Becky J’s Kitchen
“Yes! She just hired me and her Kitchen is HUGE!”
I replied to my client Becky J after she asked if her friend Laura had called me. Client referrals are the BEST! And how I’ve gotten most of my business thus far. In fact, if I remember correctly it’s how I met Becky. We have a mutual friend, Nurse Tara, for whom I had done some CAD work for her small addition. One day Nurse brought her into the EPIC Center where I was working at the time because she was interested in volunteering. I ended up showing her some of my work and she was like, “girrrrrl, COME OVER!” So, I did and this is what I saw…
I was absolutely over the moon with her project after learning about her (she has such a charming personality 🤗) and what she wanted done during our initial design consultation. She cast her vision and I got it immediately. It was giving a Linen & Flax + Fixer Upper vibe. Styles I’m quite familiar with because I love them too! She wanted a tiled backsplash, creamy white cabinets, and a shiplap-wrapped front and side panel on her peninsula and perhaps on the dining room entry wall which is shared with the kitchen. The look she wanted was simple and timeless—yet trending; because a timeless style is forever trending amongst homeowners that know they will eventually sell, in my humble opinion. It’s just smart 😏.
Now, I’m not trying to dis allude my more whimsical, eclectic, wanting to live like a wizard amongst everything he’s collected over his many adventures type folks. But if you know you’re going to eventually sell, perhaps do your thing but keep it in a neutral color palette. For example, if you’re a lover of floral prints by all means, pack in the prints, but maybe pick prints that have the same colorway and then keep everything else neutral. You want to be acknowledged as tasteful, not crazy.
Back To My Client…
After a lovely initial design consultation, I scampered back to my little home office to create her idea board. The final look came down to the backsplash option. Keep in mind, this wasn’t her forever home so she didn’t want to sink too much money into it. The opinions are nearly endless for any budget these days. There’s peel & stick (made with real stone! Making it more attractive than its vinyl counterpart), and there are individual, and mosaic tiles to choose from. Not to mention whether or not you want a glossy or a honed finish!
I ended up nailing it down to these three options to show Becky after all my research shopping. I went to the Home Depot, Lowe’s, and of course the world wide web, mainly MSI Tile for real stone peel-and-stick options. She ended up loving the classic subway tile look, but we needed the tile to be proportional to the space we had and also didn’t want the fuss of too many grout lines. So the final selection at the end of the day was this…
I got this from Lowe’s. The proportion is perfect for the space we were working with and paired with a bone-colored grout the grout lines would be faint enough to add a bit of visual texture without getting too fussy, which she wanted to avoid. The whole thing cost $220 (throw in another $60 if you need to rent a wet saw to cut your tile!) Side note: Our Lowe’s (we only have one) lets us check outdoors! Yes, they let you grab a cabinet door from their brand deck display wall to take home to view in your space under your own home lighting! Dooo👏🏾 it!
Here’s How It Went
Before’s & Afters!
It was suuuuch a pleasure to work with you Becky J! Even though your husband tried to kick me out (hahaha 😆🤣). If you ever move back and need a kitchen reno, CALL MEEEE! Say hi to the puppy and the girls for me 😘✌🏾.
with ♥️,
