Kitchen Mini Makeover

Hi,

My name is Grettel and I found your blog while searching for ideas to update my very 70's kitchen. We just moved to our new home and our budget is pretty limited, therefor new cabinetry is out of the question. I look at pictures of white kitchens, with dark counter tops and oiled bronze hardware and wonder if this is something I can do with the kind of cabinets that I have (they are laminated) I was hoping you could show me the light at the end of the tunnel so that I can feel inspired to cook again as I used to before we moved. I am attaching a picture of the kitchen. I hope you can give me some advice and ideas. Thank you for your time Grettel

Dear Grettle,

I am going to show you a design that will go with the style of cabinetry that you have. The cabinets are not only laminated- they are also pretty contemporary. Trying to fight that, and make them more traditional is not going to work. Let me show you what will.

1. Remove the soffit. Chances are it is there for looks only- as it does not continue around the room.
2. Remove the upper cabinets.
3. You will need a new hood. I am hoping that stainless steal appliances are in your budget- :) Put in a new hood that doesn't' require cabinets to hide it. Like the one in this photo.


4. Replace the light fixture. This will go along way to changing your atmosphere. Replace your florescent with about six can lights. The shade chandelier below is from Lamps Plus.


5. now that you have nothing on your walls- add some tile. This is a combination of glass and travertine. Put it on the wall from the counter to the ceiling. I cannot tell what is on your counter right now. If it needs to be replaced- replace it with a laminate or Ceasarstone that matches the travertine color in the mosaic. This mosaic is from Ectile.com.


6. IKEA has such great prices, as well as good style in their kitchen items. I would add uppers and shelves like the ones below. For open shelves- you will want consistent nice looking dishes and glasses- get a basket in your lower cabinets to hide your husband's "Word's Greatest Dad" mug and any other unsightly additions. IKEA also has some nice looking islands- check them out- you appear to have plenty of room to add an island.


7. I know that I can't see much of your room adjoining the kitchen- but I can see some of it and want to go there. Replace the flooring in the kitchen and family room, giving yourself one flooring surface. I would use a cork floor like the one below. When doorways are so wide- it always is so much nicer to have a continuous floor. Paint the paneling Swiss Coffee white- and paint the ceiling and the kitchen a light gray- like the gray in the shade. While you are painting- paint your dining set- the darker khaki color in the glass mosaic.

OK- so there you go- I'm going to call the look "Urban Cottage Chic." What do you think?

Kate's Kitchen

Christine,

I have bought a 2nd house… not wanting to spend a whole lot but trying to redo a kitchen into something cool & functional.
I had my hubby remove the supporting wall between kit/DR. Now there is an LVL beam which acts as a bit of a room divider. I am having trouble arranging the space because of the funky set of constraints. Besides the overhead beam, there’s a window which is 61” across, the short wall with the stove cannot be too deep, current stove seems to jut out into room. I was planning to keep the frig under the stairs because it fits well there and does not stick out into the room. I want nice, inexpensive cabinets like the best ones at Grossman’s Bargain Outlet. They are solid wood. Can you help me?
Thanks, Kate

Hi Kate,
I have a plan for your kitchen- let’s break it up into categories.

