One Room Challenge Kitchen Reveal - See the Transformation

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | The Reveal

The Fall 2021 One Room Challenge by Better Homes and Gardens officially ended during the last week of November and we ALMOST made it to the finish line. With the hectic holidays and kids out of school I didn’t get to write the final post.

But now it’s 2022 and I finally have the reveal for you.

In the end, we transformed our kitchen in 10 weeks! We changed almost EVERYTHING from top to bottom.

Over the next few posts, I’ll share all the details including materials used, tips, tricks, and very importantly for anyone thinking about refreshing your kitchen..the project plan and general costs!

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For those that don’t want words and are thinking ‘just show me the photos!’, I’ve got you covered, check out the Before and After Gallery:

But if you want all the juicy content please continue..

In today’s post I’ll cover:

Timelessly Modern – Organically Yin & Yang

If you’ve been following, you know I’m all about creating timeless yet modern spaces. That’s my first principle. But just as important is creating a unique but cohesive space for the individuals living in the home – which means no cookie cutter designs! I want you to live in a space that speaks to your soul – that makes you want to stay awhile.

For our kitchen, I created what I like to call organic Yin and Yang. What that heck do I mean?!

Yin and Yang is all about balance and harmony. Balancing opposing natures to create health & prosperity. Essentially it’s the idea that opposites attract – and are therefore interconnected. Beautiful dynamics are created through this juxtaposition.

• Light and Dark

• Cool and Warm

• Hard and Soft

• Round and Straight

What do you think?

Organic design is enhancing the beauty of natural elements (wood, stone, metal, earth) in a minimalist manner that creates openness and warmth. It’s optimizing for simple clean lines with functionality in mind – everything is designed with a purpose – just how nature intended.

With that introduction on my design inspiration, I’d love to welcome you to my timeless yet modern Yin and Yang kitchen. Let’s begin!

Wood Floors – European White Oak

I wrote extensively about why we chose engineered European White Oak in Week 3 – so read about it at One Room Challenge: Floors Are Done

Here’s a recap on why we chose an engineered floor:

• It’s slightly more affordable than solid hardwood
• It’s not fake wood – it’s a thin layer of your our selected species of solid hardwood on top and then layers of plywood underneath
• It’s less prone to natural movement due to weather, temperature and humidity changes because of how it’s manufactured with all the tight layers of construction
• You can still get 1 or 2 refinishes out of it if you want to correct damage or update the stain
• It can last 20 – 30 yrs with proper maintenance

We ended up with 7 1/2″ wide planks in Champagne from Allwood.

According to Allwood, “Champagne is a lightly charactered European Oak, engineered, hardwood flooring with a subtle finish. The “ghost” finish gives the floor a neutral color that compliments the clean, sharp lines.”

The ‘ghost’ finish means that the wood leans cooler with a touch of grey.

White oak is timeless yet versatile and will never go out of style. It’s light look creates airiness and brightness, making a space look more expansive. If I decide to change things up in the future, I can feel safe that my floors will still look good.

In addition, lighter floors show less dings, scratches and dirt than darker floors, so functionality wise – it’s perfect. Here’s what we use and what we do to care for our floors and keep them spotless – a little each day is all it takes.

Countertops and Backsplash

I just can’t get enough of our waterfall island. I love the quartz we selected and wrote extensively about why we chose Unique Statuario Gold from Compac – so read all about it at It’s all coming together – Countertops are in.

Here’s a recap on why we chose quartz:

• Durable, non-porous, heat and scratch/ding resistant
• Low maintenance – not requiring special cleaners or sealants
• The look of marble with flowing veins
• Warm white color to match our existing marble chevron backsplash along the perimeter of the kitchen
• Availability of large slab size to decrease the amount of visible seams

Our island is centrally located and is facing the open walkway so it’s seen from almost all angles downstairs. It looks especially alluring at night with our under cabinet lighting.

In this closeup you can see the veining is very natural with slight gold, brown and grey tints. It’s a warm white that complements the warm white cabinets, brass hardware and light floors.

Surprise! We also have another little waterfall edge actually! Our second waterfall is here on the corner. You can see it peaking out as you walk towards the pantry and coffee/tea station. This small enhancement makes the kitchen feel even more special.

Countertop Measurements

Our island countertops look thicker with a 2 1/4″ edge while our perimeter countertops are more standard at 1 1/2″.

Why? The island is quite large (150″ x 58″) and to help it look more grounded and substantive we made it thicker. By making the edge width 2 1/4″ it would also match the width of the sides of our shaker cabinet drawer rails.

Something you probably don’t notice with the naked eye but hopefully can feel the symmetry when you walk into the kitchen. It’s the small details, right? 🙂

Seams

There are no seams on our island countertop – It’s one large slab.

There are no visible seams on our backplash behind the kitchen stove. It looks like one large slab too.

The seam is hidden behind the walnut beams.

However, for our perimeter countertop, the slab was not long enough so we had no choice but to have a seam. Book match or Vein match?

Book match is when the ends of the veins look like mirrors of each other. Some people like it for the symmetry.

Others think book match looks like the Rorschach inkblot test – you know the one where you either see butterflies or female anatomical parts?

Vein match is when the vein looks like it continues on like a flowing river.

We decided to vein match to get that rambling brook look.

Cabinets – Shaker Style Can Be Every Style

I’m a fan of Shaker cabinets because of their simplicity and versatility – they can be classic and modern depending on your styling/decor.

Our long wall of Swiss Coffee painted Shaker cabinets feel traditional with the decor and marble chevron backsplash but the black ceiling adds a surprising modern touch. It’s just enough difference to make the space stand-out.

You’ll notice the smaller upper drawers are flat panel – just one piece of wood because having a 2 1/4″ border on these drawers would leave a tiny recessed section that could barely fit my satin brass cup pulls.

I like that these top drawers look like little envelopes – with the pulls positioned just slightly above center of the drawer!

That’s it for this week. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Over the next few posts, I’ll share even more details including materials used, tips, tricks, and very importantly for anyone thinking about refreshing your kitchen..the project plan and general costs!

Need help getting out of analysis paralysis to make your dream kitchen a reality? Let me help you!

The gap between dreams and reality is called action. Mind the gap.

Up Next..more topics I’ve written or will write soon..

Hardware – The Ultimate Cabinet Hardware Guide

Faucets and Sinks – Break the Rules and Mix and Match (coming soon!)

Paint – Getting Dual Tones Right (coming soon!)

Kitchen Storage Ideas – All about the Modern Day Appliance Garage

Kitchen Hood Glow Up – How to Transform your Traditional Kitchen Hood into a Modern Masterpiece

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The original sketch – dreams can become reality! Let me help you too!

Questions? Design Help? Ask Me Anything!

Interested in the entire journey? Read all the One Room Challenge Posts

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | The Reveal