My Mom’s Finished Kitchen — Before & After
Today I’m finally ready to share the full before and after of my mom’s finished kitchen.
I have no idea what to call this. It was way more than just a makeover, but not quite as extensive as a remodel. My mom wanted some upgrades in her kitchen, but she didn’t want it turning into a full-blown remodel with cabinets being torn out, and she also didn’t want anything that would require her whole house being redecorated.
So any changes we made in the kitchen had to coordinate with her existing furniture, draperies, and decor in the breakfast room and family room.
With that in mind, we chose a new cabinet and wall color to coordinate with her existing draperies and furniture, and then took about eight weeks to turn this…
…into this…
And this…
…into this…
Isn’t that a remarkable difference? It’s such a huge difference that it almost feels like a complete remodel. But as you can see, we did keep the original cabinets, although we upgraded them quite a bit.
The cabinet color is a Valspar color called Sweet Carolina, but we had it color matched in Behr Premium Plus paint in an eggshell finish, and then topcoated with General Finishes High Performance Topcoat in a flat finish. The new wall color is a Behr color called Aged Beige, and we used an eggshell finish.
There was so much that went into this not-quite-a-remodel, so I’ll try to give you as much detail as possible.
My mom didn’t want to do anything terribly extensive. After all, this was supposed to be a quick makeover, so new floor tile or backsplash tile was out of the question. So we kicked off this whole thing by changing the color of the grout on the floor tile and the backsplash tile using Grout Renew.
Grout Renew is magical. It’s a paint-type product that’s specifically made to change the color of grout, and the before and after is truly amazing. Here’s a picture of the in-progress Grout Renew process. See how it seems to change the actual color of the tile?
That dark grout really accentuated the dark colors in the tile, where the light grout seems to highlight the light colors in the tile and make the darker color kind of disappear.
Of course, the changes we made to the actual cabinets made the biggest difference in the kitchen. The original cabinet doors and drawer fronts were the thin ones from the 60s that had the routed design around the edges. And of course, there was also the scalloped canopy around the window area.
We kept all of the original cabinets, but we made all new cabinet doors and drawer fronts, removed the scalloped canopy around the sink and window area, replaced the trim just above the canopy (since it had been cut in order to install the canopy), filled in the lines of the paneling with wood filler and sanded those smooth, and then took the cabinet paint color all the way to the ceiling.
The new cabinet doors and drawer fronts are very simple in design — 3/4″ plywood with edge banding around the edges, and a simple trim to dress up the fronts. Then we added new hardware.
I was so shocked at the difference in the window area without the scalloped canopy. Just that one simple change went a long way towards making the kitchen feel updated and fresh. But it also made the kitchen feel more open and brighter. It was such a small change for such a huge payoff.
And you’ll also notice that we changed out the sink and faucet, swapped out the almond-colored switches, outlets, and face plates with new white ones, added a new woven shade from Lowe’s, added a new pendant light where the can light above the sink used to be, and added a piece of trim below the window sill. One of my mom’s paintings and a new cute little plant added the finishing touches.
The back of the peninsula got a huge makeover as well. Before we got started, the back side (i.e., breakfast room side) of the peninsula had two ill-fitting cabinet doors that had been installed by my dad as an afterthought about two decades ago. My dad was one of those “get it done” kind of people, so making it look nice wasn’t really a priority for him. He had two extra cabinet doors, and he decided to put them to use. 😀
We removed not only the doors, but the entire facing on this side of the peninsula…
…and I rebuilt it from scratch. Now it has four doors instead of two, and they’re actually symmetrical and much more pleasing to look at. I also added some corbels to balance out that 12-inch overhang of the countertop.
Now the back of the peninsula looks intentional rather than like an afterthought.
My mom had originally planned to have me build pull-out shelves for both the left and right sides of the peninsula, but as things got nearer to completion, she decided that she didn’t need pull-outs on the side where she can access the inside of the cabinet from both the kitchen side and the breakfast room side since there’s no way that anything on that side can get lost in the dark recesses of the cabinet.
Here’s the access from the kitchen side…
…and the access from the breakfast room side…
So none of those items are in danger of become inaccessible.
But on the other side (i.e., the wall side of the peninsula), is what was originally a blind corner, meaning that it’s not easily accessible from the kitchen side. So on that side, I built her two pull-out shelves, accessible from the breakfast room side, so that nothing would get lost.
I also built her two pull-out shelves for the newly-configured cabinets to the left of the stove. We actually didn’t reconfigure anything here except the doors. All of the shelves stayed in the same place. She decided that everything in the upper section was easy enough to reach without any pull-out shelves.
