It Took 2 Tries to Get the Cabinet Color Right in This Kitchen Makeover (It’s So Moody!)

Written by

Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects at Apartment Therapy
Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects at Apartment Therapy
I’m from Columbia, Missouri, a journalism town (okay, technically a college town with a big journalism school). It’s also home to one of my favorite things: True/False Film Fest, an international documentary festival. So I’ve been inspired by journalism/journalists/nonfiction…read more
published Jul 30, 2024
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There are tons of kitchen transformations featured on Apartment Therapy that prove a little bit of kitchen cabinet paint can go a long way to create a whole new look, whether the cook space is a total fixer-upper or has fairly good bones to begin with. 

Mara Greenwald’s condo kitchen was in pretty good shape when she moved in — “everything had a modern look and feel, topped off with tons of natural light from floor to ceiling south-facing windows,” she says, but she wanted to personalize it a bit and switch up the cabinets. 

“The wood color wasn’t bad, but I thought it could be stronger with a different color,” Mara says. Her makeover of the kitchen, which she estimates was last updated in the early 2000s, was done in phases.  

First came hardware and lighting upgrades.

One of Mara’s favorite parts of the kitchen is its great bar, and she wanted to define the space with pendant lights that added a bit more drama than the recessed lighting there before. Her brother, Jordan, helped her install new Crate & Barrel pendants.

She also very quickly added new cabinet hardware: sleek $10 matte black handles from Amazon

Dark gray cabinet paint adds contrast. 

Mara initially upgraded the cabinets by painting them a light gray on her own, but over time, she realized she wanted something darker and more dramatic. “After living with it, it just felt off, so I went with a dark near-black instead,” she says.

This is actually the second time she’s painted a room once and then decided she didn’t like it and wanted to go darker. That experience taught her something important about color: “You have to go with your gut!”

For the final look, Mara had the cabinets professionally painted in Farrow & Ball’s Railings.

Stainless steel appliances modernize the kitchen. 

“After the second round of painting, I got a new oven, hood, and fridge,” Mara says, and her new appliances help to give the space the contemporary, streamlined look she was after. Plus, she saved around $1,000 on the fridge by buying a floor model.

“I love the mood of the space,” Mara says. “It still feels clean and modern but also has a lot of my favorite color, black. Mostly I like how it feels both personal to me and that it goes with the space. I am very much a proponent of the interior design matching the home exterior design elements.” 

Mara also likes how the new appliances and new color scheme look with the existing soapstone, which she definitely wanted to keep. Here are two other kitchen makeover takeaways from the project: Work with what you have, and don’t be afraid to make changes in stages.

“It’s OK to go slow and live with different parts of a project to figure out if they’re right or wrong for the space,” Mara says.