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We have been dreaming up our kitchen for over a year at this point. Next year, we should be months away from building and ready to start executing. I thought it’d be fun to post my current ideas for our kitchen and call out which have been consistent and which have evolved over time.

The flooring and the paint color will match the rest of the house since like 99% of other new homes, we will have an open floor plan. It makes sense that those haven’t changed (although the specific type of wood and specific paint color may change).

We just recently had the idea to make the side wall cabinets (full height) match the wall (white) instead of the rest of the cabinetry (black). So that’s new! Thanks to my Sketchup Pro software, I realized the tall black cabinetry just looked so harsh for that long of a run.

I have always wanted the white fluting on the island. I think it’s so fun and gives it charm. I was very much inspired by modern Australian kitchen designs when choosing this feature.

With lighting, I have always liked the vintage look. I think we’ll go with Etsy to find something more unique.

The white fluted sink was a recent development! Where I live, rustic is what a lot of people go for however it just doesn’t speak to me personally. I never thought I’d get a farm sink, but calling it an apron front sink makes it more appealing for my particular style. I think it should make cleaning a little easier, too?

The cabinets along the back of the kitchen have always been matte black and likely will be slab front with little detailing (slim shaker at most).

Marble as you can tell by this blog name, was a must. We have looked at countless countertops at CKF, a slab yard, Nebraska Furniture Mart, and all of the home improvement stores. For us personally, we need marble in the kitchen somewhere. We’ll likely go with a waterfall island of Super White Marble (or similar) and a slab backsplash of the same on the back wall. We know it isn’t that durable, which is why our perimeter counter will be a different material. We were interested in a white countertop for the back wall, but I’ve been eyeing the dark grey/soft blacks lately thanks to an episode in season 4 of Dream Home Makeover. This is where material is more flexible for us. We’ll probably go with whatever is the best price. Soapstone, quartz, granite, solid surface, anything works as long as it’s durable and is a matte, dark surface.

Isn’t it dreamy?! I love it. Brandon and I cook together almost every night, so we’re very excited to have a bigger kitchen. My favorite thing is that most things are in drawers. I’m 5’3″ and I’m tired of lugging around the step stool. We currently don’t have a dishwasher and while it’s not a big deal to hand wash, it does take time out of our day.

Because this blog is new, I will sneak in some purchases from 2021 that have been well worth the money!

Home Favorites

My whole life, I’d never had a dresser with drawers that slid easily or on a track. I bought my first dresser from Marshalls when I lived on my own, but unfortunately I only tested out the first couple drawers before I hauled it home. The bottom drawers did not slide easily, and it was a huge bummer to spend money on something that didn’t work well. Last year, we decided to go with the light wood MALM dresser. It looked modern, and the drawers slid nice. It took us 3 trips to IKEA to get it (1. not in stock, 2. appeared available but inventory was not updated to show it was out of stock, 3. we finally just did a store pickup!), and it has been worth every penny. I keep all of my clothes in there except for my nicer shirts.

When I lived on my own, a single pod Keurig was great for just me. I tend to max out at two coffees, while Brandon will drink 12 cups in one day! When I moved in with him, it was not cost effective to keep using the coffee pods, but I wasn’t ready to switch to just using his coffee pot (or keep both – small kitchen here!). We decided to get rid of the coffee pot, box up the single cup Keurig for a future kitchenette, and invest in this Keurig that does both pots and pods. Overall, we save so much money (and waste!) by having the pot available for Brandon. We also recently hooked up the tank to the water line, which has been a major time saver! We haven’t filled our Keurig in a week!

This one is kind of odd, but it has been well worth the money. We live by a timber, and we get a lot of spiders, bugs, and even cockroaches.. There are literally spider burrows in our backyard that house large wolf spiders. I honestly didn’t want to spend money on fixing the indoor bug/spider issue because we plan on tearing this house down (I’ll explain in another post), but I drew the line at finding two big black spiders in our pillow cases. The Orkin person comes by every couple months and sprays our house. Even though our house is older, falling apart, and not well sealed, the spray works very well. We hardly find bugs or spiders in the house anymore.

We plan on building a new house and are loving the design process. We aren’t working directly with a builder yet, but hopefully soon. In the meantime, we are doing the best we can to get our ideas solidified to avoid future delays due to indecision or change orders. I know there is a lot of maintenance involved with marble, but we were struggling to find a shower tile we liked. I kept walking by this tile in Floor & Decor and finally Brandon convinced me to just buy it (and the matching pencil trim of course!). We love this tile. We have it propped up against the wall in our hallway, and we touch it every time we go past. It helps keep us excited and motivated for the new house while we’re still in this waiting phase.

Due to our location and the house not being airtight, we get the occasional mouse. We tend to get one every few months, but once we notice the signs (no mouse ‘evidence’ needed, the cats sitting in the kitchen will tell us), we put out the trap and catch a mouse within 1-2 days. I highly recommend these mouse traps. Brandon had used snap traps in the past with little luck. When I moved in, I wanted a safer trap for both the mouse and my cats’ well being. Once the mouse is caught, we release it at least a couple miles from our house. Now there is hardly any stress involved with getting rid of a mouse.

Beauty Favorites

I got this oil to help maximize hair growth before my wedding next summer. It’s a great price for how long it lasts. I tend to put the oil on my scalp before my home workout and then shampoo/condition like normal afterwards. It is a little messy to apply, but I don’t mind since I shower shortly after applying.

Easy to apply, leaves my skin super soft. Does not irritate my skin like other lotions.

Dupe for the Curology rich moisturizer! I have sensitive skin that does not like most moisturizers. This works great.

Set it and forget it – but with your hair! Dries my hair (and keeps it out of the way!) while I get ready after a shower.

Very big purchase! I had braces as a kid, but I stopped wearing my retainers after a while. Long story short, they didn’t fit after I lost them and it felt pointless to wear them when they weren’t fitting as they should. Honestly though, my teeth stayed aligned almost perfectly (my dentist even said he couldn’t tell I didn’t wear my retainers!) until my remaining wisdom teeth came down. I can 100% confirm that wisdom teeth can mess up your bite and alignment! After removing all of my remaining wisdom teeth, I went through a 10 week Invisalign process over the summer. It was pretty easy and went by fast. I’m glad I did it before my teeth got more expensive to correct.

Favorite Recipes

Biscuit Topped Chickpea Pot Pie

Instant Pot Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

Homemade Spaghetti Os

Vegan Mushroom Risotto

Burgers (Black Bean Burgers for me) and Potato Wedges