But I did add two pull-out shelves in the lower section…
And finally, I added two more pull-out shelves in the cabinet to the right of the oven.
You’ll also notice that all of the insides of her cabinets are now bright and white. This made such a huge difference!! I didn’t get an official “before” picture of the insides of her cabinets, but I did find this one that shows the original color…
It was just unfinished wood that had probably gotten darker and darker as the years passed. The insides didn’t even have a clear coat on them. It was just plain, raw, dark wood.
And now all of the cabinet interiors are bright and white and look so clean…
My biggest tip for painting cabinet interiors is to use a clear coat, and specifically to use General Finishes High Performance Topcoat. If you just paint the interiors of your cabinets with latex paint and leave it at that, they won’t be pretty for long. Latex paint always seems to keep a slight tacky feel to it, and things will stick and scuff the paint. A good quality topcoat makes a day and night difference.
Another big change we made was to this corner where the dishwasher was.
Her dishwasher has been broken for a while, and she decided that rather than replace it, she would rather have more cabinet space. Specifically, she wanted a place to store her KitchenAid stand mixer so that she could get it off of her countertop. But she knew that if it were placed inside a regular cabinet, there’s no way she would get it out to use it.
So we removed the dishwasher, and I turned that area into more cabinet space…
And then inside the cabinet, I installed a Rev-a-Shelf stand mixer shelf with a pull-out shelf below it so that she can store her mixer attachments.
There was already an outlet there for the dishwasher, so now the mixer can stay plugged in, and she can easily lift it to countertop height when she needs to use the mixer.
In addition to all of the cabinet upgrades, I also built her all new drawers. The original drawers had seen better days, and I didn’t think I could get the drawer fronts off of them without completely destroying them anyway. So all new drawer boxes with soft close, full-extension drawer slides were in order.
And after seeing how I had added custom organization to my kitchen drawers, she decided that she wanted that in hers also. This is such a simple thing to do using 1/2-inch project boards from Home Depot. Just cut them, glue them, and nail them (using tiny 5/8″ nails) into any configuration you want.
Here are the ones I did for my mom…
After I finished those and went home for the day, she decided that she wanted one more drawer sectioned off, so she did this one herself.
It’s such an easy, inexpensive, and fairly quick way to customize your kitchen!
There was one huge upgrade that we didn’t DIY ourselves. My mom’s breakfast room originally had this big picture window in it…
And she decided that she wanted that window, along with the door on the family room side of the fireplace, replaced with new French doors for easier access to her new covered patio.
These new French doors are AMAZING!! They let in so much light, and now that they’re there, it seems like they should have always been there.
I can’t believe what a HUGE difference it made swapping out a rather large window for French doors. But that change, along with removing the canopy around the kitchen window, seems to have doubled the amount of natural light coming into these rooms.
In my opinion, the one thing we did in the kitchen that made the biggest difference was taking the cabinet paint color all the way to the ceiling. In fact, it made such a big difference that several commenters in past progress posts actually thought we added new crown molding.
But as you can see here, that crown molding was there from the beginning.
It looks so much better unifying that crown molding and the space above the cabinets with the actual cabinets rather than having those areas be different colors.
We also added new laminate countertop material over her existing laminate countertops. The new laminate is almost the same color as the original, but it is just a slight bit whiter and brighter. That was a big project!
One final thing that we did was swap out the original light bulbs with GE Reveal LED light bulbs. These are my new favorite light bulbs, and they don’t even have to pay me to say that (and haven’t paid me to say that, FYI.)
Light bulbs make such a huge difference in how the colors in a room look. But I’ll admit that I get totally confused and overwhelmed when I go to shop for light bulbs now. So after looking over the different options (and what the heck are lumens anyway? 😀 ), I decided that I liked the way the GE Reveal bulb looked on the display, so I bought one for this little light above the kitchen sink.
The light that it put out was so pretty to me — not so warm that it’s yellow, but also not so bright that it’s harsh and blue like those daylight bulbs are. I liked it so much that I talked my mom into replacing the bulbs in her 6-inch can lights with the Reveal bulbs, and the difference was amazing!
I think that about covers all of the changes we made. It was definitely much more extensive than a simple makeover, and we seemed to add projects as we went along. So it ended up taking longer than we had originally planned.
But I think all of our hard work payed off. My mom absolutely loves her “new” kitchen — both the look and the functionality — so that’s what matters to me. I’m so happy that we could get this done for her.
Anyway, I’ll leave you with a few more random pictures of this before and after transformation…
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
As usual, stupendous job! Your mother must be over the moon with her new functional kitchen. I’m happy to see this post. You’ve been away a bit so glad you are back.
