La Cocina de Martin!

Alas, the kitchen renovation is complete! Well, technically Pride Residential Services (our contractors who were awesome!) completed the renovation in late February but I have have been delayed in posting pictures of the project. Life gets in the way sometimes. I hope you will forgive me and enjoy the progress shown in the pictures below!



Our "charming" old kitchen. This picture doesn't even capture the dead space next to the fridge, the oversized pantry that was always awkward and the sheer exhaustion of the kitchen just being stretched to thin. Poor thing was tired....we had to save it! 




Our inspiration for the kitchen design was "Sally Wheat's" kitchen which was posted on Cote de Texas blog site.That grey-blue color (Benjamin Moore's Fieldstone) was so soothing. The marble made my heart race a little faster and the open shelving made the space feel approachable. I fell in instant love with this kitchen. It was the first one I saw myself in...  



So I had to find a way to take Sally Wheat's kicthen and translate it into our space and BUDGET! This is it... OUR kitchen AFTER the renovation! Oooh, that farm house sink still makes my heart skip a beat! We didn't do marble, Chris got scared of the budget and the "patina" unknowns so we went with Ceasar Stone's Misty Carrera instead. While we didn't use BM's Fieldstone, our cabinet maker, Scott of Jackson Cabinetry matched the Fieldstone color and Thomasville's Baltic Bay color to make our own special color for the cabinetry. We were VERY happy with the final result.

I have cooked some fantastic dishes on this stove and do you not love this hood? I looked through so many magazines and finally designed my own for the space. I am so happy with it! I can't believe we didn't have a vent in the kitchen for years! ohhh the progress!

I fell in lust with the floating shelves. They are so European and so practical too.
AND yes, there is a dishwasher on this wall... can you find it?

All my everyday dishes. So easy to access now!

Is it wrong to lust a faucet?

Our first meal in the house required a smooth drink and this beautiful French sauvingon blanc made it all worthwhile!

I even made a yummy lemon cake from Francis Mayes book Under the Tuscan Sun.
This was a big hit! I added a little sour cream to her recipe and I think it made all the difference.

Chris wanted to inaugurate the kitchen with fish (guess he wanted to really use the new vent hood!).
So I made a crab encrusted grouper. It was to die for!

My friend Ann shared her recipe for Swiss Chard, which her 4 year old said was "the best greens ever!"
I had to make the recipe after this endorsement!

Finally, here is a glance at the fridge, pantry (to right) and the wine rack (which I think is my favorite!)

Hope you enjoyed touring my new kitchen. We love it! Every time I walk into my house now I can hardly believe it is ours! After five years of talking about it, dreaming about it, cutting out tons of pictures in magazines I am finally at peace with my kitchen. Let the good FOOD reign queen!