Finally, let's talk about the jewelry of the space, so to speak, the shiny things that your eye is drawn to. Initially we were going to keep our jumbo 42" wide porcelain sink that was original to the house but did I mention my measuring technique? I didn't factor the sink into the design. The 36" wide Ikea base cabinet wasn't gonna be holding that big sink. We let go of the dream and I bought a single basin stainless steel from Lowe's. This one came with extras though to make it a two basin sink if needed. A colander and cutting board that fit in round out the package for a really cool sink. And right above that sink is a gorgeous pendant light.
(The window still needs one more piece of casing, and the drywall patches need a sand down and paint but that's coming soon!)
In Columbia, everyone knows One Eared Cow, a glassblowing company that makes incredible pieces. I didn't think I'd be able to have one of their pieces for my very own, much less a custom piece, but as a friend told me, "What's three to four hundred bucks in the grand scheme of the kitchen costs if it's what you want?" I agreed, because I did want to infuse my big box kitchen with lots of local artists in an accessible way. Once my granite countertops were installed, I pulled colors from it to have the custom pendant made. My inspiration was this warm glass pendant I'd pinned on Pinterest except I asked for more garnet and just a hint of blue and black and pink and lavender ever so lightly threaded throughout the piece. It sounds like a monstrosity written down but...
It looks like Jupiter!
Another shiny light I picked up was this golden-copper piece from Ikea. It's what we use as a night light in the kitchen and it warms up the buffet area nicely without being overwhelming. It is super glued to high heaven on the backside though because in my Ikea induced haze, I didn't think to check the piece before buying it and it was definitely cracked pretty heavily when I opened it up, 90 miles away. The crackle effect on the piece hides it well though, and this light isn't intended to move ever, so it's holding up just fine.
That's about all I can think of to say about this kitchen, except that if you really want something, go for it. Next up, I'll show ya'll the horizontal things that hold our non-essential kitchen goodies.
Check out my previous post on the kitchen renovation too, and once I spend some time getting everything in order this weekend I'll take full shots of the whole space, plus info and resources in another post.