Beautiful!! I know your Mom is going to enjoy all the changes but mostly those pull out drawers!! You are so talented and I’m always amazed at your vision. Good job!!
OMG! Love the updates! Can you please become my sister? I love reading your posts and get so excited to see all that you do. What a great Mother’s Day gift you gave her!
I love your practical ways. Most people can’t afford a total gut and re-do and your good taste (I love your use of colors) and willingness to try any projects makes yours my favorite decorating blog!
Hi Kristi. I miss you. Hope all
Is well.
You did another extraordinary job! I’ll bet your Mom set up her bed close by just to look at that marvel? lol Question: I looked up Sweet Carolina on Valspar’s site and they don’t show it. There is a Sweet Caroline which is Pepto pink. ???
All I have to say is fabulous! Gosh, I just love everything about this kitchen! I was just thinking about you and hoping you and your family are staying safe from this darn virus! You are just so good, bravol
I think she said it’s a BEHR color
No, it was a Valspar color she had color matched in Behr!
The Valspar color is called Sweet Carolina 5008-2A. It’s there.
Wow! What a beautiful job! It looks like a whole new kitchen!
Wow! What an appropriate post as we head into Mother’s Day. What a special gift for your mom. So many great ideas here…I’m definitely saving this for future inspiration!
Hey Kristi,
What an amazing transformation! Your mom’s kitchen looks awesome. Great job!
Absolutely beautiful! I know your Mom is beyond happy with her new kitchen. I have been wondering about this project and have missed your posts. Looking forward to more!
Looks brilliant, your mum will be pleased. Hope you are all staying safe. I’ve missed your post so much.
Whoa! Ive been following you along this journey and this is an incredible transformation. Your moms kitchen looks incredible and I love all of the functional upgrades that youve added to it. Great job Kristi!
Absolutely fabulous!!! I would love that kitchen in my house!! You have so much talent that you really should be consulted by builders when they are building new homes. I have seen some real nightmares in new built homes.
Wow you did an awesome job in your Mom’s kitchen…now I need to do mine…I’ve been a follower of yours for a few years now and love what you do. Keep up the great work.
Blown away by this gorgeous transformation so lovingly executed by you, Kristi! My favorite change is extending the cabinet color to the ceiling! What a huge difference that made!
This is amazing! I wish you were my sister!!
You are amazing! You do beautiful work and have such wonderful ideas! Love the new look of the kitchen!
Pretty sure your mom does a happy dance every time she walks into this glorious re-do. Please, tell me what color the green paint is.
The green is Valspar Sweet Carolina 5008-2A.
Excellent job! Just gorgeous. I know you are both so happy with the results. Nice to see you back, too! You were missed.
Spectacular! You’ve shown us again what some creativity, a good eye for color/design/detail, and DIY hard work can accomplish! Great job!!
So glad to hear from you Kristi! The kitchen looks fabulous for not being a full reno. Those little things like the scallop over the sink gave you huge payoffs. The french door is great. I know your mom loves it. The standing mixer part is one of my favorites along with all the customization of the cabinet interiors. The paint color is great too. Wonderful job you did!
Looks fabulous. I sure missed you.
What a beautiful transformation! I ♥♥♥ the cabinets!
Hi Kristi, What a transformation. It’s beautiful, functional and full of inspiration! You are so talented and your Mom is now enjoying a new space full of her daughters ability to transform in a truly amazing way. Kudos to you!!
You never cease to amaze me Kristi. All of your hard work sure did pay off. I know your mother is sooo proud. I have always loved green in my home. I see it is coming back in many magazines. Have missed hearing from you. You are one of my very best bloggers.
Oh my goodness! It looks wonderful! What a huge difference! I’m sure she is so very happy with all the updated changes. You are a wonderful daughter.
We have put all new cabinets in our 20 year old kitchen and are so pleased with the results. Just waiting on the Quartz countertops to be installed. My husband did all the work himself…with a little help from from me. I plan to do the dividers in the drawers like you did.
It looks amazing! I have a question about the top coat – we moved into our new home less than a year ago and it had brand new painted cabinets. However, the painters the builders used were sub par, and it’s already chipping. Do you think I could touch up those areas and then apply the tip coat now, a year later? I’m trying to prevent future damage! Thanks!
If they used a latex paint, then I would certainly think you could touch up the chips and then clear coat. Just be sure it’s latex and not oil-based!
WOW, just wow. What a great job. I redid a similar kitchen about 10 years ago. I wish I had this inspiration when I did mine.
So glad to get your post today. You have been missed!!
