


A little in-kitchen herb garden.


In this image you can see our new bell jar lantern pendants...love. All the way to the left in this image, under the microwave, behind those doors, is a convenient little coffee bar.


The new space is bright, airy and most importantly functional.

A big thank you to Adam Luczycki of Dwell Construction (formerly known as Blank Canvas Const.) for taking our specifications and making the vision come to life. It is beautiful!


I hope you've enjoyed a peek into my most recent project completion and I hope you are having a great start to the week!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

What I'm Loving...


Inset arched wood doors, wood muntins, cremone locks, all white and clear glass dishes...what's not to love?!


Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek of the kitchen I've completed recently that I'll be showing later this week. :-)


Monday, April 25, 2011

As of lately...


Austin - Butler's pantry - yummy calcutta!
My poor little, neglected baby blog....and my neglected readers :-( If you're still here, thanks for sticking around. As I've mentioned recently, I am busy! This, unfortunately, means the blog usually goes to the back burner, it's just the way it goes. So I thought I would show you what I've been up to in photos. If you are a fan of the facebook page you've likely seen most of these client progress photos.

Austin - Kitchen island - calcutta so yummy I could lick it!



Austin - Main kitchen - gorgeous beveled subway tiled backsplash


Austin - Main kitchen - the perimeter marble is ah-mazing!




Austin - mudroom cubbies & checkerboard floor is in, yay :-)


Lights going in


Entry lantern - all wood yet to be stained.


Son's bath - so perfect!


Son's bath hardware and bianco cararra countertops

Gorgeous things going into the master bath.




Master bath floor and wall hug


Master shower ceiling


Master shower - all yet to be grouted


Powder bath - more calcutta and stunning brass - love.


Powder bath light fixtures and mirror going in.





Switch projects :: Master bath final cabinets approved.


Same project - one wall of adjoining closet that I am so proud of. This space is going to be stunning!


Same project - Master suite terrace stone going in and looking perfect!
These are just a couple of the amazing projects and clients I am working with right now.

We spent our Easter out at the ranch and got some much needed R&R. The drive to the ranch is through the hill country and is nothing short of beautiful. This is the only picture I took the whole weekend :-/ Hopefully my sister-in-law will hook me up with her camera snaps. I hope that you had a blessed Easter.

He is risen!


I'll be back soon with another kitchen remodel that's getting her jewelry (aka hardware) in a couple of days and then she'll be ready to photograph.

I hope you're having a great start to the week!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Weekend Recap

I've been busy. Really busy. Two of my sisters decided to come from Dallas to visit this weekend and it was exactly what I needed! A little R&R with my best friends (aka my sissies). Fiesta is going on right now in San Antonio, so there was no shortage of things to do. We went to Oyster Bake on Saturday. Oyster Bake is like the state fair without the rides and games. There's live music and tons of fair food. We ate our way through the booths - chicken on a stick, fried cheesecake, funnel cake, fried oreos, fried twinkies, chalupas...you get the idea. Yum! This baby inside of me was probably wondering what the heck was going on, it's ok, I don't eat like that all the time...one day is ok right?
We headed over to Gruene on Sunday for Gospel Brunch at the famous Gruene Hall. I've talked about how much I love Gruene here before. It is such a charming town!
If you live in Texas and you've never been to a Gospel Brunch I highly recommend it. You get a yummy southern style brunch - biscuits & gravy, ribs, mashed potatoes, etc. and an old school gospel band sings their hearts out. It's a pretty cool way to worship.
They ended the brunch on this...
We left there in smiles and milled around Gruene for a while.

I stopped into this antique shop. I always keep tabs on their milk glass pieces.

We strolled over to the general store and had ice cream from the old style soda fountain bar.

It was a perfect, relaxing weekend. Just what I needed! Thank you sissies for coming to see me, muah! I hope you had a delightful weekend as well. Now back to the grind...