Black Lake Reveal | Kitchen + Living Room 1

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – the kitchen is the heart of the home. With Black Lake, we wanted to create a space that the future new homeowners would love every aspect of.

Do you remember what this space looked like at the beginning?!

Table of Contents

Before & After

We were able to stick with our original plan of keeping the kitchen footprint the same. Our favorite part when we toured the home was that it already had an open concept feel with the kitchen and living room and it all overlooked gorgeous Lake Minnetonka.

The only part we reconfigured was the cabinetry and squaring off the island in order to make it as big as possible. We debated for a long time on moving the range but we kept it the same, remaining within the island. And after hanging out in here once the remodel was complete we were sure glad we did! Being able to cook with views of the water was ideal. And we made the island large enough so there were no worries if someone was sitting on the other side of being burned.

So here’s a quick before and after of each space!

The Vibe

When dreaming up the design for the kitchen + living room, we knew right off the bat we were going to need our friends from Mercury Mosaics to help us dream out a custom backsplash. We wanted to go with a bold, one-of-a-kind design, which we’ll dive into next.

Here was the overall mood board we put together!

Backsplash

Custom backsplashes have been speaking to us ever since we put one into our home. Being that our kitchen is the hub of our home, we put in a one-of-a-kind statement backsplash in collaboration with Mercury Mosaics, and when we bought Black Lake, there was no doubt we’d need to do it again. Every time I walk down into our kitchen, it not only makes me smile but truly inspires me daily. And I wanted the new homeowners of Black Lake to feel the same.

When working with Mercedes and her team from Mercury Mosaics to design the backsplash, being this home was on a lake, we wanted the vibe to be nature – water, outdoors, earthy vibes.

Our initial inspiration came from their large triangle Foxwell blend, which our friends at Fox Homes put into one of their spaces that has always inspired us. Although, we wanted to add our own c2s twist to the blend. After a few iterations and back and forth, this is what we came up with.

And we were even more humbled when they told us that this new blend is going to be called, “The Greyson,” being that Black Lake is our first c2s custom flip and that Greyson is our firstborn child. I mean how special is that?!

The colors included in The Greyson tile blend are 911 Stardust (new release), 28 Everglades, 22E Blue Opal, 366 Satin Black, and 65W Amber. There is also a touch of 906R Burnt Sugar and 205 Saddle Tan (new release).

Safe to say, once we were done designing the backsplash we couldn’t wait to get it installed. Jamie, Topher, and Kyle worked together to get the backsplash up and installed. They took the precut sheets of tile from Mercury and placed them up in a random fashion.

The only bummer news was when we got to the floating shelves, we realized we miscalculated due to the shelving already being installed. As the tile was supposed to go all the way to the ceiling. Typically we install floating shelves after we lay tile. But being everyone is so back-ordered when we got the chance for a date to install on cabinetry we jumped at the chance, not even thinking about our calculations on the tile. Sigh…

We didn’t let that stop us as we were on a time crunch for completing the project, and looking back we love the finished result just as much!

Once we knew we were going to have to change our course of action on the backsplash, we decided to go to the bottom of the first set of floating shelves. The way the design played out… we are obsessing and now want to install it in every home.

Cabinetry

Keeping our backsplash dreams in the back of our mind, we decided to go with simple white oak cabinetry from Regalwood Cabinetry that we knew would give off the warm, cozy feel we were looking for. We haven’t done white oak in a kitchen before, so this was a bit risky for us. But you know us, we’re always up for a good challenge! Again, we wanted to bring in the natural vibe so we knew white was out as well as black so we went for it! And to be completely honest, before all the other elements came into play we weren’t so sure we made the right choice. ha! But then once we got flooring, countertops, backsplash, hardware, and lighting in, and being wood tone cabinetry is back in new ways, we were so happy we went this route!

Plumbing Fixtures

We also added in our favorite plumbing fixtures – the Delta Broderick collection, fully equipped with the Touch₂O^® Technology which we have in our home, and highly recommend it to all of our clients. We chatted all about why we love the Delta touch faucet in a previous blog post here.

We even got to be involved in an exclusive contest amongst five other very talented national designers with the #DesignWithBrizoDeltaChicago campaign! While we didn’t win, it was such a fun partnership and campaign to be involved with.

Here’s what we went with for the plumbing fixtures within this space:

Glass Rinser | A ir Gap | F lange & Strainer |Faucet

All in the champagne bronze!

