Before & After: A Colorful Update for a Cluttered Kitchen

Prior to the renovation, Cybele described the kitchen in her Park Slope apartment as “Functional, but…a little worn”. It was still getting the job done, but the kitchen had seen better days. There were giant holes in the walls behind the cabinets, the electrical was outdated, and a dark countertop and backsplash sucked the light out of the room. The mosaic tile floor, with its miles and miles of grout, was a nightmare to clean.

The chief objective for the new kitchen was practicality. With two young children, Cybele wanted a low-maintenance kitchen that would serve the needs of a young family. With this in mind, the hex tile floor was replaced with an easy-to-care-for faux-wood ceramic tile, with planks that butt together, like a real wood floor, for minimal grout lines. Another family-friendly addition? A dishwasher.

To make up for the cabinet space lost by adding the dishwasher, the new upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling, which reclaims previously unused space and makes for a neater look. The homeowners also elected to replace the old glass-front cabinets with ones with solid doors. While glass-front cabinets can be very attractive, in this case it made sense to go with solid doors. They’re easier to clean, and better for concealing cluttered pantry storage, which gives the kitchen a neater look overall.

The new kitchen does have a bit of display space. A set of open shelves occupies a previously unused nook just inside the kitchen doorway. In the future, when their girls are older and not as prone to knocking things down, Cybele and her husband plan to add shelves all the way to the floor.

Aesthetically, the biggest change in the new kitchen is the addition of color. A new white quartz countertop replaced the old one, which gives the new kitchen a lighter, brighter feel. The teal subway tile backsplash adds color and character.

Cybele found her contractor on Sweeten, a free service matching homeowners with local general contractors. You can read more about the project, see more photos, and find sources on the Sweeten blog.