New Kitchen Update - Integrated Hood + Upper Cabinets

SEE OUR MOST RECENT KITCHEN UPDATE!

Um...  did you notice that we have yet to post a photo of our kitchen with the upper cabinets?  That was because it looked horrific with the builder's hood vent + the dinky cabinet they so considerately installed to cover the vent.  (By code, the builder has to provide a hood vent in order for the house to close.)  

Here goes...  cover your eyes...  This is what we're trying to forget - how the hood vent looked like for the past month.  It's certainly got the "wow" factor, in a bad way ;-)

Photo taken on the day we closed the house, before any appliances were delivered.

Photo taken on the day we closed the house, before any appliances were delivered.

I figured nobody would notice when we featured our new superwhite countertop...

New house kitchen New Superwhite Quartzite countertop | Classy Glam Living

But the time has come for a reveal of the upper cabinets... 

Here was how we had envisioned this new kitchen will be, using IKEA's kitchen building tool.

New house kitchen rendering | Classy Glam Living

And here it is, after we've gotten rid of the builder's hood vent and hideous cover-up.  

Kitchen in-progress update | Grey Cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

The installation of the hood revolved around the logistics of the hood cabinet.  Our integrated hood requires the bottom of the hood cabinet to be cut to size before installation.  However, we were forbidden by the builder to contact the kitchen supplier until we have closed on the house, and in effect, delayed the installation of our hood until now.

Earlier this week, the kitchen supplier finally came to install the hood cabinet.

Kitchen update | Integrated hood | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

To backtrack a bit, the grey cabinet colour was a mystery to us.  We couldn't tell how light the grey would be on the maple doors based on an oak sample door at the builder's decor centre, but we took a risk ordering this light grey "Platinum" anyway.  That was back in February of 2014, and the suspense for this 1+ year was unbearable!  I had since then browsed all over the internet trying to figure out what this platinum cabinet colour could look like.  

Although we originally wanted a darker grey similar to the IKEA grey, this light grey turned out to be just grey enough.  With limited natural light going into the kitchen, darker cabinet doors would make the kitchen look like a dark hole in the middle of the house.  So the risk we took actually worked out for us!

While we were at it, we also changed out the upper cabinet doors at the fridge wall to glass doors.  We finally got the upper cabinets to look how we planned for them - a muted clean look with them level all across.  

Kitchen in-progress update | Glass doors on upper cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

The glass doors help to break out the wall of solid doors on the adjacent wall and create a design element.  They give the illusion of a more open space, and act as a display cabinet for our drinkware and other decor items.  We'll eventually change those shelves to glass shelves to complete the look. 

Kitchen in-progress update | Glass doors on upper cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living
Kitchen in-progress update | Glass doors on upper cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

When the Mr. has some time, he can build us the pots and pans drawers for the lower cabinets, for which we had some custom drawer fronts made.  With all the drawer building experience that the Mr. has with the closet, he can now whip them up in no time, saving us hundreds from going with the builder's version.

Designing our kitchen has been a fun and enjoyable process, from picking out our cabinet colour to choosing our appliances, to shopping for our countertop slabs and cabinet pulls.  Although the level of customization is not to the extent of a full kitchen reno, we still put a lot of thought into making this kitchen function efficiently as the heart of the house.  A little research and some customizations with the builder later, we have a kitchen with good bones that we can take further ourselves.

Kitchen in-progress update | Grey Cabinets | Glass doors on upper cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

For now, I would consider the kitchen's bones pretty much in place.  Next up for the kitchen will be to:  

Not too bad, considering we've done all these: 

  • Do something about that dead corner storage - DONE
  • Install panels on appliances - DONE
  • Replace countertop/ sink/ faucet - DONE
  • Replace solid upper cabinet doors on fridge wall with glass doors - DONE
  • see Design Board
Kitchen in-progress update | Grey cabinets | Glass doors on upper cabinets | Minimalist kitchen with level upper cabinets | Classy Glam Living

While being esthetically pleasing on its own, the kitchen design should also complement the overall design scheme of the house.  Our kitchen is on its way to glam-ification, slowly. I'm glad the changes we made to the builder's kitchen have added counter space, helping Chef Honey to churn out meals efficiently.  So far, he hasn't complained about the lack of counter space.  *Phew!*

Check out our original posts of this kitchen design:

Trendspotting - Kitchen Design

Kitchen appliance choices to free up counter space  

Range hood and minimalist kitchen design  

Kitchen countertops - marble and look-alike alternatives  

Our marble alternative kitchen countertop revealed! 

