This side of the kitchen is looking a lot closer to finished. The other side… barely anything’s changed. So I’m just going to focus on showing you this side for now.
First things first, the bisque range hood is gone! My dad installed new stainless one. It seriously took less than half an hour. So fast!
It does look a little stainless/black-heavy over here, but rest assured I have plans to add some colorful accessories in to warm it up. The vintage beer tray I had above the range before no longer fits in the space (hmph), so I’m on the hunt for something different.
Over the weekend, we picked up our new laminate countertops, but they haven’t been installed yet. These two small pieces by the stove are just resting up there so we could see what they looked like; they haven’t been screwed in place.
You might have noticed the counters don’t have the typical laminate integrated backsplash. After reading a bunch of kitchen reno forums, I found the suggestion to have the laminate made without that four inch lip to make it look more high-end.
Then I browsed every hoarded back issue of This Old House magazine (my favorite) I own to seek out kitchen photos. And yep, most vintagey looking kitchens with expensive soapstone counters had no integrated backsplash. An easy way to get the look for less.
Of course, this leaves me with some wall repairs to tackle (sanding and repainting), but I’m hopeful it will all come out looking great in the end.
You can also catch a glimpse of the wall color I’m auditioning (on top of the cabinets). It’s a greeny gray that I think will really brighten up the space. But that probably won’t happen for at least a couple of months yet. I’m taking this renovation rather slowly. Baby comes first!
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Hi! The counter looks great! We’re planning to use Wilsonart oiled soapstone in our kitchen too. Can I ask what edge you chose? Thank you
Hi, I think it’s what they call “self-edge.” I chose it because we have a weird angle on one of our counters. (You can see the angle I’m talking about here.)
While they could have done another edge on the majority of the counters, the angle would have to be done with the self-edge, and I just thought that would look weird with two profiles.
Without that angle, I probably would have chosen what I think is called a “European” edge. It’s gently rounded, but still looks sort of squared off.
Good luck with your project!