Aga Elise Range Review

It’s been about 6 months since we had our range hooked up as part of the big kitchen reno. I’ve had a lot of questions and comments about our show-stopper range so I wanted to do a review. So here you go, an in-depth Aga Elise range review from my perspective. I’m addressing some of the questions I’ve recieved and added some of my own.

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Aga Elise Range Review

What range is that?

We have an Aga Elise 5-element, dual-fuel range in matte black. It features a true convection oven, a 7-mode multi-function oven and a pull-out broiler. Aga’s have been around since the 1920s. The first models were cast iron and were the worlds first ever heat-storage cookers. They were invented in Sweden but manufacturing moved to England in the 1930s where they gained popularity. The original cast-iron versions of the Aga (like the one below) are still made today and come in a variety of color options.… Read more

What Our Kitchen Renovation Cost

I have been meaning to share what our kitchen renovation cost since we finished a few months ago. Although the post is titled “kitchen renovation cost” it includes the kitchen as well as the areas adjacent to the kitchen that we renovated simultaneously (the powder room, mudroom, and wet bar we added). Some of the renovation expenses were not limited to just the kitchen (drywall and flooring for example). I separate expenses by room where possible, but keep in mind we were renovating several “rooms” with many expenses spanning across more than one.

What Our Kitchen Renovation Cost

Construction Costs:

Equipment Rentals (dumpsters, scissor lift) $1700
Floor Removal $2400
AC Ductwork Modifications $2400
Engineer $400
Plumbing $3500
Propane Tank Install & Fill $3600
Drywall $6200
Msc Building Supplies & Materials $5000

Total = $25,200

The construction phase of our project was long and very involved, hence higher costs in this area. Remember, we re-routed plumbing in our foundation, removed old flooring, moved walls, re-ran a significant amount of electrical, etc. We did a ton of labor ourselves saving us thousands.… Read more

A Look Inside our IKEA Kitchen Cabinets

We finished our kitchen remodel a few months ago and one of the questions I was asked was how we organized our kitchen cabinets. So today I’m sharing a look inside our IKEA kitchen cabinets!

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my link, I may receive a small commission for the referral at no additional cost to you.

We used IKEA’s SEKTION line with Semihandmade doors. I opted for mostly drawer storage with very few traditional cabinets with shelves. We have no upper cabinets in our main galley kitchen area and opted instead for two open shelves on either side of the range. I did add two upper cabinets in the wet bar for stemware storage. The IKEA cabinets have proven to be great! For anyone that is skeptical, I highly recommend them. My favorite feature of the IKEA cabinets is the drawer within the top drawer. You’ll see what I mean. Another great feature is the soft close, which is pretty standard now but after living in our outdated kitchen for two years it was a noticeable and welcome improvement.… Read more

How to Install Kitchen Floating Shelves

I knew pretty early in designing our kitchen that I didn’t want to do any upper cabinets, with the exception of the wet bar. Instead, I opted for floating shelves on either side of the range. Today I’m sharing how to install kitchen floating shelves.

Our shelves were installed over the backsplash tile using these floating shelf brackets (affiliate link). They have two sizes depending on the depth of your shelves. Our shelves are 11″ deep – I wanted to be able to store dishes on them – so we used the large floating shelf brackets.

How to Install Kitchen Floating Shelves

First, I used painters tape to mark out where I wanted the shelves to be. I adjusting the tape a couple of times over a few days until I was happy with the placement. Originally, I planned on 2 sets of shelves on either side of the range hood but after installing one we decided to stop there fearing two on each side would look too busy. Hubby was relieved since installation proved to be challenging.

Using a laser level, mark pilot holes for the brackets.… Read more

The Reveal: Our Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel

Hi friends! It’s finally here, the unveiling of our finished farmhouse kitchen remodel! I introduced the project to you back in July, which is when we kicked off demo. We finished the kitchen in December so in total, it took us 5 months. Words can’t express how happy I am to have a new kitchen and how excited I am to finally share it!!

Before we jump in, here’s a look back at all of the kitchen-related blog posts along the way that document the design and construction process:

Let’s start with a before image, shall we? The transformation of this space is insane and I must remind you what it looked like when we started: tile countertops, dropped ceilings, a weird build-out, all that orange-y wood and funky angles.

Here’s what it looks like now!

We’ve come a long way, huh?!?! The kitchen is a lot more open, brighter and way more functional. It is overall a happier space to be in and is perfect for entertaining.… Read more

The Reveal: Our Wet Bar/Coffee Bar

It’s here folks! This week I’m finally unveiling our big kitchen remodel! I’ve already shared the other areas we did as part of the kitchen remodel including the mudroom and powder room, and today I’m sharing our wet bar.

