Kitchen Home Projects

Last week we looked at the overhaul of Claudia’s bathroom, which got a beautiful, classic update in keeping with the character of her 1929 apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper East side. Today, we’re diving into the renovation of her kitchen, which was similarly transformed.

Imagine you’re suddenly transported back in time by 100 years, to your great-great-grandmother’s house. Most of the rooms are quite familiar: the styles are less modern, sure, but the basic setup is the same. The kitchen, however, is different. All the major players are in place — the sink, the stove, some rudimentary form of refrigeration — but they haven’t quite evolved into their modern forms.

Cameron and Chantel’s post-renovation kitchen is basically unrecognizable. Aside from sharing the common elements of a kitchen (you can cook in it! there’s a refrigerator!) the two spaces are completely different. Their new kitchen is softly colorful, light, breezy and spacious where the old kitchen was, well, very, very beige. From Cameron and Chantel: Our kitchen is straight from the 80s!

Flirting with the idea of using affordable building materials for a kitchen remodel? Smart move for your budget. But, that doesn’t mean you want your home to look like you built it out of materials from the bargain bin. So, take notes from this minimal and modern kitchen in this Spanish hand-built home. We’ve got a breakdown of why this space doesn’t look like it was done on the cheap, despite being primarily made up of very affordable materials.

Stephanie decided to open up her kitchen for both design and keep-an-eye-on-the-kiddos reasons. Wanting to add functionality, style and maximize the natural light, the reno was a mix of big projects (like knocking down walls) and quick last minute fixes that resulted in a gorgeous, classic kitchen. From Stephanie: The kitchen in our home was closed off, isolated and a mix of semi-updated and original features.

Andrea is a stylish fashion blogger who founded the blog Blonde Bedhead. And though her expertise is in personal style, it’s clear she’s also a master at interior design, too. In fact, she’s recently been able to flex her interior design muscles thanks to her newly purchased first home. Though the house didn’t quite fit her own style when she first saw it in person, she could see the potential. Andrea says upgrading the kitchen was the most expensive project in the house.

Upon closing on their first home, Maria and Eric found themselves in a situation that will probably seem quite familiar to anyone who’s ever looked at real estate in New York: they were the proud owners of a really great apartment with a not-so-great kitchen. The 850-square-foot two-bedroom in Queens was nice and roomy, but the kitchen was small, cramped, and dark, with discolored floor tiles and old, warped cabinets that required a little effort to shut completely.

Claire’s kitchen was dark and dated, with an office-style ceiling and a tiny little rodent problem. Claire set about repurposing the kitchen and rebuilding an extension to create a kitchen and living area, perfect for hosting. Now the kitchen is bright and dance party-ready. From Claire: We bought our house in 2012 after falling in love with its large Edwardian proportions and central location.

Dating in New York is notoriously brutal, and so is buying real estate, which lends itself to a robust market for fixer-uppers. After living for six years in a rented apartment in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, Jill and Aaron were ready to buy — but everything they could find in their desired neighborhoods, within their price range, was less than appealing.

One of the biggest challenges of living in a tiny apartment is the tiny kitchen. After purchasing her studio apartment in Brooklyn, Kelly was determined to create her dream kitchen from what was originally a less than dreamy space. Although square footage was limited, lots of smart choices resulted in a kitchen that’s colorful, beautiful, and has the functionality of a kitchen many times its size.

Sharlene’s ’70s kitchen was vivid green and laced with hard-to-clean linoleum. Instead of living with it or hiring an expensive contractor, this husband and wife team utilized their vacation days, rolled up their sleeves and got to work. From Sharlene: We had an original 1974 kitchen without the perks of the vintage appeal. The laminate cabinets were spray painted white and the laminate countertops were coming apart. No matter how much you cleaned, it always appeared dirty and worn.

"No detail was spared in this kitchen: moldings, hood detail, lovely polished nickel hardware, detailed ceiling with bead board and beams."

