When Angela and Matt Bartosic purchased their house last year, they had higher hopes for the outdated kitchen.
To cultivate a kitchen space that fit their family's lifestyle, the Bartosics met with Kitchen & Bath Tune-Up Columbus designer, Sheri Knapke, who has designed more than 350 renovations. Under Knapke's guidance, Angela began planning major changes to the kitchen. While Kitchen Tune-Up headed up the renovation, Angela also collaborated with vendors to update light fixtures, paint bannisters, railings and walls, and upgrade other elements in the home.
Design Specifics
The family of five loves to host their friends and family. Since their guests always gather in the kitchen, the Bartosics knew they wanted a long kitchen island with seating for everyone.
Along with the island, Angela wanted to brighten up the space. The old oak cabinets, gray countertops and tan backsplash darkened the kitchen substantially, so they added pendant lighting over the island and incorporated brighter colors, gravitating toward neutrals and pinks to create something timeless.
Ultimately, she opted for a two-toned kitchen with a soft white perimeter and a softgray island.
The drab backsplash was replaced with white porcelain tile and the gray countertops were replaced with white granite. To balance out the light hues, Angela chose dark vinyl flooring.
The Kitchen Tune-Up team also added extra storage space and tore out the kitchen's outdated desk area and replaced it with a mini fridge.
Process
Renovations began a month before the family moved into their new house and Angela had to make decisions quickly to stay on schedule.
The flooring was completed only a day before they moved in.
To make things more hectic, Angela and Matt went on a two-week trip to Europe to commemorate their 10-year anniversary. When they planned the trip, they hadn't anticipated undergoing renovations at the same time, but they didn't want to put their life on hold and decided to go anyway.
The team worked to make their vision a reality, and Angela and Knapke had to troubleshoot when plans threatened to go over budget. Although they originally planned to replace the door frames, they found that painting and layering the cabinets to match the pre-existing doorframes was more cost-effective.
On to the next one
The Bartosic's new home is only six minutes from their old house, so Angela enjoyed coming over and seeing the progress.
Similar to most renovations, the Bartosics’ home experienced months of workers coming in and out. After three months, aside from a few touch-ups, the Bartoics finally had the kitchen they wanted.
“It was so nice to have that first gathering with everyone and to enjoy the new space and see it all come to life,” says Angela.
Now the Bartosics have already begun a landscaping project.
“For the spring going into summer, we're going to be focusing on the outside of our house," Angela says. "We’re always wanting to do house projects. That’s just who we are and what we love to do.”
Grace Heberling is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
