Do you have a kitchen that needs to be remodeled and have no idea where to start? We certainly have been there! I hope that sharing our remodeled kitchen before and after photos and the story behind them will give you hope AND some ideas to get your wheels turning for your kitchen!

This post is all about our remodeled kitchen before and after photos

When we purchased this home, there was no question (and you will soon see why) that we would have to remodel the kitchen. That decision was easy. The hard part was trying to figure out what we were going to do to this kitchen to make it even remotely desirable. It felt a little hopeless at first. Fortunately, after tossing around idea after idea, we finally came up with a plan.

If you, too, feel very daunted by your kitchen renovation, don’t give up hope! Just keep brainstorming! If you are struggling to visualize the renovation mentally, I recommend you check out the article Best Home Renovation Apps, by Jose R. Mendoza and Erica Puisis. There are some apps that might help you envision your dream kitchen!

I hope that by seeing our kitchen makeover, you will see that with a few key changes, there is hope for the most unusual kitchens!

Our Kitchen Before

I will begin by showing you the photos of the old kitchen; then I will describe it.

 

 

Size

The square footage of the original kitchen was 323 SF. The kitchen was 17 feet x 19 feet. The existing space was a decent size but felt like a small kitchen due to the use of the space. It is worth mentioning that the ceiling was less than 8 feet in height, except around that massive hood, where it was 9 feet. The ceiling height definitely helped contribute to the cramped kitchen feel.

Layout

I should start by describing the home a bit. It was a 1970s patio home and shared a wall with the neighbor on both sides. This meant that all the windows were on the front and the back exterior walls of the house. The kitchen was in the center of the home between the dining room that faced the backyard and an indoor atrium (yes, also unusual).

On the other side of the third kitchen wall was the living room. There was very little natural light to speak of in the old kitchen. There were two skylights in the indoor atrium (that was also dark) that provided a hint of light. The kitchen had a U-shaped kitchen layout with an island in the center.

​Flooring

The kitchen had tile flooring. The floor tiles were 12″ x 12″ tile. The tile was in good condition but was dated and needed to go.

Cabinets

I am pretty sure the existing cabinets were the original cabinets. They were white cabinets that had been painted at least 37 times, and they were coupled with dark green Formica countertops. These were not cabinets we could make work in a new kitchen.

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Our Kitchen After

Size

We maintained the size of the kitchen but made much better use of the space. One of the dramatic changes we made that made a HUGE difference was raising the kitchen ceiling to 9 feet.

We had to maintain the lower height above the cabinets for mechanical space, but adding one foot of height in the rest of the space made it feel much more open. We also widened the opening to the indoor atrium, which made it feel more open and allowed a little more natural light into the space.

 

Layout

Another change that made a significant difference and truly made my heart sing was to remove the wall between the dining and kitchen areas. Not only did it bring in a ton of natural light and make the kitchen feel much bigger, but it also allowed for more cooking space and overall better access to the kitchen.

With the increased space in the new kitchen, we were able to do a galley-style layout with a large kitchen island in the center. Our island was 102′ x 36′, which allowed plenty of working space and space for three bar stools. The new layout with the large island provided a ton of counter space and room for multiple workstations.

 

Flooring

We installed white oak engineered hardwood flooring In the rest of the home where we had hard floors. We continued that same flooring into the kitchen and could not be happier with the way they turned out! If you are interested in the floors, they are from ADM Flooring in Padua. They were beautiful and pretty easy to install!

​Cabinets

For the kitchen cabinets, we had semi custom cabinets in shaker style in an off-white installed for the upper cabinets and lower cabinets. As you can see, the living room adjacent wall included floor-to-ceiling cabinets. Since we removed the pantry, we need to include pantry space in the cabinetry, so we requested pull-out shelves for two sections of the wall of cabinets.

It worked out perfectly. The new cabinets and layout provided more than ample storage space. For cabinet hardware, we used aged brass knobs and pulls.

We elected to use a combination of cabinet doors and drawers. The island only had drawers, and there were two stacks of drawers along the sink. We chose to use Mont Blanc quarts for the countertop, which was very similar in color to the cabinets. That and the Weathered White Zellige tile from Cle Tile helped me achieve my version of the classic white kitchen.

​Appliances

As you probably guessed, we replaced all the kitchen appliances. We purchased stainless steel GE Cafe appliances, including an electric induction cooktop, a double wall oven, a refrigerator, and a drawer-style microwave.

Lighting Fixtures

We used 4-inch recessed can lights throughout the kitchen and three Piatto Medium Pendants from Visual Comfort. If you are in the lighting selection phase, make sure to check out my post, 8 Elegant Lighting Over Kitchen Sink Ideas.

Summary

In this post, I shared our remodeled kitchen before and after photos and a description of the changes we made to transform our dark and dated kitchen into a bright, spacious kitchen that we love! The two changes that made the biggest difference in the space were raising the ceiling and removing a wall.

If you are looking at your own kitchen and trying to decide where to start, try to think about what changes you could make that would have the most significant impact on the look and feel of the space and go from there! And if you are considering a kitchen renovation, make sure to check out my posts: 5 Best Kitchen Layouts for Your Home Renovation and 4 Fantastic Kitchen Renovation Survival Tips!