What Would We Change in Our Chicago Kitchen Renovation?

We finished the gut renovation of our Chicago kitchen two years ago. If we did it all over again, what would we change? Keep reading to find out!

Our Chicago Kitchen Renovation

In 2022, we kicked off what would become one of our most-involved renovations to date. Our kitchen renovation was completed just over two years ago in January of 2023. We’ve been living in it and enjoying it ever since. There are, however, a few tweaks we’d make if we did it again. A couple of these might surprise you, so be sure to read to the end!

Cabinets

Let’s start with cabinets! Cabinets are the backbone of any kitchen design. They support the countertops and sink, they hug the appliances and they hide the stuff. You really can’t have a kitchen without cabinets, right? Ours are flush inset with Madison door and drawer fronts from Cabinet Joint (email us for a 5% discount code!). They’re painted in a custom tone, Reddened Earth from Sherwin Williams.

We remain obsessed with the color, the finish and the door style. No notes there! Like, at all. The cabinets still look as great as the day we installed them. Of course, there have been a couple of tiny nicks in the paint in two-plus years of use. But! Cabinet Joint includes a paint touch up pen with your order to keep thinks looking fresh and polished.

The Change | If we had to make one change to the cabinet layout, we would have added at least one extra tall drawer. This would allow for our pots and pans to stack vertically for better organization. Since we didn’t plan well for this, we’ve been using these protectors so they can stack inside each other without damage. It’s working well for now, but we might keep playing with our organizational layout.

Layout

The overall layout of the kitchen might be the thing that we’re proudest of! We toiled over the flow of the space for months and months and tweaked it up until the last minute. In all, we only ended up with a few wasted inches of ‘filler’ space over each cabinet.

The Change | If we had to make one change to the layout, we would blame it directly on Costco. Let me explain; prior to finishing the space, we had never set foot inside a Costco. We were active Costco deniers. However, we were gifted a Costco membership last Christmas and my how the turn tables. We’re hooked. We’ve been purchasing lots of bulk pantry staples and we wish we had more storage space for dry goods. But! We might just have a solution in the works that will gain us more pantry space than we’ll ever know what to to with. Stay tuned for that.

Countertops

We absolutely love our honed black marble countertops. They’re gorgeous, sturdy and timeless. They do, however etch when acidic foods and drinks are left un-wiped. This absolutely, positively, seriously does not bother us though. We knew it would be the case and we embrace it. We’re firm believers in the fact that patina adds character.

The Change | If patina was more of a concern for us, we might have made the switch to soapstone countertops. We spec’d them in the Red House kitchen and we’re obsessed! So far, they’re holding up well and soapstone seems to give the look of marble without all of the etching. The etching doesn’t bother us, but it’s worth mentioning in case you’re considering the same for your kitchen!

Appliances

Our panel-ready kitchen appliances are fantastic and we love them. We went with Fisher & Paykel for the refrigerator, induction range and dishwasher. If there’s one thing we wish we could change on these three appliances it’s that we would have bought them one year later. But there’s not much we could have done about it!

The reason is that the range and fridge models both got major revisions for the following model year and every minor gripe we have with them was remedied. How do we know this? Because we loved them all so much that we spec’d them (in different sizes) at the Red House. They’ve all been improved in slight but meaningful ways. The fridge has more integrated LED lights to eliminate shadows and dark spots. The range operates more quietly and has a slimmer top bezel for a larger cooking surface. The dishwasher has improved guide wheels for smoother drawer movement. So, again, we love all of these appliances so much that we bought them all again. And on top of that, the new models are all improved, so we recommend them even more now.

The Change | If there’s one change we’d make, it’s in the only appliance that’s not from Fisher & Paykel. Our under-cabinet drawer fridge/freezer combo in the beverage station operates well, but we have two major gripes that annoy us. First, it simply doesn’t stay put! Every time the heavy drawers are pushed in or pulled out roughly, it shifts fractionally from its ‘perfect’ position. It doesn’t sound like much, but over the course of the day, we might find it 1/4 inch out of alignment. Sometimes even to the point that it rubs on the adjacent cabinets.

Second, since the divider in the middle of each drawer is fixed l, we haven’t found a good organizing system. So, if the drink you want to grab is on the bottom row, you better get to digging. We’ve researched the options since we purchased ours and it seems to still be the option, even given our grievances.

Note: for a deeper dive, check out our 6 month appliance review where we dive even deeper into our strong opinions!

Organization

The Change | No additional notes here! We love the way everything is laid out, mostly because we planned it that way for almost a year before we executed it.

