If you’ve ever renovated a kitchen, you know it’s a huge undertaking. In our former home all we did was replace appliances and countertops and even that was a big deal! There’s so many decisions to be made, and they need to be made with a great deal of forethought because for most of us, a kitchen redo is something we will do once and be done with it. Not only is it disruptive to go through, but it’s extremely expensive. Do it once and do it right.
This kitchen redo, which belongs to friends of ours, exemplifies excellent, solid choices that will stand the test of time.
Did you picture these cabinets when you read the blog title? I know it’s what I think of when I think of kitchens that were designed in the 80’s. I don’t know who the manufacturer was, but they must have made a killing! We had these cabinets in our co-op apartment at the time, and so did millions of other people!
These friends have a home in our community, but they also have this home about an hour away which is most likely their ‘forever’ home, so they wanted a kitchen that not only was updated, but reflected their classic style of decorating.
When I look at these ‘before’ pictures, I see potential. Lots and lots of potential. They’ve got plenty of space to work with, good light from a large kitchen window as well as another window in the dining area, and good locations for the appliances and sink. It just needed to be brought into the 21st century!
TA-DA!!!! Beautiful, yes?
One of the major design choices they made was to remove the peninsula and add a free standing island in its place. This brings the seating into the kitchen area, where it belongs, rather than intruding on the dining space. Their choice of seats around the island works perfectly. They are so unobtrusive, we were there for more than an hour before even realizing there were four seats, not just two!
Behind the refrigerator wall is the garage, so they took advantage of that and bumped out the wall a bit. This allowed for a standard depth refrigerator almost flush with the cabinets, which makes a difference under normal circumstances, but when your fridge is next to an entry door it’s even more important!
I think this is their favorite feature in the entire kitchen, and I don’t blame them. (More info on them later).
Here’s the adjacent dining space. They added some built-ins and a window seat ♥, and the cabinet finish is the same as the kitchen island, which ties the two spaces together nicely.
Here’s the 411:
They choose a wonderful ‘marble look’ counter, called quartzite in ‘super white’, only found in Brazil. I think if I was redoing a kitchen, I would have made the same choice. They’re even more beautiful in person.
Faucet: Rohl
Cooktop: Wolf
Dishwasher, microwave and double ovens: Bosch
Refrigerator: LG
Range hood: XO
Cabinets: Candlelight Cabinetry, which makes a lovely, creamy white finish which I love. Definitely a color I would seriously consider too.
Grilles: these were custom fabricated in the U.K. to exact size. The material is polished nickel. They consist of two layers of mesh, and each layer is customizable in terms of metal type, mesh size and type and placement of rosettes on the outer grille. They happened to have been delivered the day we were coming over, and they were able to install them themselves quite easily before we got there.
- What do you think of this kitchen? Anything you would change?
Marilyn @ Pink Paper Cottage says
What an outstanding look they achieved! Gorgeous. For those of us with a very very tight budget (or none at all for any sort of remodel!)… there are some ideas here that could be used even for the “do it yourself” couple. Love those gray countertops and the grilled cupboard fronts. Love the freestanding island much better than the one making the kitchen more closed in. It is very rich and elegant looking. I would LOVE to have all of that space! Sigh….. thank you for sharing! xoxoxo
Donna says
Stunning. Love it all and you captured it beautifully. The 80s look was made popular by Pergament and Channel before Home Depot came on the scene.
The church is a beauty.
Pinky says
What a beautiful transformation!
Al says
I actually had those same cabinets in two of my homes when I lived in teacherages, and in the last apartment I rented before buying a house. I love the grilles and the window seat with built in cabinets. What a fantastic update!
Kim says
Classic, elegant and totally unrecognizable from its before shot! I love it!!
Rita C at Panoply says
This kitchen is lovely! However, I wouldn’t call it an update, but rather a complete renovation/gut job. We’re are currently in the process of making selections for an update, but we’re keeping the basic layout and cabinetry. Even that’s turning into what feels like a reno – so many considerations with replacing appliances now, let alone faucets, sinks, countertop materials (we’re choosing quartz also). This was very timely and great to see, Doreen. Your friends made some awesome selections. Thanks for sharing!
Cecilia says
Oh huge difference! Those 80 cabinets were everywhere and just plain ugly. Love, love, love this makeover. Those grills on the cabinet doors (swoon), the window seat and cabinets in the dining room, the island, all of it! Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
Hugs
Mary - the boondocks blog says
What a gorgeous kitchen Doreen. The island is really beautiful and serves to unify the whole space.
Cindi says
Wow!, I mean WOW!
Lovely.
Poppy says
A beautiful transformation! The cool grey with the crisp white and all the design details make this kitchen welcoming and workable! Kudos to all involved in its amazing metamorphosis!
Poppy
Carrie@northwoods scrapbook says
This is perfection! What a great job!! Glad you mentioned it in your other post so I could check it out. I love makeovers like this!! 😉 xoxo
kelly says
Wow! I love how their kitchen turned out! It’s so modern and fresh. I love her new counters. I will take a look at those as we plan on replacing our granite counters in our kitchen soon. Our sink is ruined and is an odd shape. Our granite is cut in that odd shape around it. So, we have to replace our counters in order to replace our sink. Note to self: No more odd shaped sinks in our future! I love that marble look without it being marble. We were told that even water stains marble! So, I don’t know why it’s so popular!
Barbara says
Oh, Doreen, I just saw this blog post. Thanks for showing and explaining our new kitchen so beautifully!
The old laminate and oak cabinets were made by Merillat, do you remember that company? They were pretty popular back in the ’80s.
I hope you are having fun. Safe travels back home.