Kristi, you are right, I absolutely love my “new kitchen.” It feels and looks like a complete remodel. You are brilliant! Every time I came up with another “I wish…” you came up with a way to do it. And a bonus to the whole project was getting to spend so much time with you during the shelter-in-place that could have been so depressing. Watching you work is an amazing experience. I’m so proud of you and your many talents, abilities, and your courage to jump right in and try things. Thank you for all you did. You are a blessing. I love you. ❤️
Mom
I love your new kitchen. Your paintings are beautiful too! What an amazing daughter you have. Her blog is my favorite!
It is so nice to hear from you as Kristi has been talking about you so much! You have an amazing daughter and she showed her talents again in your beautiful kitchen. She is my favourite blogger, but what a joy it must be to be her mum!
Congratulations for your renovated kitchen! And for having a daughter like Kristi! She is amazing.
You certainly do have an amazing, talented, hard-working, daughter with such vision with color, style and know-how to complete a project like a pro!! She is the one blogger I have learned so much from and her explanations of how she transforms whatever she is doing, is also another talent shared and absolutely appreciated!!! Enjoy your “new kitchen” and those gorgeous French doors!! Blessings for a wonderful 2021!
I am very curious as to how the grout paint is holding up. I know nothing about this product and I am considering redoing the grout in my shower from gray to white.
It’s holding up perfectly. I paint all of my grout as well, even brand new grout. The Grout Renew is an amazing grout sealer. I’ve never had any problems with it.
It is wonderful to see a post from you again!
Just Fabulous! Everything about it is spot on. Love your Mom’s paintings on the easels and the clear countertops look great.
Absolutely fabulous!!! I’ve missed you!
Beautiful renovation. I know your Mom must be elated. I am so happy you are back because I was worried that something had happened. Stay safe and healthy.
It is beautiful….just like the rest of your work. You’re so talented and an inspiration!
That’s a beautiful kitchen! I actually really like the layout of the kitchen as well- it’s not huge, but it seems so functional! The design fits perfectly into the rest of the house, and it looks like it belongs there. Love it!
The mixer stand! I bet every time she uses that she will think about all of the hard work you both put into this makeover.
This was a great makeover that looks professional in every way right down to the drawer organizers. If you ever got your own projects completed you could go into business with Kristi’s Magical Kitchen Makeovers. You truly work magic with your talents and all within a budget that most people can afford.
So glad you are back and hope you are ready to tackle your own house again.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
I admire you AND your Mom SO much! You are both classy ladies with gorgeous taste!
We can see by the things in your mom’s cupboards that she still ‘does/makes’ a lot of things in her kitchen. Way to go Mom!!!!:))))
I love seeing transformations like this. So fresh and new….just lovely!
This is phenomenal! I’d love to incorporate a few of your ideas into my kitchen redo… the cabinet trim, pendant light, woven shade and peninsula… hope you share a resource list!
So,so,so happy to hear from you again! I hope all is well with your family! The transformation is lovely. I am sure your Mom is in heaven! I love how close your family is. I look forward to seeing more from you!
Sheila F.
Thank you as I’m hoping your post will be helpful in convincing my husband that we can resurface & replace some cabinet fronts and do upgrades rather than gut the whole kitchen!
Love what you did to this kitchen – and the French doors, wow!
The kitchen looks awesome!
And so glad you are “back”; I’ve missed your blog posts.
It is an absolutely gorgeous makeover! Well done!!
You are amazing! I love this new look and no wonder your mom loves it, too! One thing you mentioned but didn’t go into detail about was “edge banding”. My husband made trim from MDF which I really like, but where he cut it, the edge is not smooth, and thus is difficult to dust. Can this edge banding but used to cover that roughness? Thanks, Kristi!
It’s hard to know for sure without seeing it, but I think it probably could. Edge banding is very smooth once it’s sanded and finished.
Blown away by this gorgeous transformation so lovingly executed by you, Kristi! My favorite change is extending the cabinet color to the ceiling! What a huge difference that made!
From choppy, blocky to smooth and sublime! Gorgeous and inspirational.
Kristi! I’ve been SO worried about you all! I kept looking to see if I wasn’t getting your messages anymore, then I thought you or someone in your family got sick! Never disappear like that again. 😮 I’m SO excited to now look at the pictures…I will enjoy this so much. Can’t wait to see what you and mom did! I really missed you. 😊
I have curly cue piece over my sink I can’t find any nails. I want to remove it. Any suggestions as to what you used to remove. A hammer? Just whack it?
I didn’t see any nails on this one either, so we just started whacking at it with a hammer (kind of lightly at first) to separate the pieces from the cabinet until we could see nails. Then my mom used a prybar to gently pry the canopy off of the cabinet. It had to be done somewhat gently so that the cabinet wasn’t damaged, but it wasn’t difficult at all. In fact, my mom did that part by herself.
