My Kitchen Progress (and a Peek At My New Lighting)

As promised, I have pictures of my kitchen to show you! I still didn’t get as far as I had hoped, BUT…a promise is a promise, right?

So here is the current status of the backsplash installation:

As you can see there are still a few things left to do. For example…

I still need to caulk where the tiles meet the countertops and the upper cabinets, and I still have a few hinges that need to be changed to the brushed nickel. I also still need to purchase a venthood! That’s where the microwave used to be, but Matt and I don’t use microwaves (and plus, it was really, really old and ugly), so I took it down and tossed it almost as soon as we moved in. We’ve lived here all this time without a venthood, so it’ll be nice to finally have that “finishing touch”.

Now moving on to my lighting. Yesterday when I was in Home Depot, I took a detour through the lighting section, and happened upon some sconces that I thought would be PERFECT for my little eating area above the banquette seating. And the best part? They were only $14.99 each!! I couldn’t believe it! They’re nothing special, but they ARE what I had envisioned…very simple, white glass shade, brushed nickel, with a vintage look. I LOVE FINDING BARGAINS!! I got two sconces for less than the price of one of the sconces I had previously selected.

Oh sure…when I compare it side-by-side to the one I had previously picked out, you can see why this one was so much cheaper. But in the “whole picture”, I really think these work well. And people who enter my front door won’t have a picture of the more expensive sconces to compare this one to.

So here’s a little peek of the eating area, with the tile and one sconce installed (or at least, one sconce installed correctly). As you can see, I tried installing them both ways–pointing down and pointing up–to see which one I liked better. They’ll be pointing down.

This part of the design changed “on the fly” last night. I hadn’t originally planned on tiling the wall above the upholstered back of the banquette seating, but I decided last night that I really love the continuity. I think it would have looked really “disjointed” to have the tile end on the left side, then have the wall painted above the upholstered back, and then have the tile backsplash again on that tiny little backsplash on the right side. This way, it just seems to flow a bit more…and I LOVE the way the sconces look against the tile.

So that’s my progress thus far. Here’s a quick look at the “before” kitchen, and where we stand right now.

I’m sooo excited about getting this part of my condo finished. I can’t wait to get the banquette seating built, the upholstered seat and back made and installed, and the chandelier painted and installed. There’s still quite a way to go, but I feel like the finish line is finally within sight!