 

Small Space + Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Now into the second week of having moved in, we're still unpacking.  Well, we took a break after we've unpacked the essentials, and continued to unpack once the crown moldings were installed.  It was a nice break from all the boxes; afterall, there's no point to decorate just to have them be in the way for the crown installers, right?

We couldn't wait to decorate the entryway once the crown moldings were installed!

We couldn't wait to decorate the entryway once the crown moldings were installed!

Unpacking may be an endless task, and I'm embarrassed to admit that, for a family of 3, we just have so much stuff!  I didn't realize we were such hoarders - it took our 4 movers 7 hours to move out of the rental and into our new house.  It's true that we don't have much furniture, as one of the movers said, but we have a lot of STUFF.  As a result, I'm always looking for more storage space.

Then, as I was browsing for organizing methods, I learned about Marie Kondo, a celebrity organizer in Japan and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  It sounded magical for sure, so I delved into it further and read the e-book in one go.  

This isn't a book about cleaning, but more of decluttering by ridding of things that don't "spark joy" in us.  It has a spiritual undertone to it, and in essence, it's more about a lifestyle change.  That by knowing what you love, you become more grateful to your possessions, gain the ability to be a more decisive person (through the decluttering process), and make positive changes in life.

It's definitely an eye-opener and timing just couldn't be better!  We're in a smaller house now, and it's ridiculous to still have so much after rounds of purging.  We're at the best time to start with a clean slate as we unpack the boxes!  This is the easiest way to declutter all in one go, as Marie Kondo stresses.  Purge the unwanted, then store the remaining in its own place, to minimize rebounding back to clutter.  Afterall, "tidying is not the purpose of life."

Little did I know, I was actually already following the Konmari method's order of decluttering - starting from your least emotionally attached items:  clothing, books, papers/ documents, miscellany, and lastly, momentos.  

I first learned about the capsule wardrobe after we moved into our rental last year, and have subsequently purged bags after bags of clothes.  The essence of a capsule wardrobe indeed goes hand in hand with the KonMari method - keep and wear what you love, or "spark joy".

Gosh, this was embarrassing...  I've nothing to wear...

Gosh, this was embarrassing...  I've nothing to wear...

For the next category, books, I've finally gotten rid of my textbooks from university...  seriously, why did I even keep them?!  As for novels, I only kept the ones that are classics - and I consider my Harry Potter collection a classic :-)  I got rid of several boxes of books from this purge.

I'm currently tackling the miscellany category, and our biggest collection is undoubtedly home decor.  We love all the home decor and accessories, and I was all for a layered look in our previous larger house.  Though it's true a layered look is a feast for the eyes, too many home accessories would just make our current smaller home look cluttered.  Not to mention, having too much stuff out also makes it a pain to clean, and encourages procrastinating on cleaning (speaking from experience here). 

Our front hall table at the old house.  Layered look is "out" at our new house.

Our front hall table at the old house.  Layered look is "out" at our new house.

More and more, I find myself loving the clean home decor look of the instagrammers I follow.  They've shown me that I don't need a lot to make a space look comfortably lived in and welcoming.  Having some blank space lets the eyes rest easily on single objects and devour their beauty.   If I only display things that I love, I would opt to take better care of them with proper cleaning.  I can totally relate to Marie Kondo here:

"Human beings can only truly cherish a limited number of things at one time  As I am both lazy and forgetful, I can't take proper care of too many things.  That is why I want to cherish properly the things I love, ..."

So, I'll be purging some home decor items that don't "spark joy" this week.  Does a bowl with ratten balls on my coffee table spark joy?  I think I'm over that phase.

And onto momentos...  I'm a sentimental person, and naturally a hoarder of birthday cards and any occasional cards.  When we moved from our old house, I've purged all Christmas cards from previous years.  Sorry good friends.  And now, I'm more than ready to rid of the birthday cards I've collected over the years.  Though I still have a special box for all the cards the Mr. has given me since we started dating =)  Yes, that sparks joy in me, forever.

"Souvenirs" from our recent Europe vacation - "sparks joy" - KEEP pile.

"Souvenirs" from our recent Europe vacation - "sparks joy" - KEEP pile.

This is our third house, and third time must be the charm.  I hope I've finally found a way to put our house in order!  It's been liberating to purge and I haven't been browsing online stores aimlessly.  My goal in following the KonMari Method is to have less, and buy less; spend less time in perfecting a layered look and more time enjoying our uncluttered house.   I'm sure the Mr. will also breath a sigh of relief for not having to build racks after racks for storage after all this decluttering!

Have you taken on the KonMari challenge?  Have you stay decluttered without rebounding back?