Oh My Gosh! I’m not familiar with your real estate market BUT, in my very rural area the kitchen update alone would have added $30k to the home’s value. As we’ve come to expect, you did a beautiful job.
You may not know what to call it, but I’d call it miraculous! Another Kristi transformation into a beautiful swan. Congrats.
(It’s so good to see you posting again. Was worried!)
Arli
Absolutely stunning. I appreciated the way you showed the before and after pictures so we could see them together.
I’m glad you’re back.
What a difference, it looks AMAZING! Great job!
Kristi – what about the HVAC “vent” as shown in the “before pics” (top of cab with plates on side)? How did you address that issue?
That wasn’t an HVAC vent! In one of the earlier posts, she talked about that! At one time there had been a double oven where that pantry is. When they took the ovens out that was just an empty vent opening! She just covered it up.
That was actually a vent that as required when a double oven occupied that cabinet space. When she decided to get a stand alone range, they turned that tall cabinet into actual cabinet space, but never removed the vent because the crown molding was covering the top and she didn’t know how to address that issue. So I took care of it for her. 🙂
Wow! That looks so fresh and new! I love every aspect of it and you two did a GREAT job!
Just stunning transformation, and perfectly executed as usual! So GLAD you are posting again, worries us all with this virus stuff going on when you go missing.
What a remarkable transformation. I am so in awe ! Can I adopt you ???
Amazing job and I love it all. But I REALLY love the picture with the tree. Did she paint that? I know you’ve mentioned she’s an artist. It really fits the whole room!
She did! She painted the little landscape as well as the pears in the window. She’s so talented! 🙂
This kitchen, like everything you do, is outstanding, both the workmanship and the design changes. When you say you redid the floor grout, was this a complete remove-the-old-grout and replace-with-new-grout or did you use a grout pen or other device?
We just used Grout Renew, which is a paint-type product that you just brush onto the existing grout to change the color. It’s amazing stuff, and works really well! If you’re going from really dark to light, it might require two coats, but the process goes pretty fast since you’re just painting grout.
OMG! Stunning work. I read your mom’s comment and teared up. I have missed you more than words. On your next one will you update how all of you are doing? Thank goodness you’re back!! Hugs from a distance! Lol
Well, we’ll all miss that scalloped valence over the sink. 🤣😂🤣. Seriously, you’re so talented and energetic!
Absolutely amazing! You clearly worked so hard and rebuilt and enhanced many parts of this kitchen and it is so encouraging to see a dramatic before and after transformation that doesn’t require a complete gut job. Obviously, sometimes that is required and those are fun to see, too but it is a unique challenge to have to work with what you’ve got to all varying degrees. Thanks for sharing!
The kitchen is beautiful! I love every detail you did. I am so glad you are back. I was hoping all was ok with you and all your family. You were so missed! Take care!
If I adopt you, will you redo my kitchen. It is over 70 years old and would really be a challenge. By the way, I’m in San Francisco and you could see all the sights in San Francisco and California.
Stay well.
You just made my day!!! Glad you are back❤
So excited to see your moms kitchen update! It looks incredible! Great work- as per usual!
WOW! That is beautiful!!!!!!! I can’t believe the difference. I have the same cabinets. I also have the same canister set, LOL.. I was hoping you were okay since it has been almost a month since you wrote last. GREAT JOB!!
What an amazing transformation and just in time for Mother’s Day too!
What solution did you end up finding for the chips in the laminate? I have a similar situation at my mother-in-law’s and would love the info.
My mom ended up touching those up with paint and then topcoating the small areas with the flat clear coat (General Finishes). She used two or three different craft paint colors to get that same multi-tonal look a the laminate.
Kristi, the kitchen looks so beautiful! I just know your mom must be over the moon with it! The color is fabulous, too!
Such a huge change. So pretty & functional! I want to take down my scalloped valance even more now that I see what a difference it will make. We’re doing a few changed to my kitchen as soon as we can allow people into our home again. SOON, I hope!
So glad to see you here. Hope you & family are happy & healthy.
Stupendous. Daughter of the millennium! Relieved you are all well.
You do such amazing work. You make me so inspired.
Kristi, a wonderful, stunning transformation! I’m glad to hear you and your family are ok and safe, it is good to hear from you!
I have to say, of all the people that I’ve followed, you are the most talented, creative, and finishing expert that I’ve seen. I’m still back at your old house in astonishment when you took out the furnace on the upper floor in a small space! HUH?