1. Your ceiling: You have an existing beam cutting the room into two sections. I say- add two more beams- as per my drawing. This changes the room from being cut in half- to one area that you have to work with. Add bead board to the ceiling- the deeper the grooves the better. Paint the beams and the bead board the same color. (Either red, khaki, or cream- I choose red)
2. Your existing built-in. I find it charming. Please keep it in your design. I would paint it green- make it a fun element in the room.
3. Your cabinet configuration. Your existing kitchen has a good working triangle with your sink, stove and refrigerator. So- keep it. The cabinets by the stove- I drew in similarly- adding an angled bank on the right to mimic the one on the left. You might want lit, open decorative shelves all the way down on the angled cabinets.Your refrigerator area is great- I love how it doesn’t have to come into the room- being under the stairs. Add a broom closet- or pull-out pantry door to the right of the refrigerator. Another option would be a large freezer- refrigerator combo that fills the whole area- assess your needs. I lengthened the counter by your sink by an additional 3 ½ feet- made possible by the new ceiling design. I would add a farmhouse style sink. Remove the soffit and use the height to the ceiling if possible.
4. I added an island. Every room needs a wow factor. Make that your island. This one is from Guildmaster. The hand-painted vegetables are just fabulous! Use a shade of the green for your built-in- and a shade of the red for your ceiling. Use the color of the butcher block top for your other new cabinets. Use the light cream color (in the veggies)- for your wall color. This is the inspiration piece that will pull the room together.
5. Your cabinets. I could tell from your e-mail that you intend to keep the cabinets inexpensive. One way to do this is to not have upper doors. In a narrow room like this- it also gives the room a wider feel- and cool design element. Be sure to have good-looking matching dishes. :) The example below is from Martha Satewart- But you could go a step less expensive than that and just purchase shelves and brackets from Lowes or Home Depot. To be more decorative- there is also a nice selection from invitinghome.com- like the corble below:
6. Your windows. You added some color with the island- but we need to follow that up with some more pattern and color on your windows. I would use Roman shades. I selected four fabrics for you from Beacon Hill- hey readers- which is your favorite?

The Floral: The Stripe: The Diamond: The Small Print: The Peacock:
7. Art Add some cool art to your walls in your dining area opposite the built-in- I selected for you the antigue looking red doors at the top of the post.

8. Your floors: I would go with cork- The one I selected below is called Maple- from Globus Cork.

8. Your lighting: I can see that your kitchen is gutted from your photos- so now is the time to make the lighting perfect.
· 15- 6” can lights as per my drawing- on a dimmer switch- for full lighting during task use and lower lighting during dining.
· 3 directional eyeball lights by built-in
· Hanging light over table. I chose these three options from Shades of Light- Which is your favorite? Strawberry Chandelier: Hanging Lantern: Red bamboo:
· Under cabinet lighting- on a timer to come on every evening.

There you have it Kate- your kitchen is perfect. Why don’t you just follow my instructions exactly- and then send in some pictures . :)

Tina From Canada

Today I am going to interject in purple.

Hi Christine,

First off I just want to mention that I love your blog and have learned a lot from it already. My husband and I are about to begin renovations on our house and would love your advice before we begin. We want to replace the cabinet doors and counter top. My question for you is; do we refinish the oak and add new white doors, or do we paint them white white and add new white doors? I would paint- it is very hard to match a re-finished old wood with a new wood on the doors. I would also add detail to your flat surfaces as I discussed in this post. While you are renovating- I would take out the fan and add 9 can lights- what you have is not good lighting for a kitchen.Consider counter selections in the picture above- these colors would look great with your new white cabinets. Also if we do paint them white, what do we do with the big oak beam by the eating area? Paint that white as well. When you are painting wood- be sure that you do it correctly. You don't just go purchse a laytex paint and start brushing away. You start with lightly sanding- you then wash with TSP- and then use an oil based paint- or a special laytex paint that is made especially for this kind of thing. A good paint store will steer you in the right dirrection. Sometimes a second sanding, a second washing- and a second layer of paint will be what makes it look perfect. (That is what I did in my last home- I used oil based paint- which is tricky to use- but leaves the nicest finish in my opinion.) Replace your light in your eating area- here is a cool one from Shades of Light: I like the fun Jacobean turns in your dining set. I would paint it :). Picture the wood in a soft khaki color- (the color of the stem portion of the floral pattern below) and re-upholster the seats in a print that brings out the new color and adds some blue- like this piece from Lee Jofa:

While I am spending your money- let's replace your floors- check out this cool cork flooring- I like how it adds color- but is still so very neutral:

Tina, from Canada.

Well Tina, I can picture your place and it looks fantastic! Good luck with your renovation!