Before & After: A Dark Kitchen Gets a Family-Friendly Makeover
When reader Marina and her family moved into their home five years ago, she always knew she wanted to redo the kitchen. As you can see in the photo above, the kitchen was very dark, and even though the cabinets were painted a light color, they seemed heavy. Plus, as a mom of young children, Marina wanted to have the kitchen open to the family room so she could cook while still keeping an eye on her kids.
Take a look a Marina’s kitchen now — it took a turn for the lighter!
The first word that comes to mind when looking at Marina’s new kitchen is bright! It’s a far cry from the old kitchen, which felt more like a cave.
Marina did a gut remodel, including removing the wall (more on that in a minute). She worked with an architect and a contractor to complete the remodel in about 2 1/2 months. It might seem like a short time for such a major remodel, but Marina still had to get creative with her cooking. She wrote that she had to cook both on the outdoor grill and in her laundry room!
Here’s a look at the wall that Marina decided to demolish in order to connect the two rooms that her family uses most. It was no easy feat because it was the wall that housed both the gas range and the refrigerator. Luckily, the range didn’t have to move.
Instead they decided to build an 8-foot island counter that housed the stove and became a breakfast bar as well. This is a view from the family room back into the kitchen. Opening up the space made a huge difference in the natural light in the two rooms. It’s such a bright, cheerful kitchen now.
Marina has a whole list of the sources and resources for all the elements of the remodel on her blog, Yummy Mummy Kitchen.
This remodel is very on-trend for what we see here at The Kitchn. It has a few of our favorite elements: a farmhouse sink, Carrera marble countertops, dark floors, and glass cabinet doors on select cabinets.
One of our favorite parts of the remodel came in the few days before tearing down the wall between the rooms. Marina let her kids go wild drawing and painting the wall since it was on its way out. Such a fun idea!
Thanks for sharing your remodel with us, Marina!
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