Behind The Design: Our Kitchen Renovation

Now that it's over, and I can finally catch my breath, I've been thinking about all the details that went into actualizing the complete renovation of the kitchen. Usually with my behind the design posts, I get into the nitty gritty of the project, including the costs — the dollars and the cents. Needless to say the kitchen renovation has been my largest project to date, and with that, the most costly.

As a full time content creator, however, the kitchen also became my job, with one of the benefits being able to partner with brands to bring my design to life. These partnerships offset a lot the typical costs of the renovation... also making it a touch more difficult to give you an accurate final total.

DesignAlbie KnowsAugust 2, 2021reno therapy, kitchen, the hygge ranch, behind the design, decorview

Reno Therapy: Electrical Upgrades with Leviton

Throughout this renovation I've always maintained that I never wanted to sacrifice style for function, or vice versa. In order to truly improve our quality of life it had to be an equal balance and Leviton's products allowed me to achieve that.

In comparison to many of the other upgrades we made, these were minimal changes... minimal with maximum impact that makes every routines easier. It's always been said that good design is in the details, and taking the time to be intentional about these details paid off.

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 22, 2021reno therapy, renovation, leviton, sponsored post, lighting

Reno Therapy: DIY Tile Installation with The Tile Shop

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 15, 2021the tile shop, reno therapy, renovation, kitchen, sponsored post, diy, the hygge ranch

Design Daydreaming: Getting Our Garage Organized

While renovating the kitchen and doing other projects around the house, we leaned on the garage — A LOT — and in doing so, we realized that the garage had a lot of deficiencies. As a result, hubs and I unanimously agreed that we wouldn't take on any more projects — big or small -- before tackling the garage first. So I've been day dreaming...

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 13, 2021garage, storage solutions, the container store, the hygge ranch

Reno Therapy: All About Our Formica Countertops

You guys have heard so much about my countertops, and yet I've never gotten a chance to actually tell you all about my countertops! All you know is that it took a while before I got them; and can I just say... totally worth the wait!

I've always been familiar with Formica, however, only for their laminate surfaces. While I was doing my research, Kim & Scott of @yellowbrickhome were revealing the kitchens of their 2 unit flat. Unit 2 featured supermatte black shakers cabinets from Semihandmade — yep... the same ones in our media room! — with a white countertop... a design that paralleled exactly what I had in mind for the hygge ranch.

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 8, 2021the hygge ranch, kitchen, renovation, formica, sponsored post, reno therapy

Reno Therapy: Designing Our Semi Custom Cabinets with BOXI by Semihandmade

A couple of months ago, over on the Emily Henderson Design Blog, I shared with you all the research and thought process on custom vs semi custom vs pre fab cabinets for the kitchen.

Having the opportunity to start from scratch, I took note of every deficiency we'd ever experienced in every kitchen, every feature we really liked, and all the big dreamy items we'd always wished we had... hence the wishlist.

Through a seamless design process with BOXI, I was able to create an intentionally designed kitchen, with symmetrical placement, tons of organization, and an aesthetic that speaks to both my design ethos & the home's preexisting charm.

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 1, 2021renovation, Kitchen, the hygge ranch, reno therapy

Reno Therapy: Where We Splurged & Saved To Complete Our Kitchen

Deciding if to save or splurge is going to be a very personal decision because "save" and "splurge" are subjective. Looking back on our kitchen reno, we weighed different choices up against one another based on how they'd improve our quality of life, how they'd make us feel, and how (in the long run) they'd enhance our home.

DesignAlbie KnowsJune 24, 2021renovation, kitchen, the hygge ranch, shopping, reno therapy

Reno Therapy: Lessons We've Learned As First Time Homeowners

Now that I have finally been able to catch my breath after starting the kitchen renovation back in January, I finally have time to process everything... all the highs & lows, all the pivots, and all of the lessons.

As first time homeowners, this was our first major renovation. The laundry renovation was, what I now call, a starter renovation by comparison. We went into the kitchen renovation with our eyes wide open and still found ourselves blindsided by so many aspects of the kitchen renovation. For what it's worth, though, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason & there's always a lesson to be learned.

