apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

That is a really big improvement.

I really enjoy this remake - and putting the photos inside a cupboard door is a great idea!

Q: If you had to do it again and couldn't afford/didn't want the black stone countertops - What type of surface would you have choosen?

As nice as the new kitchen looks, and mind you it looks really nice, its also very cold and uninviting. I think its the complete lack of color.

What an incredible improvement! It looks like a very serene environment for cooking. Beautiful job.

It's great to see a beautiful and clean kitchen makeover that was done with a limited budget- nice job!

Not really my style, but lots of good ideas.

Excellent! If I had a kitchen like this, I wouldn't even think of a total re-do. If time and money permitted, what would you have done instead?

It's March, and nothing has started blooming here in DC. They're calling for snow later. Yes, everything looks cold. A vase of red and yellow tulips are the cure!

great job! your old appliances look like they got a facelift, too, just by being next to the freshly painted cabinets. and i disagree with those who think it's cold--i think it looks like an inviting place to cook up a meal or hang out to watch the chef.

I love that you worked with what you had -- it's great to see budget remodels like this.

Could you share the color/brand of the blue/aqua color in the room you can see from the sink?

I did a similar low budget makeover with my kitchen - painting cabinets and replacing countertops. I think you did a nice job and made some smart choices.

However - like others - I miss seeing a bit of color & warmth. I think painting the walls a few shades darker than the adjoining room would be an improvement. And choosing a warmer color would be even better. The spices add a bit of color - would be nice to see that elsewhere.

wow! I love the framed mirror behind the sink, and the mounted cd player/ipod dock is great! I love music while I'm cooking, but usually play it loudly from another room (no counter space).

like others have said, it's a little cold, but I'm sue once it's put to use it will warm up a bit.

I love it! Great job!

I would probably have gone with matte black soapstone counters (have them in my own kitchen), or maybe wood, but that is the only change.

You've shown that opening up upper cabinets and a lot of white make for a dramatic change (and frankly, I really prefer these older cabinets to most new ones).

The black and white is a very Scandinavian look (which I love).

Bravo!

Lovely! I love the colors you chose, and I don't agree that it's too cold. Small spaces look can cluttered quickly with too much color and other stuff going on. What you have looks very clean, serene, and cheeful. I'd maybe warm it up a little with some red, yellow, or pink things here and there, or maybe just make it a little more lively with some things in aqua or more apple green--dish towels, flowers, throw rug, and/or a bit of art would go a long way to making your excellent job even more wonderful.

Just for example, here's a very breezy aqua and yellow color scheme that I think might be some inspiration for you. I think the yellow here makes the greeny-blue really pop in a clean and cheerful way. http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/my-room-little-p-massachusetts-076389

What a difference counters and cabinets make! Congrats on the nice reno.

Very chic... well done!

I think this is great. I don't think it looks cold at all. Maybe add a plant or two and some fun retro-looking towels (I've had good luck at World Market). This is very inspiring to me, I think my galley kitchen is half this size, I would love for it to look this bright and fresh!

Where did you get your gorgeous pendants?

This looks fantastic. I love the colors, pendant lamps and how you managed to mount everything to the walls and cabinets while still keeping the overall look streamlined.

I really like this. It looks clean and fresh.

This is a really nice kitchen makeover. The countertops rock! (no pun intended)

Just a few practical questions:
Did you lay the floor yourself?
Did you need to install new drywall?
What was the order of the work?
How long did it take?
Did you need to get permits?

I'm going to use this as a model for my own! Again, great job.

so we say this was a limited budget---so how much was the total cost in the end? I am just curious. I found a house I love, but the galley kitchen is SO NARROW and dingy that it is hard to find inspiration with it without having to take out a wall. Which could happen in the future but not right away. I am glad to see so much accomplished with such a small kitchen space.

Gorgeous! And I love seeing my nephew's photo and scribbles as I reach for the cereal ... thanks for letting us see your work.

I really like seeing "partial" renos like this too.