You may recall that mid-way through the remodel and design process we reconfigured the area off of the kitchen, which prior to the remodel included a coat closet, the powder room, pantry and an office nook. We moved walls and changed the footprint but something wasn’t feeling quite right. Then it dawned on me to carve out a little nook for a wet bar/coffee bar. I loved the idea of having a designated area for our bar stuff and to reduce the foot traffic in the kitchen when entertaining. I pulled some inspiration and developed a design plan for the wet bar, which I laid out in this post.

Here’s a look back at the area during construction.

The Wet Bar Reveal!

Finally, here’s what our wet bar/coffee bar looks like now.

The wet bar is small but mighty. It’s about 58″ wide and has a mini fridge, a sink with a faucet and hot water dispenser, drawers that house coffee and tea accouterments, bar accessories and 15-20 liquor bottles.… Read more

The Reveal: Our Powder Room with Statement Wall Tile

Alright, guys, it’s time for the reveal of our powder room with statement wall tile!! But first, be sure to check out the other powder room blog posts for more on the construction and design process:

Powder Room Construction

No reveal is complete without a few before images!

Remember this gem? The powder room was previously very outdated, had one heck of a horrible paint job and was overflowing with orange-y wood. The sink and matching mirror had painted ivy detailing and the vanity top was tile. Very stylish, huh?

In order to create a little more space for us in the area off of the kitchen as a whole, we decided to eliminate the coat closet that was behind the powder room, shift the room over and reconfigure the layout. You can see in the photo below where there was previously a wall.

Since we relocated the powder room and changed the floorplan, we had to jackhammer into the foundation to move the plumbing. At this time we added the plumbing lines for the wet bar that now exists adjacent to the powder room.… Read more

How we Built a Step Around the Living Room

Remember the pony wall we used to have around our sunken living room? We removed the wall last year but after demolition, we were left with a big, hazardous step that we had to address before our new flooring (as part of the kitchen reno) could be installed. In the end, we built an additional step around the living room to create two code-friendly steps.

Pony Wall Removal and the Big Step that Remained

The pony wall served no real purpose other than making the large open living area of our house look dated. I hated the wall since we first saw the house so it had to go. We demolished it last year and I blogged all about it here.

half wall between kitchen and living room removal

As you can see, after demolishing the pony wall, we were left with a huge 10″ drop down into the living room which is a safety hazard and code violation. Originally, our plan was to hire a concrete removal company and remove a chunk of the 10″ step in line with the lower, pre-existing step, to extend it all the way around the room.… Read more

Our Small Farmhouse Mudroom Reveal

Happy New Year, friends! Today is the first reveal of our big renovation of the kitchen and the area off of the kitchen and we’re starting with the reveal of our farmhouse mudroom!

Remember the plan to convert this little office nook to a mudroom? Prior to our renovation, we had a small office nook immediately off of the side door entrance of our house. I decided to convert the area to a small mudroom entryway. Here’s a look at what it looked like before and after demo.

As you can see on the image above, we completely demolished the area, including the walls. We actually moved the exposed wall to the right, toward the window about 2 feet to create a little extra space on the other side for the pantry and wet bar (more on that later).

Here’s a look back at my farmhouse mudroom design plan from when I first introduced the project:

I wanted to define the mudroom area with hexagon tile, panel the walls, add built-in locker storage, replace the side door with a dutch door and finish off the space with vintage furnishings and accessories.… Read more

2019 Project Outlook

Earlier this week I shared our 2018 project recap and now I’m going to talk a little about what we plan to accomplish in 2019.

This year we have a lot planned for the exterior of our home and the yard.

Front Porch: Our front wrap-around-porch needs some love. We plan to replace the drywall on the ceiling with a beadboard or similar type of paneling, paint it a fun color and install new ceiling fans. We need to seal the wood porch flooring and I would also like to replace our wood steps with brick masonry steps.

Landscaping – We plan to finish the landscaping around the house, which basically is just planting plants since we installed all of the rock last year.
Garden – This year we want to start a garden! We’ve been wanting to do this for a while but last year we just didn’t get to it. We want to fence in a large area in the back yard and install several raised garden beds. I also want to move our chicken coop into the garden area.

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Aga Elise Range Review

What Our Kitchen Renovation Cost

How to Install Kitchen Floating Shelves

The Wet Bar Reveal!

Powder Room Construction

Pony Wall Removal and the Big Step that Remained