Kitchen

A few things to love from the ’70s, design-wise? Macrame, rattan, funky patterns — even conversation pits. A few things that certainly aren’t missed from the decade? Orange-toned everything, fluorescent lighting, and bland laminate countertops.Unfortunately, Jenessa Weaver’s 1977 kitchen had several not-so-fun-or-funky ’70s details, and she was looking for a change. So she enlisted the help of her childhood best friend, Alysha, designer and owner of Camp Interiors.

Adding a limewash paint treatment to your walls can add a vintage, worldly aesthetic to even a brand-new space. It’s often used in living rooms and bedrooms, but DIYer and apartment dweller Teresa Rudolph added it to her kitchen — and the result is stunning. When she moved in, the kitchen had crisp white walls, checkered floors, and a basic white kitchen setup on the left-hand side.

When my partner and I bought our 1928 Arts & Crafts bungalow home in Portland, Oregon, at the end of 2023, I knew the kitchen was going to be a project. The floors were painted black and chipping off in large flecks. The countertops were avocado green and streaked with rust stains. The walls were gloomy and gray, and made the whole room feel like a basement. And the appliances? Beyond saving.

Two of Lyric and Chantelle’s, of Casa Garnish, favorite pastimes are cooking and hosting. However, their kitchen, which was last updated in 2016, wasn’t proving to be the most inspiring environment for those two activities. “The kitchen was your classic old kitchen with gray walls and wood cabinets and standard granite countertops,” Chantelle and Lyric explain.

A home — regardless of whether it’s rented or owned — should be a reflection of the people who live there. Content creator Élise needed that to be the case in her house, especially in the kitchen. When she moved in, the room had mint green cabinets and floral wallpaper, which she described as “grandma chic in a cutesy way.” It wasn’t going to work for her.

Look closely at the cabinets in Christina Riley’s kitchen. See anything weird? Yep, those top ones are upside-down.“We thought maybe someone had just flipped the doors as a prank,” says Christina. “But when we removed the cabinet boxes on day two of living in the house, we realized they were installed completely upside down!”That was the weirdest part of their home’s kitchen, but it wasn’t the only thing they weren’t wild about.

When Jessica Archibald and her husband Stephen bought their 1909 home, it was “like walking into a ’60s time capsule,” Jessica says. There was an intercom system, built-in radio, Formica countertops, and carpet.“Sixty-year-old carpet on the kitchen floor,” Jessica says. “It doesn’t get more disgusting than that.

Cramped quarters can make it hard to want to spend much time in a kitchen. And plenty of factors beyond actual square footage can contribute to that feeling — dark finishes, bulky cabinetry, and blocked windows, for starters.Van Tuyet (@percivalinbloom) had to deal with all three in her townhouse’s kitchen. “The kitchen and dining area felt closed in, which amplified how narrow our townhouse felt,” Van says.

The 1960s gave the world a lot of groovy stuff—think bean bag chairs, Sputnik light fixtures, and funky colors like avocado and mustard. But some of the decor looked a lot better back in the 1960s than it does today.Case in point: Anna Westbury’s dark wood kitchen, original to her 1968 home. Its dark wood cabinets felt imposing, and the clunky fan made the ceiling feel extra low. Anna had already replaced the old beige appliances (win!

Open-concept living rooms, dining rooms, and kitchens have dominated home construction since the ’90s. But when DIYer Molly Miller moved into her new build in 2018, her family actually wanted more separation between the home’s main living areas. Everything was “lumped together in one large space,” and it made it difficult to have a functional kitchen with the limited storage.

A lot of great things came out of the 1990s — and there are plenty of design trends making a comeback that we love to see. But some of the decade’s looks could use a refresher, like the super-brown kitchen in designer Sheryl Sanders’s home.After living in the home for only two months, she knew she needed to do something to modernize the cooking space.Since the old cabinet boxes were solid wood and in great condition, she decided she could get away with just replacing the doors.

Many of us find living room makeover ideas on social media. But Christina Beck and her husband Colin literally found a house on Instagram.“One of our followers knew his mom needed to sell the house she had spent time in growing up for her dad,” explains Christina, who owns the renovation company Vero Home in Cincinnati with Colin.“It hadn’t been updated in at least 35 years and had a lot of deferred maintenance.

Small kitchens certainly aren’t unusable. In fact, there are plenty of space-savvy kitchen finds that can make tiny studio or galley kitchens work successfully.But sometimes, a small kitchen begs for a total renovation, which was the case for Bri Williams and her husband, Denver, and their 200-square-foot kitchen.

