If you’re new around here, welcome. I’m Diana, and my husband and I packed up our new baby and SC home almost a year ago and moved to a quaint, cozy home in East Tennessee. We’ve been working hard since then to make this home our own all while being new parents. Welcome to week 4 of the One Room Challenge where I’m sharing our DIY modern, vintage-inspired kitchen. Here’s the progress from the previous weeks (week one, week two, week three).
Taking It to the Next Level
There’s been a lot of hard work to get our dated 90s kitchen to the state it’s in today (post links below). From the wallpaper to the cabinet painting and the tile, we’ve done it all ourselves in order to make my vision a reality within a budget we’re willing and capable to put into our kitchen. Just because it’s a budget-friendly, DIY kitchen doesn’t mean it has to appear that way. There’s one item that I believe took our kitchen to the next level. It’s also the one thing that we did not do ourselves.
Week 2 | How to Paint Cabinets with Clay-Based Paint
Week 3 | Removing Tile and Prepping Walls for New Tile
(Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by eFaucets, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.)
One of the most used and most noticeable features in a kitchen is the faucet, but faucets can often be dismissed for the most affordable option when renovating a kitchen. Choosing a beautiful, classic, shiny faucet can instantly make a kitchen feel updated and high-end.
Side note: We don’t mess with plumbing in our house. It’s one of the few things we hire out for a trained professional. A leak can ruin your entire house! It’s well worth it to plan for a plumber in our reno budget.
Choosing a Faucet
Faucets can vary in price anywhere from $150 to over $1,000, but you certainly don’t have to go anywhere near that higher price to find a stunning faucet. A few features that make a faucet and your kitchen appear more high-end are:
1. Finish
Polished nickel will more than likely never go our of style. It has a nice shine with a warmer undertone than chrome. It’s my go-to when choosing most metals. It also mixes well with most other metals like brass, black, and bronze. Chrome is also a popular option for modern spaces. It has a cooler tone than polished nickel. If you’re looking for something unique and worldly, go with vintage brass / rubbed brass like my friend Nicole at The Inspired Hive. It’s so gorgeous and will truly make a stunning statement in your space.
2. Shape
If you have the space, a higher neck faucet is not only practical for large pots and pans, it’s also gives your space height and dimension that a shorter faucet lacks. You will also want to think about the style of your kitchen. Since I’m going with more of a modern yet lived-in, vintage vibe, I chose a faucet with a modern, sleek neck with beautiful curved details. In our modern South Carolina kitchen, I went with a sleek, modern chrome faucet that had zero detail, but it fit the style of the rest of our space.
3. Function
There are several types of faucets and accessories to choose from. I personally love the practicality and simplicity of a single pull down faucet like this one or this one, but since we kept our countertops and had a filtered water dispenser already, it changed my plan. I went with a regular faucet with a coordinator sprayer and water dispenser. The set of three makes my sink area more of a design feature than just a necessity.
Sources
A BIG thanks to my One Room Challenge Sponsors
