The Kitchen Makeover! Before and After

During the house hunting phase of this new journey in our life, there were things we I always looked for. High ceilings, lots of windows and… the kitchen of my dreams. This house had the high ceilings in the living area, and a decent amount of windows. The kitchen was, however, smaller than I would have hoped. It also feels a little closed off from what seems to be a predominately open floor plan. Faced with limited time and funds,we agreed that a full kitchen remodel would have to wait a year or two (knock out a wall, extend counter space, install a massive island, new errthang).

Meanwhile I felt that some fresh colors would make the space feel like my own and satisfy my need for something updated in the kitchen. I originally wanted to paint the cabinets white because I love the feeling of bright kitchens, but we didn’t plan to replace the counter tops or the appliances, which are an almond, beige color. I used Photoshop to mock up the colors (I’m such a nerd) and felt like white cabinets just made everything else look extra dingy and dirty. So I tried gray (Of course. Why not?) And realized that was the exact answer I wanted. Settling on the “right” gray was tough, but I just ended up using the color I chose for our main bathroom. We used Behr paint colored to Sherwin Williams “Earl Grey” because I had previously painted a room with this color (Sherwin Williams paint that time). Although, it seemed a lot darker than what Home Depot ended up mixing for us this time. That is why my mock up is darker than what we ended up with. I’m still happy with it, though. Because it’s still grey.

I had also originally planned to buy new cabinet hardware, but I decided to save the money and spray paint them instead. I even decided to spray paint the hinges at the last minute. Among the other house items I planned to spray paint were door knobs, some shelves, other handles and knobs, and return air vents. I chose a Rustoleum brushed nickel color that I loved. Some of those projects flopped but I was satisfied with how the cabinet hardware turned out. Although I’m not entirely convinced there is enough contrast between the cabinet color and the hardware color. Oh, well. I’m getting nerdy and particular now.

Overall, I am very very very pleased with how the kitchen turned out. I left the walls yellow,the way they were originally, because it seemed to look good with the gray and it makes it cheery in there. I’m also happy with the way my many red appliances look with everything.

Excuse my lack of fancy language in this post. I haven’t had my Red Bull for the day.

Therefore… Pictures. They speak louder anyway.

The Kitchen Makeover

Before (on left) and After (on right)

A note about the above photos (I should have cleaned the floors better, haha)

Here are some photos taking during the process