Tacoma Converted Garage // Moody Kitchen: Before + Inspiration (ORC, Week 1)

TACOMA CONVERTED GARAGE In a classic last minute move, Garrett and I decided to jump into this Fall's One Room Challenge. We'll be joining the other guest participants as we tackle the Tacoma Converted Garage's kitchen. Yup, an entire kitchen renovation in just 5 weeks. Eeek!

Before we get into the details, I wanted to share a quick introduction. My husband, Garrett, and I are DIY renovators and landlords living in Washington state. We grew up together in the small town of Ellensburg, WA and spent a decade in Seattle renovating old homes. And working. And going to school. And having babies. By 2016, we had bought, renovated, and rented out enough homes to quit our jobs and move our 3 young kids to an old Farmhouse near Ellensburg. Early retirement is good, although it's probably no surprise that all these kids, houses, and renovation projects mean we're busier than ever. Ha! We wouldn't have it any other way. You can read more of our backstory here.

Some of you may remember the Tacoma kitchen looking almost done in last week's hood vent tutorial (pictured above). But the funny thing is, the only thing done in this space is the hood vent. Everything else - cabinets, countertops, etc - were propped in place for our video.

Of course we're not starting from scratch in here either. The demo is complete, the concrete floors have been polished, and the plumbing and electrical are roughed in. I snapped a few pictures on Tuesday to show you what the space actually looks like right now.

Embrace the Dark Side - Cabinet Color

Before we talk inspiration, I wanted to mention the cabinet color. Those who follow us on Instagram, already know that I've been debating the color for weeks now. One thing's for sure, the current green (Behr's Boreal) just isn't working. As one of our IG followers pointed out, it looks retro 70s, and I just can't un-see that.

I narrowed down the new cabinet color to charcoal gray or a deep, hunter green and after lots of time spent debating, I think we've finally made a decision. We'll be re-painting the cabinets in a dark charcoal gray. Ultimately I'm just more inspired by a black-on-almost-black color palette for this space plus black seems less particular than green for a rental.

In case you guys are scratching your heads, wondering what all this black will look like, I've collected a little inspiration for you:

Image Sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

So good, right?! I think dark cabinets and countertops will look really fresh yet also classic and simple. I'm especially digging black for this more modern space with an industrial vibe.

The kitchens in the mood board are everything we're aspiring to at Tacoma, but we'll also be adding in a wood (plywood...?) waterfall island. Like with all of our kitchens (Bryant, Ravenna, Dexter, #6daykichenreno, and the Porch House Reno), we'll be sticking to real materials (granite, wood, concrete, etc), pops of vintage, and an overall feel that's simple and welcoming. But unlike all of our other kitchens (which are in turn-of-the-century homes), we'll also be brining in a rustic, industrial, garage-y vibe to the space. It's us but different and I can't wait!

Video

In order to give you a better look at our process, we're going to share this kitchen renovation in a few short videos too. Our goal is to take you behind the scenes through all that goes on in a 5-week kitchen renovation. There will be exhaustion, excitement, and a whole lot of decisions. Here's the introduction:

Let us know if you have any specific questions or topics you're curious about (like design, schedule, how we divvy up work, specific DIYs, etc) so we can make sure to cover them.

That's it for this week. This is definitely the most ambitious ORC project we've taken on to date (links to our other ORC projects are below) and we're scratching our heads, trying to figure out how we'll actually get it done. There's nothing quite like the ORC to put the pressure on a schedule ;) And that's good, because we're eager to be done with the 2+ hour drive to Tacoma.

This is going to be fun! Thanks for following along.

An Introduction to the Tacoma Converted Garage // DIY Hood Vent Tutorial // ORC Fall 2016: Master Bedroom // ORC Fall 2017: Porch House Bathroom // ORC Spring 2018: Daphne's Bedroom

Be sure to check out all the featured and guest participants here.