Kitchen Sneak Peek

This "mini" kitchen renovation hasn't really felt so "mini".  We've had a few bumps along the way.  Some of you have probably forgotten all about our kitchen project because it's been a while since the last update.  I was hoping to wait and do a big reveal; but instead I'm going to give a few sneak peeks of what is finished, and then do a nice little wrap up post when we are finally done!

Here's a before pic of the cooking area.

We removed the top cabinet and microwave.  Some of you may remember back in February when we Craig's listed (yes- that's a verb in our house) our appliances and brought in the new slide-in stove that we planned to put a range hood in place of the microwave (and relocate the microwave).  Well, now after many, many, many, months of having a giant hole above the stove, we now have a range hood!

However, let's face it, the star of the show is the beautiful back splash!  We chose the hood after we picked out the back splash tile.  I originally wanted white subway tile; but one day while perusing my local Lowe's I ran into this Venatino polished marble and the rest is history.  I fell in love.  It's a 2"x4" marble tile that comes in a 12"x12" mosaic for $9.98.  My contractor did all the work while I watched with hearts in my eyes.  ;)

It's so shiny and pretty!  I love the variations of color in the marble.  After deciding to use this marble tile instead of subway tile, I changed my mind on the range hood which was just part of the reason it took so long to finally fill that ugly hole!  I had originally wanted a black wood decorative range hood.  I decided to go with a stainless hood instead because I want the back splash to be the star of the kitchen and the hood to have a supporting role.  ;)  We hung the hood high.  It's about 34 inches above the stove top, which is still within the range of the specifications for our hood.  Me and my 5'3" self wanted to see a lot of back splash, and my 6'2" hub didn't want to have any head bumping issues.

Let's have another before and after show shall we?

Before

After

It worked out perfectly!  It really opened up the kitchen and brings in a lot of light with the reflectiveness of the back splash.  This is a Broan elite 30" convertible range hood, obviously in stainless, for anyone that was interested in the specifics.  We're very happy with its performance, but we weren't super pleased when it arrived after 3 weeks with a dent!  Then the returning and then finally we got a good egg!   We had to go ductless because we were working around existing cabinetry.  Having to go ductless did limit our options a little but all in all we're pretty happy with the end result.

Very soon (I hope) I'll show you where we relocated the microwave!

So, what's been going on in your hood lately?  ;)   You like that little play on words don't you?   Heaven help you all for reading my craziness!

Happy Monday!

*Linking up at Thrifty Decor Chick