Questions:
Tell us about the floor. Did you scrape up the old vinyl tile yourself? (what was underneath?) What kind of prep work was involved for the new floor? What kind of tile is that?
Thanks!

i love the open shelving and the spice rack. really really nice.

Can you put up larger pictures on Flickr or something, these are nice but small. I would really like to see these larger

Love it. Could you share your process of stripping and sanding the cupboards and then what kind of paint you used?

Many thanks,
gem

Thank you for all your wonderful comments. I want to respond to them all this weekend when I have a bit more time. Right now this kitchen is about to get very messy preparing for little soiree tonight :)

I'm nosy about the cost too. I'm moving in a month and have been planning to fix up the kitchen and there are great ideas here, I've already bought white paint for the cabinets and tile to replace the vinyl floor...

The black countertops are really impressive to me since it makes the appliances look SO much better and intentional. Black appliances/white countertops/wood cabinets is a little too much going on imo.

I wish I could afford new countertop but my splurge was a new ceramic cooktop instead. :)

Leah here!

Thanks for your patience in answering your questions

Total time: about 2 weeks

Total cost: about 2500. 1500 of that was the counters and undermount sink, 250 was for the faucet (kohler's forte with sprayer head), 270 for porcelain floor tiles (we got them on clearance at Mosaic tile in Rockville, MD--very reasonable even not on clearance), 255 for new lights, the rest was for paint, prep materials, and cabinet hardware). The cost does not include labor since all work was done by my husband, a family friend, and me.

Pendants: from seagull lighting http://www.seagulllighting.com/Mini-Pendants.htm I'm sorry I don't know the name of the ones we got, but they have a great collection at reasonable prices. Ours were about 85 each.

palindrome- the aqua in the other room is BenMoore's Barely Teal.

bepsf- we considered butcher block counters, poured concrete counters, and stainless steel counters, all of which I love. Durability, easy maintenance, and stain-hiding were our main concerns. In the end, we found a friend of a friend who is in the stone business and gave us a great deal on the granite and the installation.

enmnm- No permits needed. No new drywall, but some new patching around where the old mammoth fluorescent light had been. We began by sanding the cabinets, then ripping up the floor, then replacing the lights, then painting the cabinets, then installing the new floor, then installing the counters and sink, then painting the walls.

When we moved in we thought we wanted to go bigger (which would involve removing a load-bearing brick wall=LOTS of work and $$$$). We have small children, a big rhodesian ridgeback puppy, and we love to entertain, so everyone ends up in kitchen all the time. Now we've grown to appreciate a small kitchen and realize space can be overrated. Small living just takes some getting used to.

mschatelaine- LOVE soapstone!!! That was the other stone counter we were considering. My husband preferred the shiny granite though, and the price was right.

ValHalla- ripping up the old vinyl floor was a bear. We basically used a chisel and chipped it up. There was wood subflooring underneath. We put down sheet rock to level the floor and then laid the porcelain tile over that. Our friend has a tile cutter. I think it would be impossible to put in a floor yourself without one.

gem- we removed the cabinet doors and hardware, sanded them with medium grit sandpaper, did a couple coats of oil-based primer, then a couple coats of semi-gloss latex white paint.

As for the cool (lack of) colors, that was very intentional. In our old home our kitchen was yellow and warm and kind of homey...but also always felt dingy and cramped event though it was almost double the size of this one. I wanted to go the other extreme--fresh and bright and clean, and so far I love it. We get a lot of sunlight so it doesn't feel too cold or uninviting to me. The cool colors really expand the small narrow space. You can't tell from the pictures but the walls actually read as a very fresh blue in real life. They're painted BenMoore's Patriotic White which is actually more of a blue than a white.

I do think your suggestions for adding little bursts of color are great. Flowers, dish towels, maybe a few bright serving dishes on the open shelving would be great while not interfering with the overall clean feeling of the space.

Thank you!

Leah, so how was the soiree? ;)

Other ideas for adding bursts of color include replacing the pendant shades with a color used in the living room beyond. Or wallpapering/painting the interior cabinets without the doors.

