LOVE this kitchen. It's so much brighter and so much more useful!

Wow! What a difference, it looks fantastic.

am i weird for loving the original cabinets? i really like those bevelled edge details...and i do love that new little cubby for your cookbooks

As usual, for me, I'm wondering where all the STUFF went, since there was so much of it on the counters and the new kitchen has fewer cabinets.

The new one looks great, but also like a model home where no one cooks. How usable is it? Did appliances, cookie jars, etc just get thrown out ala Clean Sweep? (where they get rid of 80% of most things)

If you read the post, they say the old appliances were donated. The cabinets were likely too old to be donated. Most renovation thrift stores and ReStores do not accept old kitchen cabinets unless they are in really good condition.

As far as all the stuff, I imagine a lot of it was put away in the wall cabinets on the other side of the kitchen or donated. In my experience, most people forget to take a "before" photo and will take one while they're in the middle of emptying cabinets or cleaning. I doubt that stuff just stayed on the countertops full time - I bet the homeowner had already started taking things out so the wall cabinets could be removed.

Gorgeous!

Drastic improvement!

Looks nice. Glad to get an idea of the whole layout. I really like the blue subway tile behind the stove.

ZoeCat... my exact reaction too! Gorgeous and stunning.

Seeing the before kitchens of everyday life is just as interesting (and often gasp-worthy) as the makeover!

Ah, to have a spare $20K or so for a wall of tile. Bonus points if I'd never get sick of it.

I think the dishwasher placement in the new layout is highly questionable.

Wow, I love that kitchen. To me it looks very functional. My kitchen actually has a similar layout, though it's not open like this. (Oh if only it was!) I understand how you have to work within the existing layout, which can really cramp your style. But to me it looks like they did a wonderful job. I would be thrilled with that kitchen!

Jen

sistervashti, you are right that the kitchen looks spare for the photo shoot. For my shoots, I prefer to style the spaces in such a way that the focus is on the architecture, so toasters, coffeemakers etc. are cleared from the countertops. That said, your questions are totally valid. This is a small kitchen and we had to be quite creative with storage, in order to make the most of the space from both an aesthetic and a functional point of view. So, much of the storage is hidden, with clever options such as Rev-a-Shelf organizers in the typically awkward and underused lower corner cabinets. (These pull out, revealing tiers of shelves that can be easily accessed.) There is also an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry for storage. Smaller appliances, including the microwave, are tucked away in here. For more Before/After showing the wall of cabinetry, you can find the project under "Alameda" on my website: www.howellsarc.com

sistervashti, you are right that the kitchen looks spare for the photo shoot. For my shoots, I prefer to style the spaces in such a way that the focus is on the architecture, so toasters and coffeemakers etc. are cleared from the countertops. That said, your questions are very valid. This is a small kitchen and we had to be quite creative with storage, in order to make the most of the space from both an aesthetic and a functional point of view. So, much of the storage is hidden, with clever options such as Rev-a-Shelf organizers in the typically awkward and underused lower corner cabinets. (These pull out, revealing tiers of shelves that can be easily accessed.) There is also an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry for storage. Smaller appliances, including the microwave, are tucked away in here. For more Before/After showing the wall of cabinetry, you can find the project under "Alameda" on my website. Thanks, Michael Howells

The original cabinets are giving me a serious case of gross out. It looks like no one had ever cleaned around the handles in the whole lifespan of that kitchen.

The remodel is beautiful but holy crap, $$$tile$$$.

A really nice remodel, though I'd have preferred the order of the fridge, pantry, and ovens reversed, with the ovens over by the stove as that should be kept close together, ditto the fridge, which I'd have put in the middle, and pantry down where the ovens were as some recipes do call for a dish to be started on the stove, then put in the oven to finish cooking, and I'd hate to have to walk all the way over to them to do that.

Otherwise it's a lovely kitchen and I like the blue tile very much.

That color blue is perfect. I think blues are really tricky--people either go too primary or too dark. This is fantastic.

WOW!!! that is absolutely beautiful. Love the whole wall of tile and the color combo is perfection. The cookbook shelf is great!
I would use the bottom little cubby for spices in a rack with the tops facing out and the name of the spice written with a sharpie marker on a circle of white contac paper!!! how's that for some detail?!! ;-)

Very bold and bright :) Although, the only way that tile works is because of the big windows to offset...

Really beautiful!

But jeez, $60K??

I really really love the tile accenting the windows.

the original was so grimy gross to eat from there.

Beautiful...If i ever do a kitchen renovation, I will come back to this kitchen for ideas. I especially love the new cabinets...totally my style.

Beautiful. Cabinets, counters, tile, layout, appliances... it all looks great. I do agree with splatgirl - I think the dishwasher was better just to the right of the sink (if the homeowners are right handed).

I hope the junk all over the counters and the dirty doors in the before pic was due to the cupboards being cleaned out in prep for the remodel, because that is just no way to live.

A scullery is a laundry or utility room really, not a kitchen (unless you were poor). I'm not sure what "classic English scullery" you're thinking of, but they're usually servants only and thus rather dark, dingy and basic. Awful places really. Perhaps it means something else in America?

I have that same granite and let me tell you i will never get it again. It is so hard to maintain. Everything leaves a stain. It look fantastic against white cabinets, but maintenance is so not worth it.

Wow, almost didn't recognize this as the same room. Nice!

Bravo!

I know this is going to sound weird, but I love that color grout with the tile. Choosing grout color is surprisingly challenging, but this really makes the blue tile stand out and look like a ceramic wall, instead of a standard wall of kitchen grade subway tile. Nice work!

Massive improvement. Love the blue tile.

Romneym, in America, "scullery" means "vaguely European term dimly connected with cooking -- or cookery, if you're laying it on really thick." It's not a word Americans use, and most Americans would be able to describe any design elements of "the classic English scullery," though I would have expected a brick hearth with a spit. Here, the term is probably a nod to the durable-looking brick-like tiles, the unfussy beadboard and the utilitarian on the lights. They could have been just as convincing with "updated interpretation of a Newport beach cottage kitchen" or "a new twist on a ship's galley." The colors certainly look like they're aiming more for nautical than for English.

It's a nice clean look. I'd worry that it veers too far toward cold and hard, but there's a certain human warmth in the humbleness of the beadboard and the almost-handcrafted vibe of the tiles.

Nice! I would never have chosen the blue tile myself but then you see it in the space and it really works. It's a great color with the white cabinets. I might have chosen different countertops but beautiful nonetheless.

It's beautiful, but my whole HOUSE is worth way less than 60K. Still, if you've got it, spend it on what you love. And I love that tile.

Thanks to The Kitchn for showing our work and thanks everyone for looking. Romneym, as you point out, "scullery" isn't quite the right word. We used it loosely as in the US it just carries a certain Englishness. As for the English inflections in this kitchen, the Shaws sink, "royal" blue/black/and white color scheme, and the cabinetry are some of the touches that give it an English feel. But as with all my designs it's more of an interpretation, not meant to evoke England with any historical precision. Bee for Brian, the tiles are indeed handmade ceramic tile, and I love them for their human "flaws" and variation.