Jarret and Catherine of Bungalow Bungahigh had a classic renovation story play out when rehabbing the kitchen in their Chicago home. What could go wrong, did, and the job took much longer than initially expected. But, I'm sure you'll agree the results are worth it — just check out the after:
Here's the story from Jarrett and Catherine: We bought our 1931 Chicago bungalow knowing that we'd have to do one major renovation project: the kitchen! What we didn't count on was just how big a project that would prove to be. We like to consider ourselves pretty handy people, so we naively thought we could handle a kitchen re-do, no problem. When the work began, though, we ran into setback after setback, including missing floors under cabinets, rerouting drainage pipes, installing appliances in a kitchen not built for modern conveniences, and relocating a radiator.
After three months of washing dishes in the bathtub and cooking every meal on our Weber grill, we ended up with a finished project that we're incredibly happy with.
We designed the IKEA kitchen using the company's planning software. The cabinets and countertops are all from IKEA. We were lucky enough to be able to incorporate the original cast iron sink after we replaced the faucet. We installed beadboard after we knocked out the mosaic tiles and badly damaged the plaster walls. And, we were able to reclaim enough original baseboard from the kitchen and back stairwell to cover the entire room.
In the end, we're really pleased with how the room turned out. I'm not sure we would choose a house with this much work again in the future, but we're pretty glad for our naivety!
Lots more photos and info: Bungalow Bungahigh
The kitchen on Apartment Therapy: Farmhouse Kitchen in a Bungalow
Images: Bungalow Bungahigh
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Wow! I love the after, but I can't believe you were able to rid yourselves of those fabulous spotlight pulls on your old drawers. I may be biased (I have the same kitchen with the same knobs) but I would have used those in the white kitchen! Still, a beautiful after.
That turned out great! I especially love the floor, countertops, and sink!
Such an improvement! Love the beadboard w/ moulding & how it creates a useful ledge
Looks great, and I think it fits the character of the home (from what I can see).
Wow! Is this the same room? What a transformation. Love it, especially the butcher's block counter tops.
Looks fantastic! Great job!
Those fabulous old cabinets!
Oh well.
The old kitchen units, while probably not in the best of shape, were just darling! I'd love to see them painted a nice pastel colour- the pulls on them are classic.
I hope they got passed on to someone who will give them the TLC they deserve.
Very crisp and fresh. I'm in Chicago and I'm going to watch for the knobs from the original cabinets on Craigslist, love them.
Wow, I thought I was the only one who likes old kitchens! I am lusting after the old cabinet handles also...and <3 chrome trimmed counters (even as I recall how they accumulate grime in the crevices.) I love the unique and original and authentic, and Ikea cannot provide either.
Still, the new kitchen is lovely! Very clean and streamlined.
love everything. the white cabinets with butcherblock countertop is my ultimate dream. love the wainscoting, too.
I think the old cabinets and knobs are better than the IKEA MDF cabinet. Looks good though.
I like the old classic cabinets, too.
I have that same sink, the trim band is absolute hell to keep clean, as it creates terrible little grooves on either side of it that trap so much gunk!
This looks very familiar. Haven't we seen this before? I distinctly remember people mourning the loss of the little peninsula and half-moon shelves.
Sure the old cabinets have charm, but if you've lived with them before, you'd remember that they get musty at that age (even after a fresh coat of paint!) and those knobs can get rusty as well.
The new reno is gorgeous! I love the choices you made!
Sell those spotlight knobs! Rejuvination lighting asks $10 a pop for the remakes.
ha, I had that wagon wheel light in my former c1950 house and actually miss it.
The new cabinets and countertops look so much functional plus it is such a clean fresh feeling to the kitchen. Great job!!
seen this....
It looks great and I love the materials choices, but not changing/improving the layout is a huge miss for me. The stove in a corner, argh.
Those who mourn the old cabinets, as charming as they may have been, have perhaps never experienced the functional awesomeness is that is full extension drawers with roller glides, doors that shut properly, clean-able interior surfaces sans shelf paper and configurable interior organizers. It's what makes old kitchen cabinets a deal breaker. That and the skunky smell, as someone else mentioned. Unless you never actually use the kitchen, of course.
I was hoping to see those old cabinets and metal-trimmed laminate restored ... kind of like when you see a beat up rusty '55 Chevy pulled out of a barn ...
I don't usually say negative things on these comments, but it's so sad to see someone throw away beautiful vintage streamline real-wood cabinets like that... and replace them with off-the-shelf Ikea particle board (which has formaldehyde in it, btw... just where you want to keep your food and dishes).
You had something beautiful and authentic and real -- a piece of American history, and it was chucked for something mass-produced, bland, and environmentally questionable.
For other renovators-to-be: if you have something good, why not hang onto it and fix it up?
AMAZING!!!
uhm, yawn. just when i thought i was the biggest fan of vintage, the loudest proponent of older is better, i log into AT for my reality check!
i dunno,while both kitchens are visually appealing, they both lacking a certain useability or moderness or something. and it looks like butcher block is scheduled to make a come back.
The old cupboards were cute, but there is so much more storage now, and the new ones look great. I wish the previous owners of my house had the imagination of this couple, but alas, they just replaced the cabinets here with what I call the "rental property special." It's on the long list of things to be changed in our bungalow.
