Before & After: A Narrow Galley Kitchen Gets an Urban Update

Written by

Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
For more than 10 years, I've led Apartment Therapy's real home content, producing thousands of house tours from around the world. Currently, I live in my maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with my partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat.
published Mar 15, 2014
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(Image credit: Nadine Nocero)

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.

(Image credit: Nadine Nocero)
(Image credit: Nadine Nocero)

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