I could say that I want to be just like you but I’m already 83. I started home improvement (making wood projects, etc.) about three years ago. I love it.
I love this so much ! Can I ask where you got the pull out for the mixer?
I’m pretty sure she got it on Amazon. It’s called a Rev-a-Shelf stand mixer shelf. You can purchase it without the shelf for about $80 (in which case you’d need to make your own, which is what we did using plywood edged with solid wood lumber), or you can purchase it with a pre-made shelf for about $150. The problem with those is that you have to be certain that the shelf is exactly the right width for your particular cabinet.
Can I adopt you? 🙂
As usual an amazing job. The before/after is stunning. It’s hard to believe it’s the same kitchen. I love the green you and she chose for the cabinets. It’s such a inviting, cozy color. Just perfection.
Beautiful Kristi! I knew it would be an amazing transformation and it does not disappoint!
BTW, does your mother sell her paintings?
Unfortunately, she doesn’t sell them anymore. 🙁
I’m speechless! You have Mad Skills, Kristi and are so loving to do this for your Mom! I’ve followed this “mini”-renovation from start to finish and I am so inspired! Excellent!
You did a great job, Kristie! It looks like a new kitchen and I know Jean is going to enjoy it.
Wow! Beautiful. I love it. What a wonderful job you and your mom did! Her kitchen is amazing. Did I miss how your grandmother is doing? Are you out of quarantine in Texas? Hey your grandmother might be more advanced on technology than me and seen it on Zoom. I hope your family can do a big birthday party in June or July for her.
My grandmother is doing well. She turned 108 last month, and she had a quiet birthday with my mom and aunt. I haven’t been able to see her, unfortunately. We’re no longer on a shelter-at-home order as of May 1.
Aww, I have to ask – what goes in that teensy cute drawer? It all looks fab!
That’s the steak knife drawer. 😄
Oh my goodness! What an amazing job! She (and you) must (and well should be) be thrilled. Thank you for the update!
Oh, wow! Everything looks great. It’s amazing what little details do for a room. Such as that little piece of trim under the window. I love it all. Your mother must be elated to have such a great kitchen.
GROUT RENEW is the BOMB. I used it on 500 sq ft of tile about 8 years ago and just this weekend needed to touch up a few areas where it had flaked off. This, after weekly steam-cleaning and our pets running all over it for nearly a decade. Granted, it took a few weeks to get it all applied back then, but it was so worth it! Your mom’s whole kitchen looks fantastic and it’s great to have you back!
Stunning makeover, Kristi!! Love the cabinet color and the beautiful new lines the doors and hardware make. Just. So. Good. Super congrats…
Just Beautiful !! My daughter and I are painting my kitchen cabinets now, just a lot of work, and mine will not look as good as yours, , I’m almost 73 and she is 53, She has a lot more patience than me at this point 🙁 , But I showed her your blog tonight, I believe you have a new fan now, and she wants to do what you did to your Mothers , to make it look like the cupboards go all the way to the top, I love it, but I just want to get done, I’ll let you know who wins this one !!
Again, what you have done is simply amazing! Knowing you weren’t planning on a full makeover I never expected such an impact. Master craftsman, designer, artist, interior decorator. You’re a one woman show!!
AMAZING!
Absolutely stunning and it sure looks “new” to me!!!! I really don’t have the words to say how beautiful this is and how impressed I am with your work!!!!
I just have to keep looking at this! It is so dramatically improved!
Fantastic job! It was worth the wait and suspense! I’m so happy for your Mom. You have given her the best gift — the best of yourself and your talents. This new kitchen is lovely, and speaks of love.
Absolutely gorgeous! It looks totally updated and functional. I love the cabinet insert where the dishwasher used to be. You did a fantastic job!
It’s just lovely. what a thoughtful gift you gave to your mom.
Hi Kristi, I have been waiting in anticipation for this makeover. What an Amazing makeover. Your mom’s new kitchen looks Fantastic. Can I be your step-mom 🙋🏾; I have a couple of rooms I need done.
Wow! Y’all weren’t on lockdown? I can’t handle trying to get stuff from the Big Box Guys delivered.
We had a shelter-at-home order. I did not comply. No way was I going to leave my mom with an unusable kitchen for six weeks. 🙂 To be clear, I asked my mom if she wanted me to stay at home during the shelter-at-home order. She said, “No! Please finish my kitchen!!” So I did.
Wow wow wow! Just amazing! Love it all!!!
WOW, the french doors are magnificent and make a TOTAL difference. Great Job, girl!
So happy you are back to blogging! The before and after pictures made my day! Now I’ll go back to reading the column slowly! Especially about the drawer dividers – I really need those. Hope you and all your family are well. Beautiful, beautiful work.