If you ever want to put the doors back, you could cut out panels and replace them with chicken wire or leaded glass (that's my fave.)

I live in DC and I get the feeling that you and I are going to be very very good friends.... ;)

Did you do similar work in the bathrooms?

I LOVE what you did. (Note: you mention stainless steel but the appliances look black.) Frankly, I have fallen in love with a set of black LG appliances. We're thinking of combining them with black granite tiles (can't afford the slab). Your pics are inspirational and greatly improve my confidence.

Our only difference is that we're pretty set doing the base cabinets in black, and the uppers in white.

Where did you get/how did you make the spice rack? I live in a very old building with the smallest of kitchens. The cabinet I have to work with is the original 1940s metal cabinet with metal "back splash" where that kind of spice rack would be a god send.

Thanks and you did a beautiful job. You make me dream of day I can do that myself!

Well well well done! I personally like the lack of color -- it makes it feel airy and very clean. Leah, please feel free to drive south about four hours and come help me renovate my aged & crumbling kitchen!

I love this! You did such a wonderful job and I totally disagree with those who said it looks cold/uninviting. I love the color scheme and if/when you do add small bits of color - dishes, flowers, towels - it will only add to it without looking cluttered.

Thank you also for the detailed information on how you did it, cost etc.

Apt Therapy, take note - please do more stories like this of partial, budget conscious renovations.

quiltmaster- The big appliances (dishwasher, range) are black, the mini ones (coffee maker, mixer, toaster) are stainless steel.

SweetCaroline- the spice rack is from target http://www.target.com/Lipper-International-Soho-20-Shaker-Board

it was a present (kind of expensive for a spice rack). Since getting it, I've seen a more affordable one that is nearly identical at World Market. Also Ikea makes a similar model, and someone told me of an ebay vendor that makes them too.

enmnm- the soiree was a hit. And yes, we've done similar work on the bathrooms, but they're still in the process...hopefully they'll be worthy of a future post

It's dead classy and it will never date - two of the greatest (and rarest) compliments one can pay a kitchen.

Wow, this turned out really nice! I would love to cook in your kitchen!

For awhile I thought I wanted a bright and colorful kitchen, but I am starting to realize that it would be over-stimulating for me to cook in.

Can you tell me about the paint you used for the cabinets? We are in the market for a house and I know we'll most likely go the route you guys did. I was just wondering what paint you used and if it was semi-gloss or a different finish? Sorry, I'm no good at this sort of thing since I have always rented and I'm not allowed to paint!

wonderful. For a small budget you created a stylish timeless look and I love how simple it is because it will make it all that more easy to change over time. I also think the granite is better with the stainless than going with the soapstone since you get all the reflexitions and it will bounce around the light.

Great job.

Re the odd comment saying it looks cold due to the lack of colour-to me that's a good thing for a kitchen, (and believe me I love colour in my house, I have bright yellow walls in my living room) especially one this size. The reason I think that is that the kitchen is such a busy area most of the time (all that cooking and eating, and especially with small children I imagine!) so the colour and homeliness is added by real life going on within the kitchen-against that it's lovely to have a blank canvas!

We're seeing the kitchen at it's most clean and tidy, it probably won't be like that most of the time! My kitchen in my rental is full of brown colours and fussy details, which combined with the usual kitchen mess half way through baking a cake isn't that practical or pretty. Save the colour/fuss for elsewhere!

I love this. We are thinking about painting our kitchen cabinets white since we can't afford all new right now and this is total inspiration! Thank you! You can see our "before" ktichen and the cabinets we plan to paint here:
http://makemineeclectic.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/the-kitchen-comes-together/

Wow! What a trendy yet classic kitchen you have! I especially love the CD player / iPod dock, as I find it more motivated to cook while hearing my favorite tunes. Also, the spice rack is cool. Kitchen organizers as such are really a cool and neat way to keep your kitchen orderly at all times.

I love this. It makes me want to go out and buy a 1940s house so that I can have a kitchen just like it. It doesn't seem cold to me at all, but I love light bouncing off of white surfaces.