When I first discovered the town of Hudson, New York, I felt like a kid in a candy store. There was so much that I wanted to explore. It’s the type of town that seems to have it all: picturesque streets filled with historical homes, rows of antique shops and boutiques, and scenic drives that lead you to local farm stands, wildflower fields, and nature trails. What more could you ask for?

When interior decorator Katie Woodman and her husband, Joseph, first found their split-level house in Ft. Collins, Colorado, they fell hard for its unique features, including a treehouse-like upper deck, a huge wood-burning fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and a large solarium perfect for plant babies.

Sometimes you’ve gotta go big when it comes to a renovation, and that doesn’t always mean in terms of scale. Often, it’s about the scope of the work and taking a chance on layout tweaks and storage changes to find what works for you. That was the case for designer Anita Yokota and her late ’90s cook space, which she shares with her husband, Travis, and three daughters.

Sometimes inspiration strikes where you’d least expect it — and closer to home than you’d imagine. For homeowners Sean and Brian, that couldn’t be more true: All it took was viewing their friend’s renovated, open kitchen — a friend who just happened to live in the same building. That layout showed them what they were missing, namely a space that would make entertaining so much more enjoyable.

White cabinets are nice, but this color is a looker.

Searching for and purchasing a home isn’t a small task. Not only is this process a major life milestone, but it can also be a hefty financial commitment. Knowing this, it’s totally fair to want to find a space that checks all the boxes. But in some situations, sacrifices might be necessary. Like when Lauren Alexander bought her condominium in 2021. “The home had good bones — beautiful crown molding and a stunning view with lots of natural light,” Lauren shares.

Orange-y wooden cabinets from the ’90s and 2000s might have a bit of a dated look to them, but they can be worth keeping just for the sheer quality of the wood. Throw a little paint on them, and they’ll be perfectly on-trend today, when dark gray, navy, and deep green paint colors reign.

Are you a renter feeling limited, home improvement-wise, by the terms of your lease or by the fact that you might someday move? Heed this advice from Lily F Tsutumida: “Do the math and consider what it’s worth for you to be happier in your space while you’re there; if it’s feasible, go for it!

When food blogger Christine Han and her partner moved into their Brooklyn apartment in the summer of 2021, they knew they had a big renovation project ahead of them. Luckily, they were more than willing to tackle the work — especially the kitchen, which was a mishmash of furniture, inefficient appliances, and odd backsplash tiles. Before they began, Christine convinced her partner that they could revamp the space for less than $2,000.

When Orima Kamalu describes the former kitchen in her colorful, DIY-filled house, it’s hard not to wonder why she wanted to make any changes at all.“The original kitchen was always a lovely, large open space with plenty of storage and room to move around. The units were all gloss-white with chrome-effect bar handles,” she explains. However, while the kitchen (which Orima thinks was last updated in the early 2000s) was functional, it wasn’t exactly their style.

Digital creator, interior decorator, and color-lover Devin Downs quickly realized that the somewhat basic kitchen in his New York City rental wasn’t going to work for him.“The kitchen had no personality — it felt purely functional and uninspiring,” he explains. “I was cooking in a sea of beige and stainless steel.”After painting the adjoining hallway with Behr’s “Young Green,” Devin knew the kitchen needed to mirror that energy.

Writer Sarah Ingle doesn’t hide the fact that her 10-square-foot kitchen, which she once referred to as a “chaotic corner” in her Brooklyn apartment, made her feel a little overwhelmed when she first moved in.Not only was the fridge outside the room, but the kitchen also had mismatched shelving and cabinetry. She shares that it felt more like “an afterthought.” That wasn’t going to work for her.

The thought of building a kitchen from scratch might seem daunting to some (me included!), but to Tim and Kat Moore, it was a no-brainer when it came to their coastal Sicily house.The unfinished room, which essentially served as a walkway to gorgeous sea views, was actually a benefit to them. Instead of having to remove outdated fixtures, they could imagine how the space would work for them.The couple didn’t want to compromise the sea view with a flashy, loud kitchen.

It seems as if more and more people are leaning into darker kitchen cabinets, whether it’s through deeper wood tones or striking paint colors. But sometimes your first try at the dramatic look just isn’t, well, dramatic enough — something Mara Greenwald learned the hard way when she was reimagining the kitchen in her home.Mara’s original kitchen had a 2000s aesthetic, and the wood cabinets contributed to that overall vibe.