Hummingbird High’s New Kitchen Reveal

Introducing Hummingbird High’s New Kitchen!

In case you missed it, Erlend and I made the big decision to leave what we thought was our forever home and move into what is now officially our forever home. We were EXTRAORDINARILY lucky: after a quick search, we found a bigger and brighter place in the same neighborhood (in fact, it’s only three blocks away from our old house!). Our offer (the only one we made since starting our search) was accepted at asking, despite the historically competitive real estate market. In many ways, the stars aligned.

Even still, I was very reluctant to leave our old house. I’d remodeled the kitchen twice—first, a major remodel in 2014, and again in 2018 with a small refresh—and it was perfectly custom and suited to my needs. But I’m not going to lie: one of the selling points of the new house was its big, beautiful, Scandinavian-style kitchen. I also recently updated the kitchen with some beautiful new appliances from my partner, Café Appliances. And now that we’re finally settled, I’m excited to show you guys around!

So let’s dive in!

The Cooking Area With A Showstopping Café Appliances Range

Because the new house has an open floor plan, I consider the view of the Café Appliances range and kitchen island above “the heart of the home.” Why? It’s the first view you see when you walk into the house through the door. Often times, you’ll find me in this spot, either prepping something to bake on the island, or cooking something on the stovetop.

And I’m not going to lie—my new Café range definitely draws the eye. It is a 36″ inch model and its Matte White appearance is just so incredibly unique and breathtaking. When we purchased the house, the kitchen came with these stainless steel appliances that had zero personality:

Although the kitchen is still pretty with the stainless steel appliances, the new Matte White Café range really makes the kitchen pop! Especially since, because of the kitchen’s Scandinavian style, many of its current finishes are very subtle. For instance—in photos, you can’t really tell that the kitchen backsplash has some subtle texture (I’m pretty sure it’s this Cambria Newport quartz countertop, which has subtle patterning that the camera can’t quite capture) or that the woodgrain on the cabinets are continuous and high-quality.

I love that minimalist subtlety, but to balance it out, it’s nice to have a centerpiece that is bolder and more obvious from the get-go. Like the metallic hardware on the Café range!

It really draws the eye. The best part? You can customize the range’s knobs and handles. Currently, my range is fitted with Brushed Bronze hardware, which compliments the warm wood kitchen nicely… but I’m thinking about swapping them out with Brushed Copper hardware to match my stand mixer. That’s the look I went for in my old kitchen (which was outfitted with Matte Black Café Appliances). I just love that I can easily customize it based on my current mood and personality!

The Sink Area With A Café Appliances Dishwasher Workhorse

As a food blogger, I spend a lot of time doing dishes. In fact, I probably spend more time cleaning up and doing dishes than I do developing recipes! So the truth is, this area is where I spend the majority of my time in my kitchen. I love that the sink area has these windows all along its counter. The windows allow a ton of natural light into the space, and let me have a view while I do my chores.

But real talk: because of the nature of my job, I would be completely lost without a good dishwasher. When we first moved into the house, we had this awful 2-drawer dishwasher that just COULD. NOT. FIT. ANYTHING. I ended up washing most things by hand, completely defeating the point of having a dishwasher in the first place! I was so incredibly grateful to upgrade to this Café Appliances dishwasher:

Not only is it the most beautiful dishwasher I’ve ever seen, it’s incredibly functional, too. It has racks with fold-down tines for odd shaped items like my specialty equipment. It also has a third rack for extra silverware and other cooking tools. So freaking cool!

The Kitchen Island

I mentioned earlier that I considered the kitchen island the heart of the home. It really is! Not only is it where I do the majority of my baking for this blog, it’s also where Erlend and I eat our meals (despite having a formal dining space), and the first place we both gravitate to when returning home.

The best part? Directly above the island is a “skylight.” I use quotes for the word because it’s not actually a traditional skylight. Instead, we don’t have a ceiling above the kitchen. The kitchen opens up into the second floor, where there are windows overlooking our deck. The windows let a ton of light in, as well as provide views of the tall cedar and doug fir trees we have in our yard. It makes such a wonderful, airy and inviting space!

Future Remodeling Plans

Although I am beyond lucky and grateful to have upgraded to this kitchen, I can’t wait to add some more personal touches to truly make it my own! I’ve already got my eye on a matching Café Appliances refrigerator and hood insert for the range—I’d just need to make some adjustments to the countertops in order to make it work.

Currently, the cabinets are also a little too tall for both Erlend and myself (we’re both on the shorter side). I’d love to figure out a way to make them more accessible without compromising the light and airy feel of the place. I’m crazy, I know, but I’ve already bookmarked next summer for a small remodel/refresh of this kitchen. I can’t wait!

Resources

• Range: Café Appliances 36″ Dual-Fuel Commercial-Style Range with 6 Burners (Natural Gas)
• Dishwasher: Café Appliances Smart Stainless Steel Interior Dishwasher with Sanitize and Ultra Wash & Dual Convection Ultra Dry