I had the great fortune of moving into my grandparents house on our family farm a couple of years ago. It hadn't been touched much since it was built in 1971, so we saw it as an opportunity to make it exactly what we wanted... starting with the removal of the mostly original carpet. It covered the entire house from kitchen to bathroom!
Since it's a working farm, our house projects are limited to winter time. Last winter we worked on the kitchen and could not be more pleased with the result. Doing most of the work ourselves, we not only added beauty, but tons of functionality that would accommodate the many extras we often feed -- especially at harvest time. We love our hard-working kitchen!
See more photos, plus project details, over on Joellyn's blog: Montana Prairie Tales.
Thanks, Joellyn!
Have your own Before & After project you'd like to share with the editors? Submit it here.
(Images: Joellyn Clark)
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So gorgeous! And I love the idea of putting the oven in the end of the island.
i am astounded! beautiful job!
wow that before is so awesomely bad...carpet in the kitchen!!!!! hardly seems the same place
I think she did a beautiful job! Our kitchen was almost as bad when we moved in so I feel her pain. The result is worth it, though. I love the open shelves!
one word - FABULOUS!!!!
I love this! I'm going to head over to her blog now!
LOVE IT! Cant wait to checkout more on the blog!
So amazing! Take a look at ALL of the photos on the blog. They transformed so much in that area. One of the best things was that they kept the original buffet and wall-mounted hutch in the corner next to the window and refinished it. It looks so modern now!
Looks fantastic! Makes me wish I documented my kitchen remodel better.
This is awesome. Looks like my dream kitchen. Nice!
I am crushing so hard on this kitchen.
I enjoyed the astoundingly awful before pics and think it is great that they left the cabinets/ buffet in the corner. Before and afters that are just about getting entirely rid of the before and purchasing a new after leave me a bit bored. Nothing too ingenious about that. I wish this post focused on the buffet area alone. It is very cool how they kept it as is and integrated it into the new look.
Just jumped back from your blog- it's amazing. Those before pictures...wow, it's like walking back in time! The sideboard/buffet cabinet that you refinished in the dining room- beauuuutiful restoration and "save". It took some vision to see it's potential, nice. Your grandparents would be/ must be (not sure if they are still around) so proud to see your labor of love.
I would usually agree that before and afters that are about purchasing a whole new kitchen would be boring, BUT I disagree here. It wasn't just a completely new kitchen. They moved everything around to be more efficient. The oven in the island is genius, as was removing the soffit in the corner above the windows and adding subway tile.
Wow this is so beautiful! Great job :)
Oh my goodness. That before was so awful that anything would be a big improvement! I think the after looks great though. Even though it's a modern look, it really works in that space. I love it.
AWESOME!
Thanks for the feature, AT! And thanks for all the lovely comments, everyone! My grandparents will never get see the project in person, but I hope they would feel like we honored their creation. It has been a privilege to live in their home.
The oven in the island is AWESOME. Perfect for taking things out and setting them on top to cool. Though, are those 3 ovens I see in total or is one a microwave?
Such a change! It looks stunning.
It might be a microwave? It's certainly too small to be a full sized oven and I hadn't even seen the double ovens in the wall before I commented on the one in the island. It could be a microwave. I've never seen one that opened down like that before.
What a great transformation. Love the subway tile.
GREAT job! Excellent use of space.
What I would do for a good kitchen reno! Fabulous job!
The "oven" in the island is a Sharp drawer style microwave. We love it! Its a great solution when you don't want to take space above.
This is really, really beautiful. I LOVE the subway tile and the refinished sideboard/buffet. Wonderful job!
Looks fantastic! So glad you were able to reuse the dining room cabinets. This gets the Mid-C Frank seal of approval!!!!!!
Nice work!
What an amazing transformation!!!
amazing. (and jealous)
Looks like you lost a lot of storage-ok IF you eat out-but not for a cook
just finished reading the full post on her blog - the entire transformation is so beautiful. i love that she kept the fireplace and the credenza/shelf unit. i also really like that this isn't a hands-off space - it is a hard working kitchen used to feed lots of people. great job!!!