Stacy and her husband found themselves with a very trying kitchen on their hands. After two years of living with not enough storage, poor ventilation and dreaded pests they decided to take the plunge and create a kitchen that was clean, functional and easy on the eyes. From Stacy: Our kitchen had a hard life. We bought our home back in 2011, a recent flip after the previous owners had foreclosed.

Michelle and her husband bought their house with the anticipation of putting in some serious work on the kitchen. What they didn’t expect was a handful of undisclosed damages and, as first time renovators, just how much time a kitchen reno can take. But they survived! Smarter, saavier and with a much better kitchen. From Michelle: We spent almost a year looking at houses before we came across our current home.

When Jessica and her husband, David, moved from Westchester to New York City for work, they were lucky to find a spacious apartment in Hudson Heights with a breathtaking view of the Hudson river and the George Washington Bridge. One thing about the apartment that wasn’t so great: the kitchen. It was in decent shape, but its layout — a single row of cabinets and appliances, arranged along a single wall — left a lot to be desired when it came to counter space and storage.

For years, Jenna and her husband had been wanting to lighten and modernize the narrow kitchen in their Chelsea apartment. Finally, after living there for six years, the impending birth of their daughter gave them the hard deadline they needed to finally take the remodeling plunge. The old kitchen was full of dark, heavy finishes, which sucked all the light out of a very narrow space.

Diana Marsh spent 11 years living in Brooklyn before returning to her home state of Michigan. After purchasing this Ann Arbor house, she set to renovating it. It had “good bones” but was a bit on the small side and a lot on the dark side. As the owner of a brick and mortar store called Thistle and Bess, Diana’s has a keen eye for crafting creative spaces. Her year-long remodel of this house was no different!

Prior to the renovation, Cybele described the kitchen in her Park Slope apartment as “Functional, but…a little worn”. It was still getting the job done, but the kitchen had seen better days. There were giant holes in the walls behind the cabinets, the electrical was outdated, and a dark countertop and backsplash sucked the light out of the room. The mosaic tile floor, with its miles and miles of grout, was a nightmare to clean.

Tarah lovingly updated the kitchen in her family home, holding onto history while creating a space that meets her needs and matches her style. She’s kept pieces of the old kitchen throughout the new one, lending a true vintage charm to the room. From Tarah: My grandparents built the kitchen of my grandma’s dreams when they installed indoor plumbing in the home for the very first time in 1958. They also put the bathroom behind the kitchen .

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a bold color in the kitchen if it’s executed well. Sadly that was not the case for Shannon’s sporadically navy blue kitchen. She made some small updates to the space when she first moved in, but after living with the kitchen for a few years she decided it was time to give the space the true makeover it deserved. From Shannon: When we first bought the house six years ago the kitchen walls and cabinet panels were painted a dark navy color.

Penelope and Andrew’s outdated kitchen needed a boost. Well, not just a boost. A whole new extension and then a boost. After paying the high price of living through a kitchen reno with a toddler, they were handsomely rewarded with a gorgeous kitchen chock full of brand new functionality. From Penelope: We wanted a bigger and more useful kitchen. I’m an architect so I couldn’t help but see the potential a small addition to the house could provide — a larger kitchen!

If you were to make a list of kitchen essentials, it’s fair to say that “working oven” would be close to the top. Erica’s kitchen not only lacked the aforementioned necessity but was also chock full of heavy, dark ’80s design details. Her budget minded revamp helped give the kitchen a new airy look and some needed functionality. When I moved into my 1980s fixer upper home two years ago, one of the first projects was the kitchen.

We recently featured Ashley’s dining room makeover, and now we get to see what kind of magic she’s worked in the kitchen. She unenviably lived through a year and a half long updating process, but the result is pretty stunning. From Ashley: The kitchen had ugly wallpaper, chipped paint on the cabinets, and was closed in. We wanted to open the space up to our dining room to make it feel bigger. We did almost all the work ourselves and it took us about a year and a half.

When the lack of storage is a pain, the finishes are extraordinarily plain and you just really don’t love your small kitchen, what do you do? If you’re designer Mary Lee, you rip it all out and DIY yourself a functional, stylish modern mini kitchen. Mary’s tiny 366 square foot Seattle studio apartment — that she shares with her partner and a dog — had me drooling over all the ways she added style and function to such a small space.

