kitchen, before and after
kelly | 10 May 2008 - 1:34pm
I'm finally getting around to posting photos of our kitchen renovation. Not the photos you most want to see, I'm sure, but we haven't even begun to go through photos from our trip yet. Soon, I promise.
The kitchen project was really more of a refresh than a full renovation. Our goal was to improve the look of the room with minimal effort - specifically, without replacing the cabinets or countertop. This is not because we particularly like them, but because we didn't want to put that much money or effort into this project. We love this house, but it's not where we're going to live forever and we're not convinced dumping tons of money into it would be a worthwhile investment.
This project should have been done long ago (do you see that wallpaper?!), but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I really wanted white cabinets, but we didn't want to replace the cabinets and I was unsure how painting white over dark wood would turn out. It was William's herpes-free kitchen that finally inspired me and convinced me that painting cabinets could be done well. I emailed him for help, and he walked me through how he and Lauren had done everything. Thank you, William! You are totally my Bob Vila.
Before
After
Once I had decided on the white cabinets, we chose a wall color that would work okay with the counters, which are flecked with various shades of green. The "after" photo above is most true to the wall color - the one below makes it look a little more kelly green than it actually is.
Rob helped me iron the walls and install the knobs and pulls, but pretty much everything else I did by myself during my week of spring break. All that's left is to replace the floor and we're totally hiring someone to do that.
(I'm sure you'll all notice that Bridget is on the counter in two of the photos. Further proof that I'm a pathetic pushover parent. I'd also like to point out the Yoshi calendar on the side of our fridge. Best calendar EVER.)
Before
After
- 218 reads
all comments photoblog
The kitchen looks awesome! I love the white cabinets - they make the room look fresh and bright. That flowered wallpaper would have given me a headache, I think. The youngest cat at my job is constantly on the kitchen counters. I never understood how people could let that happen until I had to deal with it. How can you NOT let it happen? You put them down, they get right back up. And then lie on their backs and look all cute and THEN what are you supposed to do?
Wow, Kelly, it really looks great!
You guys did a great job! I love the white cabinets and the green is a great shade. Well done! It looks a thousand times better. Any YAY! for the Yoshi calendar.
wow! what a lovely change! :)
kitchen's long-overdue greenness OR kitchen's long-overdue gutting
What a difference! That looks so good - you two did a fantastic job!
WOW! It looks fantastic! You can come makeover my kitchen any time. I love the wall color too. We painted our bedroom a very similar color :)
Yay! (And yay that I can post!)
*lurker delurking*
Love your kitchen! My husband and I are about to embark on a kitchen redo ourselves this summer ...*rant* we have STUCCO on our kitchen walls BAD stucco swirls and zig zaggy stucco, who DOES that?? *end rant* ...we are currently arguing over shades of green and I LOVE the green you used, not too light but not too dark, would you mind sharing if it's at all possible the name of the color and the brand?
I'm horrible at commenting so hopefully your not thinking I'm a total weirdo for asking ..
Love your blog :)
well done! no more flowery wallpaper, no more 1950s housewife.
kitchen lookin' opulently green
Awesome look. I dig the green.
Nice job.
The floor is easy to do in a "linoleum tile". Email me.
That looks really terrific. I am super impressed. It is amazing what removing wallpaper and some paint can do.
I really don't like wallpaper. Does anyone even put up wallpaper anymore? It seems like every renovating story I hear about is involved in taking it down.
Anyway, great job. I like William's idea of replacing the flooring. I think a change on the floor could boost the room up to an even higher level of beauty.
I love how Bridge and the electric mixer are proudly displayed. I love white appliances, and they look awesome with the white cabinets. Now how do I talk my husband and dad into painting ours when we build them? They are color phobes and wood grain lovers. Wait, did I just say that my husband and dad are lovers?
Hmm, maybe I'll just paint them later. White cabinets and kids are a bad combination.
btw, and totally unrelated to this post (sorry!), but i've been meaning to ask if you and rob still geocache. my guess is YES, you do. so, if so, do you/can you geocache overseas? and, if so, have you ever found one over there? just curious(/nosey!).
kelly located one geocache
That is an amazing kitchen makeover - Great job!
Thanks, everyone! And to explain the tagline, the godawful wallpaper was flowery grapes. I like grapes...but not on my walls.
Charlotte, I know, right?! It's an impossibility.
Thanks, Sharkey!
I can't wait for next year's calendar, Kranki!
Thanks, Rz! And those are good ones - the "long-overdue" combo is quite impressive.
It was tons of work, Bente, but totally worth it.
You are doing great work over at your place too, geeky. It's sorta fun, isn't it? You know, for the first 10 minutes.
Hi mrtl!
Welcome, Lisa! And thanks for your comment! The paint we used was Valspar Signature (at Lowe's) in Turtle Green. It was the first swatch we brought home, and then we brought home about 20 more to compare but still chose this one in the end. So far I've been very pleased with the color.
Another great tagline, jane! I actually might enjoy a 1950s housewife kitchen. Retro is fun. But the flowery HAD TO GO.
Thanks again for your help, William! I fear a perfectionistic person like myself could not complete a tiling job with sanity still intact, but you haven't led me astray yet...
Yeah, Danielle, the floor is next on the list. And I have NO IDEA why anyone would put up wallpaper. I saw an article in a home magazine about how patterns are coming back and it was all I could do not to scream, "NOOOOO!!! Don't do it!!!!"
I think wooden cabinets can be quite lovely, UCM. But our cheap shit cabinets were not. Paint was the only way to redeem them.
We don't do it as much anymore, Rz. But still sometimes. And yes, there are lots overseas. We didn't look for any on this last trip, but we found some in London and Paris when we went a few years ago. It's actually a great way to see a city b/c the geocaches take you places you might not have gone otherwise, and they're usually hella cool spots since the caches are placed by locals.
Thanks, Jenski!
Thinking along a similar line to Rz...can you do a show n tell post introducing us to some of the quirkiest, coolest, wackiest geocaches you've found?
wow--I know it's been said, but you did such a great job!! I can't wait to see it in person!
And for the record, THAT is a kitchen worthy of serving titbits!
Oh that looks gorgeous!!!!! Very well done. We repainted our old cabinets and put them in the garage. Looks very nice.
And where was the post about removing that wallpaper??? NO ONE can remove wallpaper without it causing at least 4 breakdowns. Seriously. Wallpaper is, I have said, the DEVIL.
Wow, that's amazing!! Just a little paint and a whole world of difference. We don't have crazy wallpaper, but we have stark white walls everywhere, and I'm thinking we need to warm it up to sell. Awesome job!
That's a good idea, jane! We have found (and hidden) some very creative caches. I'm not sure I have any photos of them, though.
You can totally nibble on my titbits the next time you're here, doreen.
This was my breakdown, Jana. After that I set my jaw in stubborn determination and tore the shit out of the stuff. Wallpaper is definitely the devil.
Thanks, Mainline Mom! It is amazing how much difference just paint can make.