Cottage Kitchen Updates: Roundup of Changes in My Cottage Inspired Kitchen

Many changes have been made in my kitchen space over the past several months! Today I want to highlight all of the recent projects we have tackled in my English Cottage inspired kitchen!

Hello friends! Recently a comment was made over on my YouTube channel about my kitchen and all of the updates we have made recently. As I pondered this comment, I realized we really have made so much progress in our kitchen lately, and I thought I would take the time to write a post all about the kitchen updates we have made.

Our journey began by replacing the black corian countertops that were installed by the previous owner of our home with honed granite countertops. While I absolutely loved the new kitchen counters, I quickly realized they clashed with our slate flooring. We decided to tear up the slate flooring and replace it with wood floors to match the rest of our home! Finally, we completed our kitchen updates with a custom built, English Cottage inspired vent hood.

Whew! A lot has changed in my kitchen design and I feel so incredibly blessed to have a kitchen that is truly a dream space for me to cook and bake in. I do not take our kitchen renovation for granted; I know for many homeowners, updating their kitchen is a bucket list item that can often be put on the back burner due to lack of time and funds. I am so blessed to have this blog that allows me the time and resources to make my design dreams a reality.

Even though all of these changes have been made recently, please don’t feel discouraged about slow progress in your own home. I waited nearly ten years before we made any really big changes in our kitchen. Yes, we have completed some smaller projects along the way like our subway tile backsplash, and have installed a few new appliances such as our stove and sink. However, there are many changes I wanted to make but had to be patient and practice thankfulness for what I did have while I waited!

Cottage Kitchen Updates: Honed Granite Countertops

A project I had to practice patience and gratitude with was our countertops. The previous owner of our home had them installed before he listed the home, so they were brand new when we moved in! Honestly, the black corian counters served us well for many years and they certainly looked aesthetically pleasing compared to other options.

However, over the course of a decade of use, they started to show a lot of wear and tear. You could see every scratch and because corian had a gloss finish, you could also see every smudge and fingerprint on them. I wanted to replace them with something that was more durable, as well as something that had more of a cottage look to it.

I researched many options before finally deciding on honed granite. I love natural materials in my cottage-style kitchen, but soapstone counters were a little out of my price range. I’m so thankful I came across honed granite as a suitable alternative to soapstone!

After having them for a few months, I’m still as much in love with them as when we got them installed! They have a beautiful, natural stone look and are so durable! They hide imperfections well and are scratch resistant. Plus, they are a breeze to clean!

Cottage Kitchen Updates: Red Oak Flooring

Once the honed granite was installed, there was something off in my kitchen and I quickly realized that the slate flooring seemed to clash with the new counters. The slate flooring was also installed before we moved in, and it really is an excellent flooring option!

I love the original hardwood flooring throughout my home and I have always dreamed of extending the hardwood into my kitchen. After realizing the honed granite did not flow well with the slate flooring, I knew it was time to make that dream a reality!

We were very fortunate to find cabin grade red oak flooring as we found it at an incredible rate of $1.29/sq. ft. at an overstock hardware store about three hours from our home. They helped us load it up and we were able to purchase everything we needed for our kitchen for just over $200!

Tearing up the slate floors and installing the hardwood was a labor of love, but so worth it in the end! We ended up staining the floors with a combination of Aged Wheat by Varathane lightened by 50% with Mineral Spirits to match the rest of the flooring in our home. I love how the honed granite looks with the red oak flooring!

Cottage Kitchen Updates: English Cottage Vent Hood

The final project in our big kitchen renovation was our vent hood! Our vent hood has really gone through a major transformation over the years; it started as a microwave hood and then became a reclaimed beam with a ventless unit installed underneath. However, I really wanted the charm of English Cottage architecture in my kitchen, and wanted the focal point of my white kitchen to be a beautiful custom built vent hood.

I drew inspiration from homes with a plaster vent or range hood and wanted to recreate the look in my own home. We were also able to entirely use materials we already had, so this project cost us $0! We started by removing the cabinetry above the stove as we never really used them for anything other than occasional storage. We also removed the crown molding and eventually replaced that with reclaimed wood.

Next we framed out the vent hood and used beadboard to create our desired slope shape. I then primed the beadboard and covered it in plaster. The plaster dried a really pretty grayish cream shade so I didn’t feel the need to pick out any paint colors for it. I absolutely love how it turned out, especially with the warmth of the wood accents. Now I’m debating tearing out the rest of the cupboards around the vent hood and installing open shelves.

There are also a few smaller changes I have made, like updating the light fixture and hanging some window treatments above our farmhouse sink. I also changed the cabinet pulls to these vintage brass/bronze handles that add so much more character and charm than the old pulls. I added a pretty striped jute rug that accents the red oak flooring beautifully.

Well friends, that’s the full overview of all of our kitchen updates that have been made recently! I am so happy with how everything came together, and I feel very blessed to finally have my dream kitchen! What do you think about the updates we have made? Let me know in the comments below!

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