I LOVE this kitchen! What an fantastic reno!

awesome job! would you be willing to share the grand total? I am curious b/c our kitchen reno looks very similar and always fun to share and compare.

Beautiful renovation! I love the open storage below the L-shaped counter. It opens it up visually without losing work space.

I might be coming over for breakfast (and leaving with your hot pink mixer!)

Nice job.

Do you get bits of crumbs and debris at the edges of your sink (where the counter top meets the sink?) I've looked at those sinks and thought of adding a thin piece of plywood to the tops of the cabinets BEFORE placing the countertop over it. That way there is a smooth transition for crumbs to fall into the sink.

World of difference! How terrible was that old kitchen? Yikes.
Great job!

What a fantastic re-do. I love the use of the table lamp in the dining area to give it a cozy warmth in the evening!

What an inspiring remodel! I ditto Jasmine in that I would love to know what it cost to do this. Amazing!

can you share your wall color?

We're looking for a subtle gray to paint our office, and that looks perfect...

Amazing transformation! I love your pale gray walls. Can you tell us what paint brand and shade you used? I'm looking for a pale gray for my living room walls.

Great job! Makes me think I might even be able to tackle my own kitchen.....would love to know the budget, if you would consider sharing, and where the appliances are from.

I particularly like the vintage dresser in the dining area -- it adds just the right amount of warmth. But, are you hitting your head (or the cabinet door) on the hanging pots?

I love the tiled backsplash. I also love the Weegee print. It feels subtly ironic considering the work he's usually known for.

This looks great and you can't go wrong with white. I am not crazy about the choice of hardware and the hanging pots but that is just being knit picky on a overall well done accomplishment.

I really do like the end result - It's so good to see folks revamping/reusing their existing cabinets rather than sledgehammering it out as if they were on HGTV and sending the bits to the landfill.

But Janel, the old countertop clearly wasn't concrete - it was a tile countertop laid in the traditional manner, on a mortar bed.

It looks great. I love (mostly) white kitchens. I like everything about it. I want to go in and sit down. (PS I have the same coffee maker and burr grinder.)

I love everything about it! I like the hanging rack except I would be bonking my head on it. Is it really higher than it looks and the photo angle makes it look head height? Are there more pots over the stove? Anyway that is an impressive transformation.

I love how you redid your cabinets! Very lovely. What a nice kitchen.

Love it!

Really nice. I also applaud your keeping the old cabinets. I probably would have re-used the old cabinets' hardware and maybe kept the original ceiling fixture but dropped it down a bit, as you did with the new light.

By the way, what are the new counters made of?

Holly here. Thanks so much, everyone! I'm so thrilled by your comments. To answer a few questions:

* The paint on the walls is Valspar's Filtered Shade. We were originally going to go with a pale aqua, but after weeks of going back and forth and trying every aqua or turquoise sample known to man, we just walked into Lowe's, chose a pale gray that looked nice, and went with that. Boom, decision made in five seconds! Not like me at all, but miraculously it turned out well.

* Budget-wise, we probably spent a little under $6k, if you include absolutely EVERYTHING (down to the light fixtures, the new chairs, etc.) We were lucky enough that the stove and dishwasher were gifts, but everything else, big and small, is included in that total. The Caesarstone countertops were the biggest splurge by FAR and made up about a third of the total budget, but they were worth it to us (particularly since someone else installed them!) We made it up with the 21-cent subway tile, waiting for the appliances we really wanted to go on sale, and by doing absolutely everything else ourselves.

* Nope, we don't bang our heads on the hanging pots and pans! Probably can't see it as well in the picture, but they line up with the edge of the counter, so you're never walking directly under them. I might have to warn myself from time to time not to start headbanging violently while chopping vegetables beneath them, but it hasn't been a problem so far!

* Bepsf: you're right, the counters were indeed tile laid in a really, really thick application of Thinset. Once we'd chipped all the tile off, it was like lifting a section of sidewalk! Didn't have to go to the gym THAT day, that's for sure.

whoa! good job

Fantabulous!

Wow! So inspiring!

Great job - it looks fantastic! I'm a fan of your blog and hadn't seen a kitchen update yet so this was a nice surprise!

oh my gosh! love love it! i especially like the use of a table lamp on the ?buffet? it's something you don't expect to see and not a lot of people use.

Thank you so much for ridding the world of the "Before" kitchen.

Wow, what an amazing transformation!
Tile counter tops, why would anyone ever think those were a good idea.

Lovely. White is always classic, and it's so much lighter feeling than what was there before. Especially that wallpaper....

I've been thinking about painting our cabinetry white, but really if I'm going to invest that much effort I'd prefer to knock them out and get taller cabinets since our kitchen is so tiny.

One more thing--inspirational success stories like this are what keeps me coming back to AT.

