This Kitchen Felt Stuck in the 2000s — Until One Paint Color Changed Everything
It isn’t always realistic to fall in love with every room in a new home. Your place might have dreamy, exposed bricks in the living area, a small bathroom, or a magical courtyard, but cramped closets. For Devyn LaCamera, it was the kitchen that needed a makeover.
When Devyn purchased her new apartment over the summer, she said she “instantly knew” the kitchen could handle an upgrade. While she liked the dark, standard wood grain of the cabinets, they weren’t complementary to her overall aesthetic. So, she decided to repaint them and elevate the appliances and hardware to give her kitchen a complete transformation.
The Kitchen Instantly Needed a Refresh
“I love interior decorating, and am especially drawn to light airy tones in the blue, tan, and white color palette,” Devyn says. She wanted to make the black granite counters “feel less harsh,” so she decided to paint the cabinets a dusty sky blue.
Modern Appliances and Refurbished Cabinets
First, Devyn replaced the dated appliances with modern stainless steel ones. Next, with the help of her family, Devyn took all of the cabinet doors off their hinges and brought them to her aunt, Michele LaCamera — a pro who refinishes furniture at Vintage Reclaimed. For the next week, Michele painted the faces of the cabinets while Devyn got to work sanding, shellacking, priming, and painting in the mornings and on her lunch breaks.
Meanwhile, Devyn styled the kitchen with a light, dusty pink rug, brushed brass hardware, a handful of cookbooks purchased second-hand, and pieces from the rest of her home.
Finally Feels Complete, but There’s Always Room for More
“I love how everything turned out,” Devyn says. “The color — ‘Soft Chinchilla’ from Benjamin Moore — works perfectly in my home and makes my whole apartment feel finished. The gold fixtures bring a modern and girly element that helps brighten up the space.”
While she says her kitchen finally feels complete, in the future she might add a new tile backsplash and a matte black sink.
Modern and Airy
Devyn was able to upgrade her kitchen from an early 2000s time capsule to a modern, open area that perfectly fits in with the rest of her home in just a week. “Overall, the transformation was a lot of work but 100 percent worth it,” she says.
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