A Fresh Cabinet Color Gives This Kitchen Makeover a Major Energy Boost
Never underestimate the impact that good lighting can have on a room. After all, the right light can change the entire look and feel of a space! And there are more solutions than lamps and windows that can add brightness.
Case in point: DIYer Stacey-Ann Blake’s (@designaddictmom) kitchen, which she transformed from a dark, fairly drab area of her house into a bright, airy space that features stunning pops of color.
“When I first initiated the kitchen makeover, I wanted to lighten and brighten up the space,” Stacey says. “It is the most-used space in our home, and because of the dark materials and its location in our house, it felt dreary at times.”
Here are three ways she gave the kitchen an ultra-bright energy boost, after an initial round of demo and professional installation where she got rid of old tile, and new sinks and a microwave were added.
Goodbye, dark granite. Hello, white quartz.
One of the earliest steps of Stacey’s redo that “made a huge difference” was swapping out the kitchen’s dark granite countertops with white quartz countertops, she says. (And she hired pros to help with the big stuff.)
The change brightened up the room; plus, quartz is a much more affordable option than marble, Stacey notes.
The green paint adds personality.
After adding the white counters, Stacey initially selected an off-white, grayish cabinet paint color. She lived with that color for a while, but she wasn’t loving it. “Color is in my DNA, so after researching a number of green shades, I found one that worked great in the space,” she says.
Again, to keep costs low, Stacey kept her cabinets and layout the same and chose a lime-meets-mint color (Benjamin Moore’s Sherwood Green, to be precise) paint to create a whole new look. Stacey painting advice? Investing in a quality paint makes a difference in the finished look.
“Repainting the cabinets green makes it feel more ‘me’ with that injection of happy color,” she says of the “after,” adding that her paint (green for the cabinets and Benjamin Moore’s White Dove for the walls) “adds a nice jolt of color to the cabinets, but the kitchen still feels bright and light.”
Stacey originally considered eliminating some upper cabinets and adding open shelving, but “I need all the cabinet storage I can get, so at this moment I don’t think I would do anything differently,” she says.
An overhead window lets more light in.
Lastly, a new sun tunnel skylight from Vulux adds more natural light. Other details like handmade pottery also add color, brightness, and a personal touch. “I jokingly mentioned in a blog post that now it feels like a Jamaican cooks here,” Stacey says. “I love how it feels — lively, bright, and fresh.”
The new stools are from DWR, the dining table is from 2Modern , the white dining chairs are from Wayfair, and the Panton chair is a vintage find. To see the rest of Stacey’s home, check out her house tour.
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