{renovate} copper counters, kitchen lights and more

Happy Monday friends! I thought today you'd like to see an update on our kitchen! Things are moving right along and I have a few fun updates to share, including ... copper countertops! :) Let's start there.

Copper countertop

I think copper counters were the biggest disagreement between Chris and I when we were planning the kitchen. He fought HARD for them. I thought they were taking too big of a risk. But Chris rarely fights that hard for anything when it comes to design decisions, so I agreed knowing we could switch it out later if we I hated it.

Guess what friends ... Chris was right. (Shhh. Don't tell him ;). The copper counter is gorgeous! I love it, he loves it .... we're all very full of love over here ;). But seriously, as we talked about recently, being brave and taking a risk really paid off here. The copper is shiny ... but not obnoxiously. It's more like a lovely gleam that makes the rest of the kitchen glow. And it adds a rich depth that the room was definitely missing.

As for keeping it clean? We decided before we ordered it that we weren't going to tiptoe around the copper. Yes, it is going to tarnish if we use it. In our minds, this adds character. I did buy a copper cleaner though, and tried it out before I took these photos. It sort of reinvigorates the copper, but still leaves a tiny bit of tarnish, which I think I like. I can see myself using the copper cleaner once a week-every two weeks just to keep the tarnish a little under control and keep it from getting too dull :).

Kitchen lights

Maybe you noticed? We installed our lights! And wow, what a difference that has made. For two reasons.

The first reason is obvious .... they add so much character to the space! All the lights are from Schoolhouse Electric (I have ALWAYS wanted lights from there. They are completely worth the wait and cost :). The pendant fixtures are the Harding, with a 4" fitter in polished nickel. The shades don't have a name, but are here. I absolutely love their curviness. It's a nice shape against the very square angles of a kitchen.

The second reason these made such a huge difference is because of the light bulbs. We purchase Edison Marconi bulb to go in each of the fixtures because we like how they look. But the light they let off is amazing and was such an added bonus. So warm and comforting ... it really is the most perfect light. I want to switch out all the lights in our house now :).

Over the sink, we installed the satellite sconce, in polished nickel, with an edison light and metal cage "shade". I'm already itching to paint the cage -- stay tuned :).

And, I'm more excited about this than I rationally should be -- Chris installed dimmers! The can lights now dim, as well as the light in the nook (you know, for whenever we reinstall it;). YAH! 

Island backer

The other thing you probably noticed is that we painted the back of the island. I wanted to mix it up a little -- remember my goal is to not have this kitchen look too "IKEA" -- so we installed beadboard as the island backer instead of the out-of-the-box IKEA cabinet backer. 

Painted the same dark grey as the floor, it compliments the copper so well and just creates this moody, warm look that I'm loving.

What's next?

Friends, the space is starting to FINALLY come together and I'm getting so excited to have it finished. It's at that point where I can see all are hard work and planning paying off and I can see all the design decisions working together to create a space that I know we're truly going to love. Clearly, we still don't have a stove -- the electrician is coming this week to hook up the stove and dishwasher. After that we'll install trim and the tile backsplash. And then we're done! See close? I have no idea how these last few things will go with the holidays coming up, but I know that after the stove is installed, we're going to move back into the kitchen and work on the trim and backsplash when we can. Keep your fingers crossed for us friends, that we'll get it done sooner, rather than later!