DesignAlbie KnowsJune 15, 2021renovation, kitchen, home buying, reno therapy

Behind The Design: The Media Room... In Real Life

28 weeks ago, the media room was a theoretical design. Heck... 28 weeks ago I wasn't even a homeowner... so definitely not even thinking about a media room! I was invited to be part of the One Room Challenge's first ever partnership with High Point Market, and I created a virtual design that would be the catalyzing inspiration for our family's new media room.

Design Daydreaming: Bringing The Indoors Out

DesignAlbie KnowsMay 14, 2021outdoor, design therapy, shopping, the home depot, west elm, rejuvenation, the hygge ranch

A Guest Bedroom... Without Guests

DesignAlbie KnowsApril 14, 2021the hygge ranch, guest bedroom, the inside, ruggable, decorview, sherwin williams, bedroom, popcorn ceiling

The Hygge Ranch: Our Kitchen Organization With iDesign & The Container Store

It's no secret that organization is my jam, so when thinking about the kitchen renovation, how it would be organized has always been top of mind — from the design layout to the cabinetry options. But that's only one piece of the puzzle — the perimeter edges of the puzzle — but while the kitchen has been in a holding pattern, awaiting the countertops, I've been working on the middle pieces of my storage puzzle.

What's a dream kitchen without dream storage solutions?

It's no secret — and should come as no surprise — that The Container Store is my go to destination when it comes to storage, even if it's just to window shop. Switching out all the cabinetry, adding brand new cabinetry, and upgrading the existing pantry system meant a chance to optimizing our existing storage while also getting to bring in new products and solutions.

We going shopping y'all!

DesignAlbie KnowsMarch 23, 2021sponsored post, the container store, kitchen, the hygge ranch, renovation, idesign, pantry

Behind The Design: Our Laundry Room Reveal

Did you know that my plan for the laundry room was heavily inspired by what we'd originally planned to be the media room? It leads to the laundry room & was originally designed to be a lot of black on black, so I wanted to lighten it up a bit in the laundry room, while still carrying the darker hues into the space. But my do things change!

Let There Be Light: Our Lighting Design Plan

Years ago I determined that lighting is the unsung hero of every design -- residential, commercial, doesn't even matter. Lighting is the jewelry of the room, from pendants to floor lamps to sconces and everything in between. Needless to say, when we bought our house, I knew we'd be upgrading all of he lighting to designs that were more "us".

DesignAlbie KnowsFebruary 25, 2021lighting, Hudson valley lighting, sponsored post, the hygge ranch

The Hygge Ranch: Designing Our New Kitchen

We have come a long way from peel and stick backsplash and removable wallpaper in the kitchen... like renovation long way! After years of creating kitchen color guides on the blog AND secretly wanting a lot of the finds for myself, here I am designing my own kitchen renovation.

DesignAlbie KnowsFebruary 18, 2021kitchen, the hygge ranch, renovation

Semi Custom with Semihandmade: IKEA Besta Upcycle

If you've been hanging out with me for some time then you already know that before we bought a house I was working on a refresh for the living room, which then triggered our decision to covert the dining room to a study.

The design plan was to keep as much of what we already owned and give them a proper upcycle to recreate the space. Two things we knew we wanted to keep were my old desk and our IKEA Besta sideboard.

DesignAlbie KnowsFebruary 17, 2021sponsored post, semihandmade, media room, upcycle, the hygge ranch

Another Design Pivot At The Hygge Ranch: Media Room (ORC) Update

DesignAlbie KnowsJanuary 15, 2021media room, one room challenge, the hygge ranch, my home

Behind The Design: Our Living Room Reveal

Up until this point, admittedly, I never really did any "reveals" anywhere I've lived. In our condo, I shared quite a few rooms and that was my first taste at opening up the virtual doors to our home. But this is different... it feels different.

This design was almost 5 months in the making but it was also in partnership with many of my favorite brands. I didn't just move in and start designing.

Now rather than having you see my design and dismiss it as impossible and/or get inspired only to get sticker shock, I wanted to bring you behind the design — numbers & all — so you can see what & how much is feasible for YOU.