I agree with KayinKCMO, we've seen this before. Why does AT feel the need to repeat posts?
Or at least just be up front about the reposting...
I can't imagine some of you actually prefer the "before" shot. I'm all about restoring old stuff when possible, but those old cabinets?? And that nasty old tile wall?? Ewww. (I will grant you that the old door pulls were kind of neat.)
We bought a 1930 rowhouse that "just needs a new kitchen" under a year ago. I took the place down to bare studs over the summer and only finally put the finishing touches on it in December. So, I know what the owners went through! Well done!
In a kitchen, I want function. Look at the old cabinets. Doors on every single one, which means you have to crouch down and paw through everything in there to find the one thing you want. They've been replaced with drawers. Until you have big drawers in your kitchen, you have no idea what you are missing. Now they can just pull out the drawer, immediately see exactly what's in there and pull out what they need. We've had a couple comments about how grody the countertop and sink edges get with the stuff shown above. In a kitchen, I want clean, not grody. If the cabinets were recycled, hopefully they can find a home with someone who appreciates them. I'm with the homeowners on this one. New all the way!
Or at least just be up front about the reposting...
Janel is relatively upfront about reposting, going so far as to link to the original post by Susie Nadler 12 months ago. Still WHY it needs to be reposted remains unclear, since he used exactly the same before and after photos.
On the other hand, only four of the thirty one comments have noticed this, so I guess it's for the benefit of all the AT newbies. It is, after all, a fantastic remodel.
I don't care, I like ikea cabinets, though I have not lived with them. The cabinets I've lived with are a lot less functional (and attractive). I cannot imagine that the old cabinets had soft-close mechanisms on them, for one.
It's sad to see a MidCentury Modest kitchen bite the dust in favor of BigBox Bland...
The before kitchen was ridiculously impractical (practically no drawers, no storage, etc), likely also frustrating (drawers that stick and don't fit anything) and dark and depressing. I've lived with one of these kitchens and would take useful storage with drawers that glide, etc, any day.
Sometimes I feel like people comment on AT just to have a forum to be nasty and vent their sour grapes.
The old cabinets were extraordinary. Why the mania to "update" kitchens? Work with what you have. It's the green way and ultimately more creative.
There actually isn't much more, if any, additional storage space there. The layout is pretty much unchanged. Adding upper cabinets and sliding the originals down to allow for the dishwasher would have added as much space. It just ends up being pottery barn generic, though, in their defense, IKEA cabinets are quite good quality.
I have friends who restored their 50's era kitchen and it looks great. I have a circa 1960 kitchen which I wouldn't replace for love or money (ok, I might if offered the right deal, but the layout is good, it looks nice and the cabinets are rock solid plywood).
Beautiful! I'm in Chicago, too, and look forward to the days of being able to make a kitchen our own. I love how simple, clean, and uncluttered yours is. Great job!
I would like to use butcher block countertops in my kitchen remodel but have been wondering about using them near a sink? I have an old porcelain sink that I would like to reuse as well. Any tips?
How sad to see those great cabinets and pulls go. You could have restored them.
Agree with the "old cabinets were better" group, especially if they wanted white cabinets...why not just paint them? Kinda silly.
Although I will say the remodel is a classic style enough that it should stay in style for awhile, but just wished they would've went with a custom cabinet maker and not IKEA.
Also, stop posting this story.
Maybe the kitchen was falling apart and smelly and beyond grimy. Hence the remodel. Would you keep wearing old, smelly, sole-less sneakers just because they were cool & classic? Kudos to the remodel. People have budgets to keep so if big box helps, so be it!
This has been seen before- I saved the 'after' photo as inspiration the last time it was posted!! Still love the finished result though!
You've managed for a big box kitchen to look timeless and classic. Good Job. (I'm redoing my 50's bungalow kitchen right now too...ah, the musty seemingly toxic paint with the chipped wood and peeling floor wasn't worth all of its nostalgia :)
I love it ! beautiful and classic.
i haven't seen this post before (and i bet i would have survived seeing it twice in 12 months, too :-D)
love the new kitchen. i love butcher block countertops - i have them from IKEA, too, and they holding up well. i think renovating the old cabinets would have been loads more work than this renovation already took, because just painting them wouldn't have been much of an improvement.
well done!
Because we are in the throws of our own bungalow renovation and because I cannot bear to cook anything else in the toaster oven and then dry the dishes on the floor another meal, this is an inspiring remodel...
We have our very own "charming" cabinetry with 60 years of grease, grime, and pure ick on them and in them. I completely understand the need for clean, white cabinets!
Love the open shelving. This is the look we are going for as well. Cheers.
I recall the previous post and thought the remodel was very nice! Love the bead board and I also like the open shelving, although in my own kitchen I don't find it practical.
I did a complete remodel of a 1950's kitchen--gutted it completely as the old layout was impractical. It was a big job, but I'm glad we invested in it. I couldn't be happier with the results.
I can't believe all the people raving about the "old" look. It's possibly the same amount of space, but a much worse layout. Plus, the counter juts into the middle of the kitchen. Hard to use, and with the cabinets and counter space on the opposite wall, not even sure you'd be able to get through.