Looks so comfy. I especially like the chalkboard-part.

How lovely is this?? What a wonderful job you've done. Congrats.

You have given me such inspiration! We are in the process of buying a small 1200 sq ft. beach house built in 1913 and it is so dated on the inside - a disaster really, but it's all we can afford. The kitchen in particular looks like it's from the 40s so we have a big job ahead of us (and of course we have barely any $ leftover to do it) so thanks for sharing the 6k pricetag. Some of the ideas I had for it you have already done (painting existing cabinets white, caesarstone c-tops, white subway tile backsplash), white farmhouse sink, and retiling floor. I will check out your blog for sure. You have a talent and should be v. proud of the end result - esp all for 6k. I keep getting told it will be 40-50k to redo a kitchen and I'm determined to prove them wrong by a lot. Thanks for sharing!
p.s. - where did you get the sink?

Love this! Definately better than the before! I love seeing transformations like this! White cabinets are my fave, love the tile, and I also love the open shelves on the bottom. Oh, and chalkboard walls have my heart. Basically, I would do this if I could!

Lovely kitchen too. I love the mostly white kitchen and chose the same despite being 'warned' over and over again not to do it.

Fantastic job. And I really like the backsplash.

www.casacooper.blogspot.com

This is so beautiful!

allyg - you can save a lot of money by sourcing items yourself, taking your time to find sale items and using basic materials in a more modern way. We even installed brand new ikea kitchen cabinets and a caesarstone countertop - and only came in around $10k.

We saved money by installing shelving instead of cabinets on one side of the kitchen - it also brightens the room - so it was a great choice! We did a lot ourselves - ikea cabinets are super easy to assemble and just require basic skills to install (make sure to use a level!). If you do get new cabinets - ikeafans.com was a fantastic resource! We also found a countertop contractor on craigslist!

We're taking our time adding appliances - we used our existing white stove and old fridge, and left a space for our dishwasher. We'll replace those when we finish the rest of the house and find great deals.

overstock.com has great deals on sinks and faucets. We got our faucet on ebay! And I can attest to how fantastic the cheap Home Depot subway tile is!

Good luck and share pics! :)

I usually hate hanging pots and pans, but here they work really well, defining the space without blocking it off. It's a wonderful renovation.

Holly, great job!!

I have an absolutely horrific kitchen from the 70s going on. Someday I will tackle it. It's unbelievable that a kitchen renovation could cost upwards of $40-50k. So it's especially encouraging to see such a great DIY renovation done on a realistic budget.

Lovely to see another successful use of Valspar's Filtered Shade. I've seen a few applications of the shade around the blogosphere and it always seems to come up trumps:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/03/before-after-amys-louisianna-home.html

http://www.doorsixteen.com/2009/01/27/inside-the-closet/

(Not sure why URLs aren't converting to links, sorry!)

What a wonderful transformation! Talk about bang for your buck!

Oh, this is just beautiful.

It would make me very happy to wake up and walk into that kitchen every morning. Beautiful work!

Lovely job, but I have to admit that I cringe when I see wood painted over.

Great job!

Thanks for posting this. I'm in the middle of renovating a very similar kitchen and oddly enough it looks like I may be headed in the same direction you did. Can I ask what paint you used for the walls including the chalkboard paint???
You did a beautiful job!

NM! I found your original post. Thanks!

Rhodajr -- the countertops are Caesarstone in Misty Carrera. (Is it just me or does that sort of sound like a stripper's name?)

Allyg -- Sink is from IKEA!

Laurennoel33 -- the paint on the walls is Valspar's Filtered Shade and the paint on the cabinets is Valspar's Ultra White. I think the chalkboard paint was also Valspar, come to think of it.

Thanks again everyone for the kind comments!

fantastic job! well done!

Holly,

Still wondering if you get bits of food and other crumbs TRAPPED at the edge of the sink where it meets the countertop, and if so, does it bother you?
Just thinking it would be so much nicer to wipe them away directly into the sink without that "lip" being there.

Oh sorry, burnttoast, somehow missed this! Hmm, no, haven't so far had a problem with crumbs and things getting trapped at the edge of the sink where it meets the countertop. I can see what you mean, but it hasn't been an issue so far -- we just wipe vertically down that seam, if that makes sense, and cup a hand beneath to catch any debris.

OMG amazing - great job!

You did an amazing job. You should be very proud!

This looks like the kitchen of a house my mom bought. She re-did hers on the cheap, too. It's amazing how much some white paint and new hardware on the cabinets can do.

Great job holly!
Where did you find your table? Thanks

Flowergirl777, the table is the Odyssey from CB2. Hope that helps!

Where is the oven or cooktop or range?

@glitterific, you can see more photos here:

http://nothingbutbonfires.com/photos/sets/72157625387838574

Beautiful job.........right down to the pot rack!!