Project by: Karen Nepacena of Destination Eichler Location: San Leandro, California Karen was tasked with opening up the kitchen and dining area of a 1940s bungalow. The space had a ton of natural light that was going to waste in the current layout, so she tore down some walls and gave the space a whole new look that still honored the character of the home.

Erika’s kitchen was dark, drab and crowded. Even though she couldn’t make any major changes to the layout, she was able to give the kitchen a bright and stylish new look that created the sense of oodles more space. From Erika: The original kitchen of our 1950s split level house in the Oakland Hills was remodeled by the previous owner to simply sell the house.

Knowing there would be a move at some point in the future, Heather and Doug had resolved not to remodel the less-than-attractive vintage 1980s kitchen of their Park Slope condo. But that was before the cabinets and appliances started to give out. With duct tape holding together the shelves in their fridge, Heather and Doug were faced with a challenge: creating, with budget in mind, a new kitchen that they would be happy with and that future buyers would be happy with, too.

The paradox of learning how to cook is that the more competent you become, the less competent you feel, because you end up with a jumble of spices cluttering up your kitchen cabinets. Every new, exciting, unfamiliar spice you acquire — sumac, amchoor powder, fenugreek — translates into less space in your designated spice shelf, which then makes any given spice harder to find.

Project by: Tamsin Allen of Fawn Interiors Location: Hampshire, United Kingdom Tamsin Allen was charged with adding a modern industrial look to a cottage, without losing any of the 250-year-old antique charm. She completely removed the kitchen and started from scratch to create a functional and beautiful space perfectly catered to her clients needs. From Tamsin: Our first project for this thatched cottage (approximate age: 250 years old) was a challenging one.

Project by: Ariela Najman of Stripe Design Services Location: Santa Cruz, California Interior designer, Ariela Najman, was tasked with adding some light and breezy style to her client’s California ranch house. Along with other smart upgrades, she added a calming and eye-catching blue in the kitchen giving it a timeless look with a twist. From Ariela: Stripe Design Services was approached in 2016 by a local couple wanting a makeover for their kitchen, dining room and living room.

Chrissie’s kitchen in her historic Victorian home was dark, cramped and sans-dishwasher. After living with the kitchen for a bit Chrissie, her husband, and her helpful brother revamped the space almost entirely themselves. From Chrissie: We bought our 1870 Victorian in Salem, Massachusetts in October, 2010. We purchased it from a lovely family who had owned the house for more than 40 years. It hadn’t been updated in many years so we spent a month updating it. Thank you, Chrissie!

Krista made some pretty stunning lemonade out of old-kitchen-laminate-lemons. She decided to double down on the purple color scheme and the results are crazy impressive. From Krista: My guiding principles when I realized, that, yes, I really had just bought my own NYC co-op, were no white or stainless steel in the kitchen. I succeeded for the most part, though compromises quickly became the name of the game.

Sug-what? Pronounced seew-grew, this sticky substance is like moldable glue that’s clay-like out of the package, then hardens to rubber after 24 hours. People have found all sorts of ways to fix and create things with this flexible, interesting stuff. But perhaps most intriguing is its potential for renters.

Wow! Wendy’s kitchen makeover was renovation free and budget friendly. She went from standard issue to a colorful, customized tile wonderland in 30 hours. Check it out! From Wendy: For my kitchen makeover we worked to a pretty tight budget but man I gotta tell you, I love it. You know when you go to a party and everyone winds up in the kitchen? Yeah, that’s basically me – every single night. Party for one. This is my most favouritest space.

I’ve heard it said that it’s helpful to live in your home before renovating, to get a feel for how you actually use the space and what you really want from the renovation. Well, this Upper East Side homeowner lived in his apartment for 40 years. So he had a pretty good idea. What he did want: A fresh new kitchen, but one whose traditional feel would integrate seamlessly with the rest of the apartment. What he didn’t want: a completely open-concept kitchen.