Open Shelving

We love our open shelving, but we’d never have a kitchen without lots of cabinet and drawer storage. We use our open shelving for dishes and glassware that we use all day, every day. It allows for quick access while adding interest and texture to the space. That said, we have a warning; before you opt for open shelving, be honest with yourself. Do you like the look of your dishes and glassware? Does everything match? Do you trust yourself to put things back exactly where they belong? If the answer to any of these questions is no, open shelving might not be for you. We use it as a functional styling moment, but we also design spaces as a full time job and we work from home, so we’re able to dedicate the (small bit of) necessary time to keep it looking tidy.

The Change | We wouldn’t change a thing! Although, as we mentioned, open shelving probably isn’t for everyone.

Hardware and Metal Finishes

We’re obsessed with all of our metal finishes from our friends at Rejuvenation. The combination of ball knobs, large format appliance handles and cute little latches really feels collected and intentional at the same time. Unlacquered brass looks great in so many scenarios and we’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

The Change | The only change we’d make is to speed up the aging process on our unlacquered brass knobs and pulls! We love the lived-in look and sometimes we’re a bit impatient.

Beverage Station

We challenged ourselves to cram the maximum amount of function into less than 36″ of countertop space and we think we really delivered. The pull out liquor (and tea and syrup and drink mix) cabinet holds a shocking amount of bottles and mixes and tinctures and we rarely want for more storage. We turned what would have been around 3 linear feet of additional cabinetry into one of the most-used workstations of the entires kitchen.

The Change | Besides the fridge that we mentioned earlier, the only thing we might change with our beverage station is to make the countertop butcher block drink prep station a little bit larger. If we could extend the width by 4 – 6 inches, it would give us enough additional workspace that we’d never have to spill over onto the countertop when batching coffees or cocktails. That said, we made the workspace from a scrap of butcher block leftover from another project, so it cost us $0. If we ever find just the right piece, we may upgrade one day, but it’s not a rush.

Table in Kitchen

We’re not anti-kitchen island, but we are definitely pro-kitchen table! We think kitchen islands have their place, especially when the layout allows for it. Galley kitchens like ours, though, often feel forced and broken up when there’s an island in the middle. Instead, we opted for a small round table that doesn’t impede the workflow nearly as much as an average-sized island would. Granted, we definitely lost a bit of storage space, since most islands are made from cabinets, but we make it work!

The Change | We wouldn’t change anything with the small round table! It seats 3 comfortably and 4 cozily and it’s perfect for our small power trio of a family. It does sometimes feel a little cramped when the kitchen starts filling up, but we usually suggest that the festivities shift to the dining table when the kitchen gets crowded and everyone gets the hint.

Magnetic Art Gallery Door

Finding this vintage door hidden inside a wall during demo was an absolute game changer! It had a huge hole cut into it, but we found the missing piece and tapped our favorite woodworking team to repair it for us. Since we needed a narrow door for the HVAC closet, it was absolutely meant for a second shot at life and now it brings us so much joy on so many levels.

The Change | If there’s one change we’d make to the magnetized door, we’d find a way to make the magnetic force stronger. We’re not sure if additional coats of magnetic paint would help, or if there’s a stronger version available, but when the back door is open in warmer weather a strong gust can sometimes knock larger pieces of art to the floor. That said, we’re not changing anything cause it delights us every day!

Get The Look

We’ve gotten a lot of questions about kitchen sources recently, so we pulled together a fresh ‘Get the Look’ styling sheet so all of the answers are in one handy place!

1. double sconce | 2. single sconce | 3. scalloped baskets | 4. black marble countertops | 5. madison style cabinets | 6. pix bianco tiles | 7. drawer pulls | 8. ball knobs | 9. appliance pulls | 10. cupboard latches | 11. orange tall glasses | 12. amber glass mugs | 13. gold rim coupe glasses | 14. pendant light | 15. faucet | 16. sink | 17. glass rinser | 18. wooden knock box | 19. amber glass soap dispenser | 20. oil dispenser | 21. espresso machine | 22. pot filler faucet | 23. induction range | 24. toaster | 25. dining chairs | 26. mini lamp | 27. marble dining table | 28 rug (similar)

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Looking for more info about this kitchen? Here’s where this renovation started, why we re-worked our entire HVAC system, how we lived without a kitchen for multiple months, the kitchen layout, and why we went with a table instead of an island

And here are a few more posts about our other kitchen designs: Here’s the Red House kitchen reveal, the Two Flat Unit 1 kitchen reveal, the Two Flat Unit 2 kitchen reveal, the Two Flat kitchenette reveal, and the Tree House kitchen reveal