Along with all of the huge changes we made in our kitchen remodel, we made some smaller ones in our adjoining breakfast nook area! The layout of our entire house, including our kitchen is a bit unusual because it’s an old house that’s been added onto several times, all before we bought it. One of those additions is our kitchen breakfast nook that adjoins the main part of our kitchen – do you see that short wall to the left with our ancient thermostat? That used to be the back of the house so we’re lucky that someone had the vision to bust through and add on this additional space!
What we weren’t so lucky about is that the flooring of our breakfast nook was never totally even with the flooring of the main area of the kitchen – there was an unlevel row of tile right where the two spaces met that was notorious for causing people to trip. As part of our kitchen renovation we wanted to make the floor of the two spaces 100% even with each other. The domino effect of that wish led to an excavation crew jackhammering out the concrete slab of our breakfast nook and loading the rubble onto a conveyer belt (he’s shoveling right about where our kitchen table goes!):
Looking back I’m not sure quite how we made it through our crazy reno but we somehow muddled through and this same view six months later now looks like this:
Our floors are now not only level but instead of the red saltillo tile that was previously in this space, we have engineered hardwoods (see my post on our Hallmark wood floors for details!) that run throughout the main area of the kitchen into our breakfast nook (with no spots to trip on!).
In case you happened to have forgotten what the old tile looked like, this is a “before” pic of both our kitchen and breakfast nook when we bought our house:
We did a little table switch up too! The old table seemed a bit too chunky with the new, more streamlined feel of the space so we sold our previous office desk (my last remaining piece of mahogany furniture – woo hoo!) and moved our old kitchen table into our home office where it fit right in.
I took a long time looking for a new kitchen table since it needed to be a trestle table to work with our banquette and I also wanted to keep the price reasonable – I ended up choosing {this wood trestle table} which works beautifully! Check out my post on my favorite trestle dining tables for all ten of my favorite trestle tables.
I waxed the top of the table as a way to protect the finish without darkening the color of it (see my post on how to protect a wood table for those details):
We previously didn’t have a rug under our kitchen table but now that we have wood flooring, it was a little too much “wood on wood” for me. I had fallen so in love with the rug we have by our kitchen sink that I bought it in a larger size for under our kitchen table (I found it {here}). I love the pattern and since it’s an indoor/outdoor rug, it’s super easy to clean when there are stains or spills.
We also added new lighting to our breakfast nook! We previously had only recessed can lighting in this space but during the renovation I had our electrician wire it for a light fixture over the kitchen table. I chose {this capiz honeycomb pendant} c/o Serena & Lily (mine is the 22.5″ D version) and love the look of it and how the gold honeycombs tie in some of our gold accents (including {these gold pendants over our island}, {these pulls} on our cabinet doors, and {these pulls on our cabinet drawers}) in the main area of our kitchen.
I kept our DIY banquette seating (no way am I changing out that baby after all the work that went into it!) and cozied it up with some new pillows:
And speaking of our chairs, we have two of IKEA’s HENRIKSDAL chairs with long white slipcovers opposite the bench. Unfortunately IKEA doesn’t carry these chairs anymore but they’re very similar to {these slipcovered dining chairs}.
I added a few new accessories to our table too including a wood vase with flowers (these flowers are real but I’ll replace them with faux once they die), and a neutral textured table runner:
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My woven chargers are thrifted but they’re super similar to {these hyacinth placemats}. I love them because their texture makes every tablesetting prettier! My plates are {these Juliska plates} that I scored at their local warehouse sale:
And at the far end of the table is {this glass + brass pitcher} (it’s supposedly a “martini pitcher” but I think it’s a gorgeous water pitcher) and {this honey jar with wood dipper}. We LOVE honey and biscuits!
At the other end of our kitchen, I kept it pretty much the same with our rolling baker’s rack that’s home to the lanterns we use on our patio, extra tablecloths and outdoor throws, some storage bins, and extra dinnerware. I got this rolling rack at the RH Outlet but recently found a very similar, less expensive version {here}.
And one last thing to share with you – our new door hardware (and new door color too)! The door to our garage is off of the kitchen and I decided to paint it to match our kitchen island to help keep the space cohesive:
I actually first tried to color match paint to a sample of my kitchen island (which is “Moonstone” – a color option in MasterBrand’s Diamond line of cabinets) and the match was horrible so then I just snagged some dark gray color strips from various brands and Benjamin Moore’s Charcoal Slate looked like a close match so I gave it a try – it was almost a perfect match!
