Before & After: A Narrow Galley Kitchen Gets an Urban Update
When first-time homebuyers Nadine and John Paul bought a century home that was split into a duplex, they decided to rent out the bottom half and live in the top half. Now with a little additional money to spend on their new purchase, they decided to tackle the kitchen first, which was tiny, uninspiring and not at all luxurious.
From Nadine:
My partner, John Paul, is a carpenter by trade and owns a business building custom furniture. However, we couldn’t afford to keep him away from work to do things around the house. So we needed a new kitchen that was simple enough and inexpensive.
For that reason we decided to DIY a kitchen from IKEA. The cabinets, counters, sink and faucet are all from the shelves of that famous home store. We added some new appliances (we were formally living without a dishwasher or a microwave for over a year) and worked up a simple subway tile backsplash from Lowes. Pergo flooring was a simple and inexpensive solution that I think looks great for the price. Lastly, John Paul did create one custom piece for us — a floating bar made from one single slab of Siberian Elm. The metal stools were picked up from Target.
We knew we wanted one accent wall, and I knew Sherwin William’s Exclusive Plum (Color of the year!) would be the perfect fit. Throughout the rest of the kitchen is a simple favorite, Essential Grey.
See more of this kitchen transformation on Nadine’s blog.
Thank you Nadine & John Paul!
Re-edited from a post originally published 3.15.14-NT