It's what's INSIDE that counts!

Sure we've given Emma Brick a wonderful exterior to proudly flaunt display in front of all the other houses in the neighborhood...but beauty cannot be only brick-deep on this girl! Let me show you what I mean...

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought Emma last year:

You could say that she was in her 'golden years'. HA!

I had a particular dislike for her pistachio-green walls.It totally clashed with the orange woodwork...which I also particularly disliked.

However on the plus side...this kitchen was plus sized...with hardwoods...and lots of windows...and real wainscoting! On the negative side, besides the aesthetics, this kitchen had no functional appliances and the layout would have to change to coincide with our new appliances. I, of course, started right away on photo editing up some ideas on how we could remake our big kitchen into something pretty and functional.

But that darn island kept pulling me up short! You see, we have to put our over-sized fridge on the wall behind the island which meant that I couldn't have a breakfast bar with that island...and if I couldn't have seating there, I kinda didn't want it at all! I started trying to visualize a peninsula coming out somewhere that would allow me the ever-coveted breakfast bar, but couldn't figure out a good place to put it. Then my Mom-in-law, Amy, pointed out the only place (obviously) it could possibly go.

Added together with all the other changes we wanted to make...and those we HAD to make for our appliances...we were basically left with...

That thought overjoyed my husband. <-- and that was sarcasm.

Anyway...we were back to the drawing board. So while my handsome man started removing everything from the kitchen, I went to Lowes.com's Virtual Room Designer and started getting creative. Here is basically what we decided to go with in the end:

1. All new cabinetry - I was drawn to white shaker style kitchens.

2. We don't have a separate pantry, so we wanted to use large pantry cabinets around the fridge to make it seem more built in.

3. Our hardwood floor was put in AFTER the kitchen...therefore, we had a huge hole in the hardwood when we pulled out the island. We would need to fix and refinish (in a darker color) the whole floor.

4. Put in a peninsula with an 11" overhang on the countertop for my breakfast bar (yay!).

We were really pleased with this new design BUT we were afraid of not having enough room between the breakfast bar and the kitchen table seating. Also, we would be losing quite a bit of much-needed cabinet space...very necessary when you don't have a separate pantry. So we needed to find a way to create more space between the peninsula and the kitchen table AND add more storage space.

I just LOVE banquettes...don't you? If we add a banquette with additional tall pantries on either side we solve our storage problem AND it forces the kitchen table nearly a foot further away from the peninsula...giving us plenty of breathing room between the two seating areas.
Inspiration photos to get us going:

All together now...ooooh...aaaaah!! :o)