help! our kitchen is small and outdated!
Melissa wrote in to ask for your help giving the kitchen in her new house a makeover.
We just moved into our new house and everything about it is amazing except our ‘country kitchen’ — meaning small and outdated. I just got married and have all these neat dishes and toys (breadmaker, slow cooker, etc.), but don’t have any counterspace or storage! The floors and counters were newly done, and hopefully we can get a new stove in there soon. I was thinking of leaving the cabinets white (it would be hard to sand them to repaint because of lead paint hazards…) and painting the walls another color that’s not so pukey. Can you help me find some inexpensive ways to freshen up and rearrange our kitchen?
Hi Melissa! Thanks for writing in and sending in photos (click through to the next page to see a couple more). First off, congratulations on your new home — and new marriage. What an exciting year you must be having. Secondly, this kitchen is not bad at all. We’ve certainly seen worse! There is a ton of potential. Changing the cabinet pulls, backsplash, countertop — tall that can be done without a huge budget. Pick up a copy of new This Old House — there’s a great story in there about re-doing a kitchen on the cheap. It will help you prioritize where to spend the dough (sadly, the story’s not online). More inspiration can be found over at design*sponge. Look at this Sneak Peek with Conn & John in Hawaii. Their kitchen is just white with stainless steel accents and looks great. A stainless workbench in the middle of the room to add counter space. Stephanie’s before and after shows how a little color on the back splash can make a big impact. Love that green! Another resource to check out: Consumer Reports just came out with a kitchen renovation special. Look at this article on easy cabinet upgrades.
Does anyone else of suggestions for Melissa? Click through to the next page to make suggestions and see a couple of more photos!
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
I would start by choosing a color that you love to paint the walls, and a secondary color. The gray and white are a lovely background to just about any color you could want! I would also change the cabinet door hardware - it’s such a quick fix.
I would also remove the strange little corner shelf and the floating shelf on the one wall, and put up something more modern - maybe a big piece of art and some Ikea Lack shelves, so you can display some beautiful and useful kitchen pieces, and enjoy looking at them and grabbing them when you need them. That one shelf seems way too high to me.
I think you could also bring in some color and style with tea towels, rugs and maybe some window treatments on the door and window. Sheer if you have a nice view, or something short just to make an accent, or something more substantial if you overlook a wall or something.
I do think it’s a cute space though!
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the suggestions, Elizabeth! Unfortunately, the counters are brown, not gray. That floating shelf is extremely high and I can barely reach anything on it. What I really need is some more counterspace- the cabinets are too low to the countertops for me to even set down and use my Kitchenaid mixer! Maybe a cart with wheels or something? Any suggestions?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
I have a similar situation with the upper cabinets being shallow and close to the counter on the side of my kitchen with the plumbing (sink dishwasher) and shorter cabinets on the other - with the stove and refrigerator splitting up that side.
We’re going with an under-counter refrigerator. Since we’re not big on stock piling fresh foods, a 5.5 cu ft all refrigerator unit is going to work for us. This allows us to add more counter.
Also, if you’re not too attached to the cupboard space in the lower cabinets next to your stove, you could consider cutting the doors down and placing the microwave underneath the counter top and add some open shelving in that corner.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:30 am
Congrats on your new home and new marriage. That’s not a bad kitchen, it just needs some updating and some color. For your counter space issue, I would take down the shelves, and see if you can find a kitchen cart or butcher block piece that would fit neatly in the space on the blank wall past the clearance for the door–the door does open in, right? We did something similar in our small rental kitchen with little counter space. IKEA has some freestanding cabinets that might work in that space, or you could get something more like a cart. Definitely paint! With the white and brown I’d go with a nice green, maybe an aqua. Or yellow. What color is your Kitchenaid mixer? Or your dishes? How about something in a similar, or a contrasting color to those? Or even a neutral color and let your accessories give punches of color. Definitely get new cabinet pulls–either some in stainless, or you could pick up or contrast the wall color with glass or ceramic pulls. The House of Antique Hardware http://houseofantiquehardware.com/ has glass pulls in square and “beehive” shapes that look quite modern when mixed with modern cabinets, and they come in 16 colors. Get a Roman shade for the window, or just a valance if the view is good. You could consider removing some of the doors from the upper cabinets for a more open look, or remove them altogether and replace them with shelves. Good luck!
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
We solved our lack of counter space with a baker’s rack, giving us extra shelves above and below the new counter. However, it looks like you have enough room to go with a prep table from a restaurant supply store. They’re much sturdier than most carts or baker’s racks, and the leg height is adjustable. Once you have your counter piece in place, then you can work on shelving and storage for above and below the prep table. Your kitchen is going to be gorgeous–I see lots of potential!