This Kitchen Makeover Has a Controversial Cabinet Decision (But It Totally Works!)
When illustrator Salma Chatto (@chateauchatto) moved into her four-bedroom home in Billingham, U.K., the kitchen had an “awkward” layout. There was a utility room, which, at first glance, might’ve seemed beneficial because of extra storage, but for Salma, it felt “odd in the space.”
The room also wasn’t connected to the playroom, so it was hard for Salma to watch her two kids while cooking. She had big plans for what she wanted to do to the space.
“I wanted to take the wall down to open it up,” Salma says. “I then wanted to make the whole back of the house one big open space, so the playroom was connected to the kitchen and, therefore, connected to the garden more.”
The first step of the renovation was demolishing the existing kitchen. Salma and her husband, Stuart worked with a team to gut the kitchen and playroom — you can read more about that room’s transformation here — and built an opening between the two spaces for flow — but it was mostly DIY projects from there on out.
In front of where the beautiful leaded windows in the “before” photo are, Salma painted a kitchen island, which now doubles as a dining table. Across the room is the main kitchen setup, and the Chattos decided to add a large green (Rust-Oleum’s All Green) IKEA unit for storage where the utility wall originally was.
During the renovation, Salma made a somewhat controversial decision: She decided against upper kitchen cabinets.
“I’ve never liked upper cabinets,” she says. “I think they block light, they are bulky, and a lot of the upper storage I can’t get to as a 5’2” person, so those shelves were obsolete to me … I love open shelving, and I think if you display it correctly and have a system that other people can follow, it’s really easy to keep tidy.”
Salma has become a pro at organizing her open shelving — she has high-use sections next to low-traffic ones (think: plants, ornaments, cookbooks, trays, and artwork), and the separation helps her keep each space contained and tidy. “I have everything I need up there, and it looks pretty,” she says.
But it wasn’t just the disjointed layout and cabinets that needed fixing; she wanted the kitchen to look more modern. “I love green and pink kitchens; I think that color combination is beautiful,” she explains. “So, that’s where I started, but I also needed to pick colors that complemented the playroom, with it being one big space now.”
The existing cabinets are also painted in Rust-Oleum’s All Green while the walls got a coat of Dulux’s Mellow Mocha.
To add a bright pop of color in the center of the room, Salma chose Lick’s Pink 10 for the kitchen island. The pops of color didn’t stop there, though — a pink backsplash complements the soft hues in the room and two-toned flooring (using Amstel anthracite and Amstel gray tiles) adds a retro vibe.
Lastly, the family changed the lighting, and Salma’s father-in-law hung a set of new pendants above the kitchen island. Upcycled furniture was added to the room to complete the kitchen. She calls the space “definitely modern but eclectic.”
It took around four months and $10,000 or around £8,000 (which includes labor and new appliances) to complete the kitchen renovation, and it instantly became one of the most loved rooms in the house. “It’s the hub of the home, connects to the playroom and garden, and I love how colorful it is,” Salma says. If you’d like to see more of this vibrant space, visit the living room makeover and the full home tour on Apartment Therapy.
This post originally ran on The Kitchn. See it there: Before & After: Striking Green Cabinets (and Pink Tiles!) Add Instant Drama to a Dated “Awkward” Kitchen