So glad you’re back. Mom’s kitchen turned out great! Love the color, the walls, lighting, improvements to the cabinets and floor, the countertops and the french doors! It’s like new, but the same also, and for us older folks that is a big deal. Change is a bit harder for us to adjust to, so having things mostly in the same place makes it easy. It’s all so beautiful and you are a gem of a daughter. I hope you are soon going to get moving on your own projects, but you picked a good time to help out your Mom! I also hope you will get to celebrate grandma’s birthday together soon, in person.
Absolutely amazing job Kristi! Well done. Your mom must be thrilled.
A truly fabulous job, Kristi! What a transformation! I missed your blogs. I hope to see more posts soon!
I glanced through all the comments looking for a question about the dishwasher removal. I’ve been thinking about ditching mine since I just-don’t-use except as a place to dry the dishes that I wash by hand. I’d rather have the space for smaller appliances. Is that why your Mom was willing to sacrifice?
Yes, she just washes dishes as she uses them, so it takes a while to fill up a dishwasher. She found more cabinet space to be more valuable to her.
Wow, Kristi! You and your mom did an AMAZING job! And gave me some great ideas for our renovation! I’m definitely going to do those drawer dividers. That looks so much nicer than the plastic ones you buy and put in the drawers! And all those pull-outs… you mom must be loving working in that kitchen now!
Your talent seriously never ceases to amaze me. But I knew when you took on this job, that it would be fantastic when you were through! Super nice!
Oh, and I love those french doors! They made all the difference! We are putting in french doors where we currently have sliding glass doors.
Yay! Finally the finished kitchen! Its gorgeous, you and your mom rocked it. Missed seeing your updates, hope your family is well!
Wow! Everything you do – so much talent and creativity shining through. Congratulations on completing yet another stellar (and massive) project! 🙂 So glad to see you return, and blessings to you and your family.
Beautiful labor of love.
What a stunning transformation and just in time for Mother’s Day, too!!! 🙂
I love that cabinet/pull up shelf for her KitchenAid mixer. I wish I had the space in my kitchen to
do that!
WOW!!! Awesome, awesome job Kristi!
Wow. Kristi, I went from picture to picture just wowing the whole time. I even dragged hubby in and said “Look at this. This is what I want for your kitchen.” Love the lifter for the Kitchen Aid. Hubby has a Kenwood Chef and she’s a heavy lass. I’ve been looking for ideas for a while to address having to move it all the time. And it really is all the time. He uses it pretty much daily. So that Rev-a-shelf is a brilliant idea. Overall I love how light and bright your mom’s kitchen is now. You have done an amazing job. And once again you have shown me how to work with greens.
Darn it – I knew I’d forget a question….those 2 fake drawer fronts under the sink, did you add the tip-out liner for dishwashing stuff? I always wondered if those would be worth it, or just end up getting icky and slimy. Be nice to have all the sponges and stuff hidden away. Thanks! Looks beautiful!
We tried to use those! I couldn’t get the hinges attached. Maybe we bought the wrong ones, but after about an hour of trying to attach them and getting more and more frustrated, I finally gave up and just glued/nailed those fronts onto the cabinets.
Thanks for the speedy response! Good to know – I did notice 2 types on Amazon, 1 plastic and 1 metal. I just need to be better about keeping the sink area clear. Hahaha, that will happen – never!
My kitchen came with the tip out trays and they are great. My sister added them to my mom’s kitchen with no problem. i think she got the parts at Home Depot or Lowe’s.
I am Addicted 2 Kristi’s blogs! I didn’t realize how often I read your blogs till the posts started slowing down. Missing you terribly! <3
Hi. I miss ypu so much, that I am going back and reading old blogs!
Whats happening in your world?
Thinking about the exercise room, spare bedroom, bathroom!
Come back to us Kristi😍.
Well, I second the recent comments. I miss you too!
Also, checking your blog over and over for a new post, I FINALLY realized that your mom’s kitchen has the same layout as mine, that I want to repaint, and all of a sudden I have so many ideas. Thank you!
I have been missing you like crazy. All is not right in my world without your regular entries. I have been reading your blog since you were adding cabinets to your condo kitchen. Two weeks ago, I had both of my knees replaced. As I am recovering, I would love to see your latest projects. Please stay healthy and know that I am faithfully waiting for your return. 🙂
Everything about this is brilliant. Truly wonderful and I’m so thankful you shared all the pictures of your hard work. You inspired a friend of mine to take out non-working and undesired refrigerator drawers in favor of more storage space. There’s now a gaping hole like in your picture of where the dishwasher was. I know you did this in your kitchen too, but I can’t find if you did a post on how to convert it to a cabinet? I’m overwhelmed looking at the hole. Can’t figure out how to get the bottom of the cabinet, toe kick, etc. Help?
