Prior to its renovation, the kitchen in this 1,200-square-foot Austin fixer-upper suffered from poor design and a lot of wasted space. The boxy cabinets fit awkwardly on the wall, and the muddy grays were tired. The owners knew they'd need to "put the walls to work" when they overhauled it, and did they ever! Check out the stunning 'After' photo below:
What a dramatic change! Replacing the upper cabinets with angled shelving was the smartest way to make use of the kitchen's odd angled ceiling. As the homeowners Marco Rini and Tim Cuppett told Country Living, "We put our walls to work... Instead of cabinets, shelves and hooks allow us to admire our things." They also got rid of the lower cabinets in favor of freestanding pieces, like the stainless steel rolling island and the Crate & Barrel mango-wood console with custom marble top.
We know open shelving is divisive, so you may not like their design choice. But the kitchen is undeniably more inviting and warm post-makeover, don't you think?
Read More: A Historic Small Home Makeover in Austin | Country Living
Related: Before & After: An Old Kitchen Gets Some English Flavor
(Images: Alec Hemer for Country Living)
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This is a very clever use of space, lovely kitchen reno. Those are not so much open shelves as doorless cupboards - they are deeper than open shelves, and are encased. I have floor to ceiling ones in my kitchen. They are extremely practical, and there is not the problem of dust, nor any need to arrange things neatly or carefully in case things get knocked off as they might with proper open shelving.
I've posted this link recently, but can't praise these highly enough:
http://www.hansenkitchen.com/inspiration/kitchen_teak.html
I think I am in love with that entire house.
The dining room in the before photo looks like a haunted room.
:(
I like the old kitchen, but who am I to argue with super-serious money applied to their personal taste. An Aga?? In Austin? I'm still trying to figure that out...unless they make Agas that aren't warm all the time, but if they do, what's the point of having an Aga? If not, do they have to run their AC all the time to compensate?
hello dream kitchen. in love with every square inch. every bit of it. though i do love the color of the cabinets from the original...
I like both actually. I love the cabinets and their quirky placement in the before and the upgrades are awesome in the new kitchen. I can't help but wonder if there is a purpose to all the plate ware. I say this as someone who has an ever growing collection of white serving dishes and place settings that I adore, but I count at least 15 teacups and more than 40 plates. The dining room holds 6 at best.
before and after are really cute. but i have to agree that after is a WAY better use of space, one can tell that you love to cook and have thought out this design very well. although i love the green shelves, i think the dark color makes the ceilings look low.
I love how they combined ultra-high shelving with a practical way of reaching those items. Having the ladder + railing is probably a safer combination than my current method of standing on the countertop to reach the top shelves!
Love it! I am a huge fan of open shelving. Looks great! I totally love that stove too
That's lovely!
@Charlotte: The small Aga is called a Companion and is a regular stove. As you suggested, it does not stay warm all of the time like a bigger Aga would.
Charlotte is right about the Aga: Agas are for cool climates, not where the AC runs for 8 months a year. It's like the people who have huge lawns in Las Vegas or Tucson - wasteful and pretentious.
Even with a ladder I would not keep a heavy Kitchenaid mixer up that high.
Those old cabinets are great--they look like punched tin. I agree they could have been better configured but what a shame to lose them.
I think the old cabinets were an eyesore and majorly disjointed on the eye. This is a million times better, though walking around that ladder all the time would be a major pain. Unless it stores somehow? I really like the colors in here too, and the steel island.
The only awkward element in that kitchen is the ceiling. Everything looks "off" because of it. Having said that, I prefer the old kitchen and would have just painted everything white if I lived there.
I thought the same thing! I'd drop it for sure.
I am right there with the Kitchen Aid! I keep my on a low shelf in a cabinet and I grunt like an Eastern European dead weight lifter every time I haul it to the counter top!
I never thought I'd be one of those people, but I actually really like the before! That said, the after is fine too.
I have to assume they gutted the house because there is a door and big room where there once was a wall and a window (as far as I can tell).
I like both but the after is absolutely ADORABLE.
Oh geeze, if I had to climb a ladder to get down my stand mixer, I'd have some broken toes. And floor. And mixer.
Really nice, but that mixer looks like a skull fracture waiting to happen. Maybe they have a safe way to get it down that's not obvious?
I cooked on an AGA for several years in Ireland. Love them.
nice kitchen I would leave that mixer on the bottom of that island . and hope I had lots of grand children to call over and get things down when old age comes : )
The after shot is definitely more visually pleasing, but not very practical. I would hate to have to climb a ladder every time I needed a dish or try to balance a load of plates or cups. My first thought also was that the ladder would always be in the way, especially with more than 1 person in the kitchen.... I'd also be interested to see what the wall was like before the floor to ceiling shelving/open cabinets were installed.