Project by: Jessica McClendon of Glamour Nest Project location: Los Angeles, California The “before” of this Sherman Oaks kitchen is your typical suburban kitchen: oak cabinets, tile flooring, Corian countertops…all the result of a renovation from decades prior that now felt dated and ignored the home’s mid-century roots.

Richard added so much personality and warmth to his rental, it’s kind of astounding. The totally fine but pretty sterile space was full of the standard rental woes; outdated overhead lighting, bland cabinets and a kitchen floor that has seen better days. With a mix of gifts, Craigslist and new purchases, Richard turned the bland apartment into a welcoming and charming home.

Who hasn’t dreamt of falling in love with an old house at the bottom of a mountain in France? Tiina is living our collective dream while tackling the very real problem of a non-functional kitchen. Her temporary solution keeps the romance while adding an affordable usability until its time for a full kitchen reno. From Tiina: We, my husband and I, fell in love with a floor of a crumbling old kitchen in a crumbling old house by the foot of the Montagne Noire in the autumn of 2016.

Any way you slice it, committing to a design upgrade can be hard and more than a little bit scary. After living a few years with a kitchen she did not particularly love, Havalah finally decided to pull the trigger on a kitchen makeover. After committing to doing the whole upgrade on their own, she had to settle on a look and feel for the space as well as the best way to accomplish it. The final result is clean and sophisticated while remaining kid friendly and welcoming.

Many renters hope to add some color to their place, but Mery’s dreams were even more modest — white paint. So before she moved in, she negotiated with her landlord and got permission to paint and update her kitchen. Playing with white paint and how it works with the textures in her kitchen, she made a huge change. From Mery: I moved in six months ago and I am a renter. The first thing I told the owner was that I would rent it only if i could paint the kitchen tiles.

Avery’s 1980s kitchen was dark and dated, but all of the appliances were perfectly functional so she figured she could make some quick and inexpensive updates to transform the look of the space. After much internet research, she decided to go with her gut and chose a color and style that matched her personal tastes. From Avery: Our craftsman style parsonage is full of beautiful, original wood trim, built-ins, and doors from 1910.

One of the fun things about working at Apartment Therapy is seeing how much potential there is in even the smallest of spaces. At 25 square feet, this barely-there kitchen is, I think, the smallest kitchen we’ve ever featured in a Before & After — which makes the end results even more impressive. A home with a 25 square-foot kitchen might sound a little insane to people from anywhere else, but in New York, you take what you can get.

IKEA’s new cabinets are literally garbage. Kungsbacka, the Swedish furniture retailer’s latest line of kitchen cabinets, is made from reclaimed industrial wood and recycled plastic bottles. IKEA collaborated with Swedish design studio Form Us With Love to create a sleek collection of anthracite cabinets with a matte finish (you know we love a black kitchen!). Each 15.75-by-31.5-inch cabinet uses 25 plastic bottles.

Kacie’s kitchen lacked personality, especially this corner nook which she found drab and dingy. Armed with paint and plywood, she and her husband created a bright, cheerful spot for family dinners and game night with friends. From Kacie: My husband and I were excited about the size and footprint of the kitchen in our first home, but were less thrilled about the orange oak-y style.

Megan’s kitchen was dark, didn’t feel like her and was completely lacking storage. She decided to banish all the brown and open the space up to make it brighter and more functional. The result is a charming kitchen that was totally DIY! From Megan: Our ten year old kitchen (new to us) was dark, tiny and unattractive. Dust would settle on the eaves and required us to get on a ladder to clean them, which never happened. Our cabinets were very small and allowed for only minimal storage.

Nina helped a family turn their vacation property kitchen from a claustrophobic and kitschy space into a fun and open gathering space. By removing the divider, adding some unexpected color along with classic elements, she breathed new life into the room. From Nina: The owners, a young family, wanted a vacation apartment (that they could also rent out), located in a town adjacent to a European ski area.

Lindsay and her family moved into a wonderful new space in a neighborhood they loved. But there was one snafu: the old and outdated kitchen. Lindsay has a food blog so a clunky kitchen just wouldn’t do. They gutted the entire thing and started from scratch, and the results are a fun and functional space that’s perfect for family life and blog life. From Lindsay: The biggest change we made was to the location of the sink and the removal of the existing island.