Hands down, my favorite feature about this faucet is the Touch2O® Technology a simple touch anywhere on the spout or handle will start and stop the flow of water. It also has an automatic water flow shut-off after four minutes helps conserve water

We also dropped in our favorite Elkay black sink to contrast off of the gold plumbing fixtures. This is hands down one of our favorite sinks that we use time and time again.

My favorite thing about this under-mount Elkay Quartz Classic lkay sink (which is 3″ x 20-1/2″ x 9-1/2″, Offset 60/40 Double Bowl) is the Aqua Divide. This means you can have a larger area for pots and pans or to dry and a smaller area for the water. And being there is a lower divide you can also put a pan into your sink without it projecting out of the sink.

I also love the design look of this sink, not your typical rectangle. It gives a little unexpected design element to the overall look as well as creating more space.

And lastly, what I continuously tell our clients, quartz sinks are the best!! I wish you could feel it through the picture, they have a soft feel, and not one of our client’s sinks has scratched when choosing this design. They’re crafted from natural quartz and come in a range of UV-stable neutral colors in shades of black, brown, gray, and white that allow you to add an unexpected pop of color to your space.

We went with the “Greystone” in this space!

Countertops

For our countertops, we went with Cambria‘s Ruxley, which is a brand new design that rolled out Q1 of 2021. This white countertop with soft green veining throughout is everything we knew we needed in this space to bring out those nature vibes. Subtle emerald green veining on a warm white brings out the best in a variety of décors, introducing restrained color. Cooler white veins deftly add balance.

We worked with Select Surfaces who we love to get this process rolling and the ones who installed, and they’re always so seamless and professional in their processes and to work with.

Flooring

Another favorite of ours that we have in our home and have used time and time again is the engineered hardwood, design Laumbrusco, from Urban Floor.

As Urban Floor states, embodying the rich, exotic flavor of imported French wine, the European oak Lambrusco offers light, creamy hues and a distinguished sense of style, elevating your home decor with classic European charm. Each extra-long, 7.5″ wide plank is meticulously wire-brushed, creating hardwood floors that are totally unique in texture and color.

And you bet we have a tutorial for you HERE on how to install engineered hardwood flooring.

Lighting

We worked with Bellacor on all of the lighting throughout the home, another MN local vendor. And they did not disappoint! My favorite thing about Bellacor is that whether you are working with a professional or DIY’ing, they are open to all and have really great pricing!

For the lights above the island, we went with the Hudson Valley Lettie Aged Brass 15-Inch LED Flush Mount. And they happen to currently be on sale! To be honest, we originally got these lights for the mudroom and we had larger pendants for the island. But after hanging them, we decided it was obstructing the view. So then we brought these into the space and loved them!! We thought, how perfect. The lighting you wouldn’t probably think of putting into your kitchen over an island but wanted to show our readers how they could too if they had lower ceilings like we did and wanted to have statement lighting without obstructing a good view.

As for the stair rail chandelier we went with 251 First Nicollet Natural Brass 24-Light Chandelier. Another goodie that is currently on sale. We loved how it looked shining bright behind the slat wall!

Fireplace

We kept the original fireplace, as it was still in great working condition. We just removed the woodwork and drywalled it up to the ceiling to give it a clean and simple look.

The kids sure did love hanging out on top of that fireplace though!

Slat Wall

After DIY’ing a slat wall in our home, we wanted to bring that same design aspect into Black Lake, yet with a different feel. So we decided to challenge ourselves on the stair-rail.

The guys worked hard on this project and even put together a tutorial for you HERE.

Paint Colors

Walls

Being we had so many bold statement designs going on through the home we went with Snowboun d, which is a Sherwin Williams paint, throughout the entire home. This is hands down our favorite go-to paint color. It’s light and bright but is also a warmer white so it’s not too stark.

Slat Wall

The only other paint we brought into the house was “Current Mood” from the Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines® which we painted the slat wall. Again, wanted to bring some more green elements into the design of the home to bring in those earthy vibes and this color did not disappoint.

Artwork & Decor

The artwork throughout the entire home as well as pictured here above the toilet was from a local artist named, Cait Courneya. Her Instagram was our original inspiration for the color pallet throughout the home, so we thought it was only fitting to use her art to stage the place once we were done! And of course, every print fits so perfectly.

As far as a lot of the decor in the kitchen and on the shelving, you can find it on our construction2style shop!

Shop This Look

And that’s a wrap for the kitchen + living room design! Here are all the links to selections for you to shop this look!

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