Say Goodbye to Dated ’80s Cabinets in This 56-Square-Foot Kitchen Makeover
Apartment owner Donna’s hot take? “I am over open kitchens!” she says. She has a galley-style kitchen in her Toronto apartment, and she wanted to update the ’80s aesthetic (and appliances) while sticking to a budget because she only uses the kitchen part-time.
Donna really liked the existing floors so she kept those, but she hired professionals (Shiva, Roshi, and Mike) to reface the kitchen cabinets and then did some DIY decorating work to take the kitchen makeover to the finish line.
The cabinets look much more modern.
The cabinets were refaced with white Shaker-style fronts and new brushed nickel cabinet pulls. There’s also a new white subway tile backsplash, although Donna says that might be her one regret about the kitchen makeover. “I considered [a] mirrored backsplash,” she says. “I still wonder about that.” (Donna also saved some of the old backsplash tiles to do a DIY project with because she liked them.)
The key to this kitchen makeover? Thinking small.
Donna also replaced all the appliances, and she’s thankful for Shiva’s recommendation to go with a slim microwave in the hood spot — especially because the room has low ceilings.
She also considered going with a larger dishwasher and is glad she didn’t, and the freezer-top fridge is both cost-friendly and counter-depth, “so it helped with space,” Donna says — after all, the kitchen is only 56 square feet. “An unexpected love of the fridge is that it doesn’t have handles on the front, and the clean lines are wonderful.”
Additionally, “I wanted the smallest possible double sink so that I had more counter,” Donna says. “Finding one under 30 inches wasn’t that easy.” Going small with the appliances gave Donna one of her favorite details of the kitchen: “I love the counter space,” she says.
The back wall got a black paint job.
Once the pros were done with the install, Donna made some DIY additions to the back wall. She painted it Dulux’s Black Magic, which pops against the rest of the white (Delicate White) walls.
“I had been fascinated by images of long hallways that had a dark end wall and thought the effect elongated the space,” she says. “I had never done that and thought I would try it.”
As for the decor, “I LOVE the artwork,” Donna says. “I downloaded free online images from the Free Images and Open Access | National Gallery of Art, printed on a regular colour printer, and then framed them.” Her friend made the oil painting of the bananas.
She also really likes her washable rug — “it is really washable,” she says, and she filled in the rest of the kitchen with a thrifted lamp and utensils.
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