It’s hard to describe the color of the kitchen in this historic Craftsman in Oakland, pre-renovation. Turquoise blue? Sea-foam green? Whatever the exact hue, it wasn’t quite the right shade for homeowners Brett and her husband Brandon when they purchased this house in March of 2016.

This little kitchen was in need of a lot of spiffing up and a little bit more space. Christina gave the space a fresh new look with a smart layout, some classic tile and a coat of paint in a lovely light color. From Christina: We recently finished up our project in Redondo Beach. This was a smaller house that was in serious need of a face lift. It had so many colors happening as well as some issues in the kitchen.

Heather’s kitchen was outdated, but not unlivable, so she and her husband opted for a few smart and thrifty updates to add some style to the space before a big kitchen remodel. From Heather: My husband and I recently purchased a 1960s home. It’s in great condition, but most everything is original to the house.

When Kate and Emilio purchased their Spanish Revival house, the kitchen was small and broken up into two separate rooms — an awkwardly long mudroom/pantry and an inefficiently small and dated kitchen. The cabinets and countertops were installed right in front of the windows, and there was little workspace between the range and sink.

Heidi’s kitchen got a sleek and storage-minded upgrade. Taking cues from her building’s style —and her own personal aesthetic — she created a space that added a lot of functionality, without sacrificing affordability. From Heidi: The design was conceived around cues from my 1959 building’s clean aesthetic combined with a Scandinavian modern/folk influence.

When it comes to kitchen cabinets, hardware is a little thing that can make a big difference. We’ve rounded up ten of the best online sources for knobs, pulls, and everything in between, helpfully sorted into ‘High,’ ‘Mid’ and ‘Low’ categories so you can find the best store for your budget. My Knobs: A huge, almost overwhelming, selection of cabinet hardware at very reasonable prices. Cabinet Parts: Low prices and a large selection.

When her sister-in-law was ready to update her kitchen, Cathy knew she could make an impact while keeping most of the kitchen intact by painting the cabinets and making the biggest update to the floor. From Cathy: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” I am a firm believer in trying to make the most of the existing elements in a space before considering replacing or changing them.

We recently finished redoing Tara’s rental kitchen, transforming it from a 1970s nightmare into a more livable and lovable space. After doing the more substantial stuff — like painting cabinets and redo-ing the floors — we added a bunch of space-saving storage to make it a small kitchen superstar. It doesn’t take much, just a few 5-minute projects here and there.

Are you looking to update your kitchen on a budget? This round up will provide you with the motivation and inspiration to make your dream a reality, without breaking the bank. These $1000 (or less) makeovers prove that a little can go a long way to make a space feel new.

When tasked with updating a kitchen for a family with six kids, Syd and Shay of Studio McGee wanted to create a “next level” monochromatic kitchen, that could still house a large brood. From Studio McGee: When it comes to a bright, monochromatic kitchen, it’s all in the details. All-white kitchens are the number one request we receive. You might see a lot of people churning out white kitchens, but it’s the subtle design decisions that can take a kitchen to the next level.

Katie’s RV kitchen was functional but cookie-cutter. She wanted something that was unique and warm, and she took a chance on black paint in a small space and it totally paid off! From Katie: When we first purchased our RV the interior was in good condition, it just wasn’t our style. Not to mention every single person that owns the same model has this exact kitchen. We needed a space that felt like ours, ya know?

Sarah and Nick purchased their 1924 traditional island cottage in 2013, and spent the next five months renovating much of their new home. They were working with a very tight budget and a very real deadline; baby number two was on the way and the couple had made a pact that the kitchen be completed before his birth. Naturally, this made tackling the project a particular challenge.

Prior to their renovation, Laura and Matthew’s kitchen had a few problems common to lots of NYC apartments: a tiny footprint, not enough storage space, and cabinets caked with years’ and years’ worth of paint. As you can see, the cabinets in their galley kitchen had taken on an unusual texture, and the oven was positioned about 18 inches from the opposite countertop. Definitely time for a change.