Wow! What an amazing transformation.
Generally, when someone uses the term "grandma" to describe a kitchen, I am usually in love with it. Not this one. Great job!!
Make sure you go to her blog to see the whole kitchen before you say there's a loss of storage. She certainly considered this and has ample storage that's a custom fit for her.
Looks beautiful! Great subway tile wall.
Doesn't even look like the same kitchen! Amazing transformation!
Just went to the blog to see all the pictures. Applause, applause. This is just amazing and I too love that you kept the buffet and hutch. Brava!!!!
What I love most is that they kept the beautiful wall cabinets (both upper and lower) in the dining area. Looks like they just refinished or stained them. The glass doors are esp. gorgeous.
Incredible. Beautifully done. The new kitchen fits perfectly with the old installation in the dining area and vice versa.
Go here to see the planned layout - looks like the old corner sink becamse an additional prep sink and the main sink is in the new island. Love that! http://www.montanaprairietales.com/blog/2011/12/14/kitchen-layout-plans.html
This is so cool to see your amazing kitchen on AT! -Kristi
GORGEOUS! Love that functionality and feeding people were your main drivers - and it looks amazing, too! I think you've honored your grandparents and their home by putting so much love into it. :)
Is this even the same house? great job!
Joellyn's blog is wonderful. She's a good writer and the photos are top-notch. The entire family appears to be charming. I can't imagine anything more unlike moi than a life on the Montana prairie, but I am entranced by this blog.
I bought several houses in Pittsburgh, PA, over the years and in the process of searching for them I saw (and even bought) more than a few houses with what I call babushka-gramma decor, but Joellyn's "before" photos are right up there in the pantheon. If I live to be 100, I'll never get over feeling shock when I see wall-to-wall carpeting in a kitchen. Joellyn and Tom are an amazing transformers.
This is truly "night and day" personified! I love they kept the original hutch,but not really feeling the stain.
Holy cow. That Before Kitchen is something. I think it should have been removed "as is" and put in the Smithsonian as a 1970s exemplar.
Love the result!
... But imagine when all the grandma kitchens have been made over? D: No more authenti-kitch!
Beautiful.
Spent like 20 mins yesterday going through all the before & afters on their blog. This is AWESOME.
Serious kitchen remodeling envy here! Kudos on a fabulous job.
the tile on the wall is very good touch
I love how the curtains play off the pattern of that fireplace wall.
looks soo much better. question: say you got ugly cabinets like the before only more matte and a little darker AND you can't paint or replace. ive done a lot with temporary wallpaper on the walls, and lighting. still....
Kudos. Great plan, beautifully executed.
love the white tiles and floating shelves... a nice change from the heavy overhead cupboards! Actually i love all the details in this kitchen...i wouldn't change a thing! (except maybe for installing a celebrity chef to cook for me!)
wow..just flicked through the other photos on the blog..its amazing how changing the stain colour (aussie spelling!!) on the timber wall unit in the dining room can alter the appearance of the piece and transform the room...went from blaghh to on-trend recycled timber look awesomeness!
wow. It'd hard to imagine that it is the same place.
Wow what I transformation! Images like this is why I love interior design
Wow - looks great!
Wow. Amazing. Gorgeous. Perfect. Congratulations on your transformation!
love. love. love. love the design. love the end product. love that they documented and the before and after pictures match up and we can see ALL the room in the picture. These are how photos for room make-overs should be! love that they didn't change the amount of space but it seems so much bigger and is far more functional.
Loved this post. Amazing transformation! Creative and practical with great style. Thanks for sharing! (pin, pin, pin...)
I found this a few weeks ago and loved it but somehow forgot to save the link anywhere. I just spent the past two days searching all over a. t. and google trying to find it again and I'm SO happy I finally was able to! I LOVE everything about this kitchen! Great job!!