What an inspiring list--and may I give some love to those Before/After shots taken from the same angle. I love that.

perfect timing.. currently planning a kitchen reno and need all the inspiration possible.

It's amazing what even just a coat of paint can do to update the look of a kitchen! Great post, very inspiring!

thanks for the motivating shots! and the reminder that when we paint our cabinets they will look worlds better

why does everyone slather white paint to cover their natural wood cabinetry? some do make sense, but #8 looks like gorgeous wood to me. it seems like a shame to cover it up.

I love the original of #1. That turquoise backdrop is so nice! Disappointing that they got rid of it :(

I think #4 is my favorite just because i like the style of cabinets. love the new table too...pretty unique!

Overall the transformations are incredible. I just don't understand what the obsession is with removing cabinet doors. Even if you've got beautiful dishes to show off, it looks cluttered to me.

White kitchens rule.

do you guys think that white kitchens are fashion and will be hard to keep up?

@Taurgo and rhodajr - I love #1's "Before" too, but if you go to the post and see the better images, it was obviously in poor condition. Alas, it appears they had no choice. Wish they could have salvaged that awesome tile, though, and maintained the vintage look. The "After" is very nice but also kind of generic.

Major congratulations to Melissa of kitchen #3. It's so refreshing to see a kitchen that isn't painted all white!

I don't know about the cabinets in 8, which looked okay, but 9 looks soooo much better in white.

I don't actually like most natural wood cabinets. I know we're supposed to be all sad about painting beautiful natural wood but nine times out of ten I prefer painted.

I'm sad about the tiles in 2, though. They were cute.

It's hard to tell the condition of those tiles and woods from photos. We are planning a major kitchen reno, but if I showed you "before" photos, you'd say it's not so bad. Still, we are gutting it: tiles are not flat (we are talking mountains, not small misalignments), the grout is going away each time I wipe the counters (gross), the cabinet doors are wobbly beyond hope, and the cabinet's interiors are disgusting and missing half the planks.

I really like all of those kitchen. From my French perspective, it's nice to see people painting beautiful cabinets instead of installing awful lacquered plastic new ones. Plus, you know, you can always take the paint off. It cost me 25 euros to do that to a 19th century chair that had been painted about 3 times, and the wood is in perfect condition ! I'd go with a paint I like, knowing you can paint over it or entirely take it off if you don't like it one day. The whole point is to live in a place you love, isn't it ?

I wonder why people are afraid of color? Here's what we did with $2000 and family inspiration. And there's not a spec of white paint. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150172723331400.313557.617381399

Clean and fresh! Paint rules!

@ rhodajr

"Why do people buy unspoiled vintage homes and then go about turning them into a generic piece of crap?"

as someone who has just made such a purchase let me enlighten you:

#1 - Poor condition, unsafe materials, not up to modern building codes. these details lead to full remodels.

#2 - an old home in "original" condition is what most of us normal people can actually afford. i know we really should all go out and buy brand new homes designed to suit our tastes and needs, to hell with the kids college fund! leave those untouched vintage relics for a museum to keep up. oh wait...

#3 - not everyone digs the vintage look (even though buying a "vintage" house is all they could afford), and that's ok. i love me some good vintage, but not all vintage is good, especially the original kitchen in my 1959 home.

you should go out there and rescue some original condition home and restore it to it's former glory. Keep all that asbestos and formica and protect those important, water damaged wood cabinets. i hear wood paneling and green shag carpeting have an opening for a new "image counselor", you should totally apply!
or maybe you already have a nice vintagy place of your own, great! keep that shit on the up and up and let the rest of us remodel in peace.

idiot.

btw, love the before/afters.

we just reno'd a disgustingly "generic" kitchen on the cheap. It's one of the best rooms in the house. We painted the lower cabinets an inspired very deep navy color (my husband was instructed to bring home black) and white on top. The navy is oh so much better. We used ikea butcher block counter tops and its a huge improvement. Even makes our cheap "natural wood" cabinets look good!

@ btfabt: that sounds fab!! we might end up doing that exactly until we can save up for new quality cabinets.

Yikes, jess13. This is no place for name calling. It's a DESIGN BLOG. I'm sure you're exhausted from your remodel, but... perspective, people!

------------------

Notice how every single one of these remodeled from dark to light? We just did the same thing in our house. Who wants to spend their evenings feeling like they're cooking in a basement? They also "feel" cleaner, which is important to me if that's where the food is being prepped.

I think mine was quite a transformation as well. Here are the pix.... (and I went for dark).
http://bit.ly/jvH5RG
http://bit.ly/jqOWfJ

so rhodajr can directly insult every single makeover that was posted here and call it "generic crap" but people are going to jump all over me for calling this person on their b*llshit?

hmm, wonder why they took your comment down rhodajr? i was just trying to enlighten you to the reasons why people remodel old homes, which is a fairly common practice and relates to the majority of content on this DESIGN blog.
if you dislike this practice so much go troll somewhere else, and you might want to get out of the house more.

DONE.

I would totally love to see a picture of your navy cabinets, they sounds fantastic.

I prefer the before in number 1.

I am really surprised that anyone prefers the 'before' in #1; all that dark cabinetry, busy wallpaper, and dark-grouted tile countertops? I thought the 'after' was lovely.

I love the pale green painted walls inside the cabinets. Yumm! #4 and #6 seem the most dramatic overhaul. wow!

zsolt1 I just looked at your pics and...WOW! Incredibly gorgeous transformation. And as you noted, doesn't appear to be any white paint involved!