This day is finally here! Our kitchen is D-O-N-E. It’s been many months in the making, so let’s do a quick recap…
Here’s how it looked when we moved in:
Pink walls…
Beige formica counters…
Outdated chrome and brass fixtures…
Empty, unused walls and lack of counter space…
Whitewashed 90’s oak cabinets…
Mismatched fluorescent lighting….
White linoleum floors…
and the list goes on.
Last summer we made a few big updates including recessed lighting, new tile floors, granite counters, stainless steel undermount sink, glass subway tile backsplash, and a built in bar area which nearly doubled our counter space!
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| Tile: Giotto Grey, from Lowe’s |
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| Granite: Kashmir White, from Lowe’s |
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| Subway tile: Special order from Lowe’s, Emser’s Lucente in Morning Fog |
We lived with it like this for a while… when last month I finally decided to bite the bullet and paint our cabinets. In addition, we had open shelving installed on the big empty wall. Here’s what the kitchen looked like in the midst of all this…
And now, finally, every last detail is in place and our little kitchen is ready for it’s big debut:
I was debating between oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel pulls, and I’m SO glad I went this route. I picked up the entire set of 16 on Ebay for under $80 (after my Ebay bucks)!
We also ditched the old exposed hinges and opted for concealed “soft-close” hinges, which apparently is this new technology that allows you to just gently push the door in and the spring loaded hinge will slowly pull the door closed on its own (they’ve had this for drawers for a while, but the guy at the cabinet place said this has only been around less than a year for cabinets). The hinges were under $3 a pop each, so for around $100 we were able to do the whole kitchen. SO worth it.
These open shelves… oh my goodness. They must be my favorite thing in the house.
I had so much fun accessorizing them…
DIY wooden sign tutorial coming soon (the flower bucket was a diy makeover as well).
How cute is this lil guy? It’s an owl coin bank from ZGallerie. Brad and I always seem to have loose change on the counters, so this was the perfect solution for the kitchen.
Still loving my white canister set I scored at Goodwill for $4!
I did another fun project to fill a wall… a white chalk board using DIY chalkboard paint and an old frame…
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| The metal bucket holds our colorful chalk |
Tutorial on this also coming soon.
I had been searching for the perfect phone charging/organizing station to put on our counter, because this is how it was looking every day:
Not cute.
I had brought home a wire basket from Hobby Lobby (on sale of course) with no idea what I was going to use it for… when suddenly it clicked:
Jenna Sue says
Valspar's Tranquil: https://jennasuedesign.blogspot.com/p/florida-home.html
Anonymous says
What color paint did you use in there?
Jenna Sue says
Thanks! We had a carpenter custom make them for us: https://jennasuedesign.blogspot.com/2012/01/well-this-is-exciting.html
Anonymous says
I love the brackets holding up the open shelving. Would you mind sharing where you got those?! Beautiful kitchen!
Ash says
My dad is a custom cabinet builder, and he's been using those soft close hinges for cabinets for 20 years (I hate to burst that guy's bubble, but he told you wrong… hahaha). But still, beautiful kitchen. Great job.
Emily says
What an amazing before and after. Love how light and bright your kitchen is!!!
C says
LOVE those open shelves!!!!
I'm curious as to why your cabinet guy told you that the soft close hinges for cabinets have only been around for a year or so… we had our kitchen renovated about 6 years ago, and got those hinges put in all teh cabinets then!!! The good news is, that 6 years later, they still close softly!!
Christine says
question… did you guys paint the cabinet yourself? You mentioned your installer picked up the hinges so wasn't sure. I only want to swap out the hinges on my kitchen and wasn't sure if you suggest tackling that or going with an installer
Between Blue and Yellow says
This looks so beautiful! What an amazing difference, great work!
Jenna Sue says
Wendy – yes, the bottom shelf had to go through the glass tile. It wasn't hard, you just need the right drill bit. We recapped that process here: https://jennasuedesign.blogspot.com/2012/01/well-this-is-exciting.html
Wendy says
Hi – I love your renewed kitchen! Did you install your open shelving on top of the tiles? Is it hard to drill through them?
Anne @ Hello Newman's says
looks so wonderful. I love it. we are getting new counters installed tomorrow and I CAN”T WAIT!
wherelovemeetslife says
What an after! I am realyl liking your open shelving… and the cute stuff you put on them! And that backsplash is wonderful. I think my hubby would actually go for that.
angesattic says
I love the counter tops with the shiny subway tile backsplash. It all turned out so lovely!
vanessa says
Love love love this! Such a great transformation! I'll have to remember those hinges.