Kristi, I love this kitchen renovation so much and constantly brag on you to others! I’ve re-visited this particular post more than once since there are so many things here I know I can implement and it’s exciting. Because of what you did with the dishwasher space a friend removed a set of broken refrigerator drawers from his kitchen in favor of more cabinet storage. He’s left with a hole just like you show. Am I missing how you filled that in on the bottom? I know you did it at your house too but I can’t find it any pictures of how it was transformed. We’re a little daunted with the open space here.
That’s so amazing. You’re so great. Thank you for sharing with us
I seldom ever comment on a post but…….
WOW! that is beautiful! So simple yet such a change. Making the crown molding the same color as the cabinets is something I would have never thought of but man it makes it !
Great job! I have a kitchen that is so similar to this! Ours was built in the 70s. We made so many of the exact same changes you made! That blind corner area in the peninsula was one of the most maddening. We changed that a bit differently than you did, but still got good results where things are accessible. Thanks for the tip on the light bulbs. Our house is so dark! If we understood light bulbs better, I think we could make some improvement in that area.
These are awesome ideas! Thank you for compiling all of them into an article. I love the information you’ve taken the time to share. I am always looking for new blogs to follow and I totally find this article very useful! I am looking forward to reading more of your blogs.
I love the details in your projects. Your mom would so apprpreciate a daughter with the passion and skill to update the ol kitchen. The article itself is super informative, insitefull and enjoyable to read. thanks a heap for sharing. The before and after pics look good too!
Really beautiful job you’ve done here. For me, I’m struck at how much cheerier I am when looking at the new kitchen, even through a computer screen
I….really loved Aged Beige. My mister was skeptical when I pulled the paint chip at the store, but the light in our house skews everything blue and it ends up being this perfect, slightly-warm grey-greige. It’s in our living room and hallway, and I will probably repaint the kitchen in it as well (currently Baby Artichoke; it was the first room in the house painted, several years ago, and everything has shifted as I’ve slowly gotten around to painting/decorating other parts of the house). So I love seeing this done so elegantly!
Amazing.!
You’ve done a great job. You transformed it beautifully.
Appreciate your efforts.
I am probably the only one who likes the before. It was so farmhouse to start with. Loved it all except maybe the cutout above the sink. I also think the flooring went better with the white cabinets.
What a fantastic daughter you are.
Wow, your work is absolutely beautiful. Your mom is lucky to have you. I wish you could see photos of my parents’ beach house. Their kitchen is nearly identical to your before pictures, right down to the peninsula and dark tile grout. Even has the same bisque sink faucet! We have been getting price estimates on full renovations which of course have been sky high in price! Now that I see the changes you made I am encouraged. Did you hire any of the work out or did you do it all yourself? I am just not sure I could do as nice of a job as you did if we do it ourselves. I am afraid to tackle it.
The only part hired out was the removal of the old window, installation of the French doors, and the repair of the brick around the exterior of the new French doors. We also hired out the installation of the new sink and faucet. We did everything else ourselves.
Great job! It is clean and refreshing. Thanks for sharing all the details and before and after pictures.
Kristi – I’ve been looking for Grout Renew but I haven’t found any. Is it the Grout Pen from Amazon?
The kitchen cabinet is the true hero of the renovation. Love the colours of your cabinets. The transformation turns out really beautiful. Thanks for sharing this Kristi, you and you mom is amazing
Kristi, over the cabinets it looks like it orginally had grooves in the wood, how did you change that? Love your blog, just found it a month ago so I have alot to catch up on. LOL
Fantastic job! Now I know we can update our kitchen without spending thousands of dollars! Thank you for sharing.
I love your site and you have been so blessed with an eye for detail, to be able to see beyond what “is” to what “something can become”! Thank you for sharing your “art” with all of us “DIYers” who are also “addicted” with the bug of transformation 🙂 I saved your site and look forward to frequenting it often… shouting out to you from near Nooga, TN
Beautiful job! Do you mind sharing where you got the cabinet pulls? Thanks!
I know we got them locally, so either Home Depot or Lowe’s. I’d try Home Depot first.
You did a really good job. Now the design looks smart and clean.
You did an amazing transformation on your Mom’s kitchen. Would she loan you out? (jk) You should give yourself credit for removing those old cabinet hinges as well. Huge improvement. Seriously, I gained lots of hope for my 35 year old kitchen. Wish I had you to cheer me on. Blessings from Texas.