Kylie’s kitchen is also her office, so while the original was livable, it wasn’t really blog-worthy. After about six months of hard DIY work, she got a gorgeous, open and photo-worthy space. From Kylie: Our house is 1,500 square feet and was built in the 1950s. We love our location and want to stay here for a while, but the kitchen had to go.

Kate (from Centsational Girl) recently saw her friend’s kitchen remodel for the first time. Although this family originally had grand visions for a new kitchen, they ultimately pulled back, skipped the architect, and decided to save money instead. They kept the current layout and put their time and budget towards making their kitchen reflect their own tastes and lifestyle. From Kate: Over the weekend I popped in to visit some good friends, Dino and Heidi.

An incredible, temporary floor makeover.

About a year ago, my partner and I purchased our very first home. It’s a darling 1920s house with tons of curb appeal, but it still needs a lot of renovation work on the inside. And, while much of the house retains its original charm, the kitchen leaves a lot to be desired. After a bit of sleuthing, we learned from past building permits that the previous owners did a complete kitchen overhaul in 1970.

Erin’s old kitchen looked straight out of Stranger Things and she knew before she moved in that she’d be going to battle with the demigorgon of outdated design (end of reference, I promise). By knocking down the cabinets and updating the kitchen with crisp, modern design she was able to make her galley kitchen functional and beautiful. From Erin: I recently bought a dated condo with hopes to make it my own. The obvious issue in the small galley kitchen was the lack of natural light.

Emma and Matt bought a home in Ipswich for its old world character and its affordability. But most of the time “character” often comes with a huge list of DIYs and needed renovations. This home had a particularly dated living area and kitchen that, despite the big windows letting light in, felt quite dark. The living area and kitchen of their home was very dated with the yellow walls, green trim, not to mention the dark wooden ceiling and kitchen cabinets.

When they bought their co-op apartment in Brooklyn, Casey and Kumar had a particularly ambitious project in mind: transforming a one-bedroom to meet the needs of a family of four people. Doing so involved some pretty clever solutions along with a full-scale overhaul of the unit’s very small, very outdated kitchen. Since space in their small apartment was at a premium, Casey and Kumar wanted the kitchen to flow seamlessly into the rest of the living area.

Danica’s new house came with an old kitchen, and she knew it had to go. With a nice layout and some Craigslist luck on her side she was able to DIY her way to a gorgeous updated kitchen. From Danica: We moved into our home last year and the first project we tackled was the horribly boring builder grade kitchen. The layout was great but the oak cabinets, white laminate and checker backsplash needed some serious updating.

This vintage kitchen had a lot of brown in it. Brown cabinets. Brown counters. A brown floor. Yep, even a brown oven. Thanks to the DIY skills of this couple in Pittsburgh, their kitchen is brighter and a heckuva lot more modern. Lauren writes: “We did most of the kitchen ourselves and a good bit I did all by myself. I was completely terrified to do it but I’m so glad I did.

Christina of the blog Christina’s Adventures had quite the task before her when it came to tackling this historic Victorian home. Though it’s clear Christina is pleased with how the entire home turned out, the kitchen’s makeover—that they took on themselves!—is her proudest DIY. From Christina: “It was the worst room in the house before, and we transformed it into our favorite room in the whole house!

Inspired by the gray skies of the Pacific Northwest, Nila and her husband Henryk, DIYd their way to a charming, English cottage inspired kitchen. From Nila: As newly graduated Florida transplants to the Pacific Northwest, our money didn’t stretch as far as we had hoped. We purchased a small home, which we’ve named Corner Cottage, because it is a corner house in a fun part of the city with many shops, restaurants and farmers market all within walking distance.

Laura had been living in her two-bedroom co-op in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace for five years before she finally decided to take the plunge and renovate her kitchen. While her cabinets were still in decent shape, the linoleum floor was not: it “only looked serviceable in the five minutes after it was mopped.” And the original 1960s oven, while charming, was clearly due for an upgrade.