A Clean and Inviting Island Home

After months of silence, I am back on the blog.  Lots had happened in the past few months. My oldest son graduated from high school. We spent two months traveling in the summer (possibly topics for future posts). We also have been quite busy with a little project in the past six months: we bought a house and renovated it from head to toe.  

The property is located in beautiful Kailua, my home town, and when we bought it together with my friend Debbie and her husband Brian, it was in less then perfect shape.  In fact, I called it "the icky house".  It was in dire need of help.  After six months of renovations, the house is all done, and looks perfect, inside and out.  

The inspiration for the house was a clean and neutral beach look, with driftwood colored floors, grey tiles and creamy white walls (Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee).

In the center of the home is the brand new kitchen. Its layout was completely rearranged, walls got knocked down and we created a large island.

We chose a light color palette for the kitchen and baths, with custom grey cabinets (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter) with white speckled quartz countertops. Stainless steel appliances finish the look.

  To the left of the refrigerator and pull out pantry shelves is a desk area created with the same quartz as the kitchen countertops.

To the right of  the entrance from the garage, there is a small mudroom and a laundry room, and to the left is the kitchen.  The main entry to the home is on the right side of the photo above.

Delta Cassidy faucets and accessories were used in the kitchen and the baths. 

White subway tile, custom grey cabinets, quartz countertops and Delta faucets in both bathrooms. The house had 1.5 baths originally, we upgraded it to two full baths.

Grey slate in the entryway.

The complete renovation of the property included full landscaping. We added tropical  plants, including banana trees, regraded the back yard and installed a lawn.  I am happy to say we managed to stay in budget and finished only a few days after the projected finish date.  Overall, it was a great experience.