I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to share our kitchen reveal with you today. We have essentially been working on our kitchen on and off for 6 years and until, well, about a week or so ago, it’s never truly been finished. The reasons for this are as long as they are boring so I won’t go into the all the whys but let’s just say, as always, it came down to time, money, indecision and simply prioritising other things.

view of kitchen through the dining room

As much as I want to get into the full reveal, I want to share what our kitchen looked like when we first moved in over 6 years ago which I’d guess many of you have never seen. My second ever post shared what I’d done with the kitchen the first week we lived here – namely, a fresh coat of paint and a few new accessories. So this is the true BEFORE of our kitchen and even then I had dreams of a much prettier, new kitchen. I had no idea it would take us 6 years to get there.

kitchen-2010

We did do quite a lot of work in here about 4 or 5 years ago – we removed the false ceiling, replaced the floors with natural slate and underfloor heating, installed the open shelving units and tiled. Over the following years since then, I’ve done bits and pieces to update the space – I’ve changed the wallpaper behind the shelves twice, we got new appliances, I DIY’d new lighting. So for this ‘kitchen upgrade’, this is essentially what we started with.

kitchen-apr-2016

While I recognise that in pictures, it didn’t look too bad, there was a host of issues that I wasn’t happy about (click that link for more details). The old laminate worktops and sink/faucet had never been replaced and we’d made a few ‘newbie’ mistakes when we’d installed the tiles and decided that fully re-tiling was probably our best option. Once we completed the dining room remodel earlier this year, it was time to finally finish this space once and for all.

As the remodel got started, I realised it was a good opportunity to finally turn it into my ‘dream kitchen’ – well, within reason. There was plenty that I liked about our existing kitchen so it was never going to be a full remodel, more of an upgrade and we saved quite a bit of money by working with what we had in terms of the cabinets and layout and DIYing nearly all of it.

So *drumroll please*…. here she is… my new sexy black, white and gold eclectic boho glam kitchen.

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles and brass accents

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles, gold sink and gold tap

First things first, I need to acknowledge the amazing sponsors I had, without whom this whole project would have taken months longer. The tiles (and tiling) were courtesy of Tile Mountain, the cooker and washing machine were from AO.com, the white flatback bin was from the lovely folks at Brabantia, the black & white bamboo baskets and leopard vase are from MiaFleur, some of the artwork is from Desenio and the wallpaper was provided at a discount from 17 Patterns. These are all companies I really like and would recommend without hesitation. Most of these, in fact, I approached personally to help me out on this project and I couldn’t be more grateful for their support.

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles and brass accents

As you can see, we decided once the cabinets were painted, that the existing white appliances just looked a bit off in the space. Thankfully, Wayne’s mum is moving into a new flat soon and she was going to need appliances so they’ll be getting a new home. The black cooker hood and fridge freezer were the last additions we made but they nicely balanced out all the black and white in the space. (Oh and just a little note for my American brethren, yes, there’s a washing machine in here – it’s pretty common in the UK for your washing machine to be in the kitchen! ;))

The new tiles have, of course, been paramount in transforming the space. I adore the marble effect look and I chose to finish everything off with a gorgeous brass trim. The fact that the tiles are porcelain, however, mean they are so hard-wearing and clean really easily. You can read all about installing them here.

kitchen corner with marble tiles, brass rail with cups and fruit bowl

Of course, our biggest triumph was the installation of the Minerva acrylic worktops. You can read all about how we did that here. I couldn’t be happier with this choice. They have a beautiful feel to them and are super easy to keep clean.

marble effect tiles and countertop with black kitchen cabinets and gold cabinet handles and gold hanging utensils

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles, gold sink and gold tap

Of course, I’m still totally in love with the gold sinks and taps from Olif. I noticed recently I rarely used to shoot this side of the kitchen simply because it was always so MEH. But now, I love the gold accents against the lovely marble effect worktop. It’s just made a huge difference to this side of the kitchen.

gold sink and faucet with marble effect worktop

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles, gold sink and gold tap

We also went through a heck of a lot of palaver to paint the kitchen cupboards black. You can read all about that here. It took longer than we’d expected but it was totally worth the effort for the final silky finish!

black lowers with marble effect countertop and gold sink and faucet

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles and brass accents

We also gave the whole kitchen a fresh coat of white paint which was desperately needed and I decided to take the opportunity to replace the wallpaper behind the shelving units. I fell in love with Love Leopard almost immediately from 17 Patterns a few months ago and decided pretty much there and then I had to use it somewhere.

open shelf styling with peach and spotty wallpaper and gold accents

Thankfully, the old paper came right off (yay!) and the installation was quick and easy. It’s a paste the wall type paper which I totally prefer in terms of ease of application and I had the whole thing done within a few hours. It’s beautiful quality and I adore the spotty pattern.

open shelving in kitchen with gold accents and hanging mugs

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles and brass accents

black and white kitchen with marble tiles and gold hanging utensils

As for some of the accessories, I chatted about a few of the bits and pieces I added in this post and in this one. I’ll be doing a full source list soon so if you spy something else you like, hang tight – I’ll be sharing everything soon.

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles and brass accents

As much as I would have loved to figure out a way to hide the microwave, we just didn’t have the room to put it anywhere else. It does fit rather well into this little corner, however, so yeah, it is what it is! The basket on top holds all of Quito’s things like his lead, poop bags, his towel, some toys etc. It makes it much easier to grab for his walks! And how cute is that leopard vase from MiaFleur?

kitchen with brass tile trim and marble effect tiles

Speaking of corners, I couldn’t be happier with that brass detail outlining the tiles on both sides of the doorway. Tiling to the floor around the doorway also means the corners can withstand the frequent abuse of a dog and two cats constantly coming in and out in wet weather!

kitchen with brass tile trim and marble effect tiles

Here are a few more shots just to be gratuitous.

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles, gold sink and gold tap

black white and gold kitchen with slate floors, black lowers and white open shelving with brass details and gold faucet

black white and gold kitchen with slate floors, black lowers and white open shelving with brass details

pink grey and gold gallery wall in kitchen with white marble effect tiles

kitchen with black cupboards with white open shelving, marble tiles, gold sink and gold tap

So, after a good few months of toiling away on this space, the kitchen is finally complete! I genuinely love the space and it’s as hard-wearing as it is pretty.

Thanks again to my fabulous sponsors for giving us the opportunity to make this remodel possible and thanks to you for your patience as we completed all the work! I hope it was worth the wait!

**UPDATE!** As I get so many questions on the worktops: Click here to see the worktops installed / Click here for how we finished the joins / Click here for how our worktops are holding up one year on

Disclaimer: Some of the items used in our kitchen remodel were provided free or at a discount for my review but as always, all images, words and opinions are my own. I only work with companies I really like and think you’ll like too! Thanks for supporting the brands that support Swoon Worthy!

 


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