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Light and Bright Kitchen Remodel with Marble and White Cabinets



If you read this post when I asked for your opinion if you were buying a house, I’m happy to report most everyone chose the white kitchen.  So thank y’all for that because it was the little push I needed to get my own project going. 


If you follow us on snapchat you’ve seen my day by day progress reports and know that my house is basically a disaster zone right now.  

Make sure to follow our Pinterest Design Board for inspo!

Follow Verbal Gold’s board VGB – Home on Pinterest.



I’ve learned so much from this process already.  From deciding if I could DIY to who to hire and making sure I hired the right person. Whew. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.  But that being said, I want to share all of that with you to save you time and energy. 


I know you want to hire a designer because making decisions is exhausting! I don’t think my fiancé could take answering another question that started with… do you like iron ore paint or tricorn black? should we get marble? caesarstone or quartz? frosty carrina or misty carrara? should we get marble? paint the existing cabinets or get new ones? repose gray or passive or gray owl? this fridge or that fridge? should we get marble? etc etc… blah blah blah…  Tiring right? Decisions decisions. Emotions emotions emotions…. can you tell I really wanted marble.But lucky for him… and me, I found Swatch Pop!  And wow did they save the day!  I just uploaded a photo and like magic an entire design plan was sent to me!


I was already thinking that I wanted to do a white but when my designer told me SW Alabaster was the color of the year I knew it was a good choice!

The first thing I did was collect some ideas on my pinterest vision board above.  Then I went to Floor & Decor to get some ideas of materials and check prices.  They definitely have the best prices in town!  I knew I wanted a giant farmhouse sink, subway tile, and marble.  Ah swoon.  It was so fun to go to the showroom.  They had room design layouts for inspiration and similar materials next to each other which is great to compare.  It was easy to go between big and regular size subway tile before making my decision.  You can also have same day pickup which is perfect for me!



I think picking the countertops was the hardest part.  Not only picking them but pricing out several companies, organizing a timeline, and trying to have them get back to you in a timely fashion.  I’d recommend getting 2-3 estimates and when they come over ask them to leave a sample.  Be sure to have them include a sink cutout and or new sink hookup in the estimate.  I’d also try to sell them back your old slabs or get a discount on removal.  It’s important they don’t leave out any details because there is nothing worse than being surprised with another charge half way in the reno.  


Make sure that when you’re selecting a countertop that you hold your backsplash up next to it and set it next to anything new going in the kitchen (like my new farmhouse sink).  That little trick really helped me make the final decision.  And thanks snapchat fam for all your input!

 

I really really really wanted marble but was so scared to get it because of the horror stories I heard about caring for it.  I searched and searched for marble alternatives and the ones below are the closest you will come to finding something similar but can withstand kitchen usage and don’t require any upkeep.  

 
Here they are next to my marble sample. 

 



The price for alternatives are more than marble (believe it or not) and the coloring isn’t perfect so I decided to just bite the bullet and go with marble.  If you have smaller islands or don’t need a big slab Floor & Decor has some really great prefab marble and quartz countertop options at a great price!  

Marble is what I really wanted after all and I don’t mind spraying a sealer on it every 6 months even though when you buy it they say the sealer will last 7 years.  You literally just wipe it down sealer just like you would with windex.  Wax on wax off.  It takes 10 seconds and it’s super easy so I’m okay with that. 


I had to get a jumbo slab because my island is 125″ in length.  

Before: 

 

 

no backsplash and no countertops
Progress update:  Subway tile and countertops are in!

 

 

 

 

much needed
Side by side: Subway tile backsplash and countertops are in and now the painting is in progress! 
I’m trying to add two custom spice cabinets to each side of the oven hood or an oven hood cover to bridge the cabinet gap.  If not, I can’t decide if I should take the tile all the way up to the ceiling.  All comments and opinions welcome!

Update: I’m so excited to have everything done!  

Sherwin Williams paint colors: 
walls – repose gray // island – iron ore // cabinets – alabaster

 



Follow along on snapchat to see the updates first! Username: Verbalgoldblog


So what do you guys think? I for one am never leaving my kitchen!

 

White and bright kitchen remodel theme. My process, before and afters and all my kitchen remodeling tips!