Once I added our new hardware (it’s Emtek’s modern rectangle rosette + modern crystal Windsor knob in Satin Brass available {here} c/o Emtek), I knew it was a gray + gold match made in heaven – love!!!! It’s truly the perfect mix of modern and traditional:
And it looks just as beautiful on my white doors too – this beautiful pair is on my closet doors across from our rolling baker’s rack:
I slowly changed out the door hardware throughout our first floor (which was previously a mishmash of different door knob styles) to this beautiful crystal and brass combination. Couldn’t love it more! That’s a wrap!! Thanks so much for coming over to the blog to let me show you around!
XO,
Madison says
Hello,
Would cloud white work with more cream toned cabinets with light taupe distressing on trim of cabinet doors? Thoughts.. this is tricky ;/
Kris Jarrett says
I really wish I could help you here but honestly I would just be guessing unless it’s something I’m seeing in person!
Laurie Carpenter says
Hi Kris,
You are a constant source of inspiration. Your taste is exquisite. And I am in awe of your flower arranging skills as well. I just completed a laundry room renovation & can’t wait to see yours!
Thanks for sharing your great ideas & providing resources. I have purchased so many of the lovely items you display throughout your home including my most recent purchase, the wood vase featured on your breakfast nook table!
Kris Jarrett says
Laurie thank you so much for your sweet words! Hope you love the vase – it’s one of my favorites!
Gia says
Looks beautiful! Could you please provide a link for the rug under your kitchen nook table?
Kris Jarrett says
Hey Gia! If you look under the 6th photo from the top – I have it linked there. I love it!
Annie says
Again, just gorgeous! I love that banquette! I have been looking for something for our kitchen area, but coming up with very little. I am tempted to buy the smallest sofa I can find, and use that for the sitting area.
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you! I had a hard time finding one that would work in my space too which is what led me to finally create one of my own!
Laura says
OMG I am so in love with that vase! I might need to pick one of those up. Gorgeous update. Such a fantastic transformation!
Kris Jarrett says
That vase is some seriously good bang for the buck – I love and highly recommend it!
Sarah says
This is beyond stunning, Kris! It is all so gorgeous!!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you Sarah!!
Ashley and Shannon says
Absolutely gorgeous!!! So happy we ran across your blog and we can’t wait to start following you. Love your style!!!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you so much and welcome!!
Susan says
I’m very detail-oriented and tip my hat to you…your kitchen remodel is beyond perfect, absolutely beautiful, every last detail, both large and small. Enjoy every minute of this spectacular finished project!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you so much Susan! I’m a details girl too which as you would probably agree is both a curse and a blessing! 🙂
Gail Storti says
Kris,
Once again, you hit it out of the ballpark! It’s so light and airy and adds that finishing touch to your fabulous kitchen. And like your kitchen, every detail is perfection and I love it all! I think renovation is something like child birth, once it’s all finished and looks beautiful, you forget all the mess and stress you went through to get your dream space! Bravo!
Kris Jarrett says
Gail, you are so right! I’m already looking back at the in-progress photos thinking that I forgot how horrible a process it was! 🙂
Kelley Nan says
Kris, everything looks GORGEOUS! Your hard work paid off big time. Those new door knobs are out of this world; I love Pillsbury biscuits, too; and I NEED THAT PITCHER! Such an incredible job tying everything in with your new, gorgeous kitchen.
Kris Jarrett says
I love that you love canned biscuits – lol! And I’m obsessed with that pitcher! I’m thinking about getting another one because it’s the perfect thing for holding water at dinner parties!
Toni says
You must never want to leave your kitchen…..it all turned out so beautifully!
Kris Jarrett says
That’s so sweet Toni – thank you! We really are enjoying it!
Romeogirl says
Really beautiful Kris! I have to admit I do have a soft spot for red saltillo tile. Do you remember your source for the oil and vinegar set- so cute!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you! The oil and vinegar set are from World Market!
Nancy says
I have those same “ before” floor tiles except mine are larger and uglier. I can’t wait to get rid of them. Did you put the new flooring on top of them or did you jack hammer them out first?
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Nancy! We jackhammered out all of our old tile – it was crazy messy but worth it in the end!
Sally says
A truly lovely, relaxing and elegant space – you’ve done a brilliant job! I have to say that I might be on Team Jeff as far as all the banquette cushions go, it does look as though a lot of wriggling and manoeuvring would be required – those of us who are taller than average need all the space we can get! (maybe a handy factotum on hand to get one properly tucked in??).
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! Well the good news is that we only eat at this table when it’s our family of four since it doesn’t comfortably seat much more than that. When we have guests, we eat in the dining room so our tall friends don’t have to suffer from my pillow addiction 🙂
Karen B. says
Kris,
How pretty it all looks! You really did a wonderful job and it’s all the little details that make it so inviting and liveable.
I love your banquet!
xo,
Karen
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Karen! We’re so happy to have our banquette back!
Carla says
It’s all so divine Kris. Love the eating nook and the honeycomb pendant light is heaven!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you so much Carla!!