Before & After: A 150-Year-Old Kitchen Gets an “Astonishing” Cabinet Makeover (No More Brown!)

Living in a home for a few years is the best way to learn exactly what you want and don’t want in the space — especially your kitchen. At least, that’s what happened with a creative director and her husband (who owns an NYC recording studio) in their modern Brooklyn loft. Initially the kitchen was an open-concept space that lacked storage and “wasn’t aesthetically pleasing” to the couple. 

“After living with stainless steel counters in the kitchen and bathroom for 17 years, we knew they had to go,” the homeowner shares. “They were difficult to maintain, showed every drop of water, and scratched easily. We also knew we needed more storage, and we craved cabinets for things we didn’t want visible all the time, like Tupperware and water bottles.” 

Several elements seemed to motivate the renovation. For starters, the couple had refinished the plywood flooring several times and felt it needed a complete update. Around the same time, the homeowner’s sister-in-law had renovated her kitchen, which inspired the couple. “We appreciated that the design was based on the space’s functionality, but also incorporated exquisite design details,” they explain. 

As a creative couple, the homeowners set out to pull inspiration for the renovation. “No stranger to a mood board, my wife created one with many kitchen images from design blogs (like Apartment Therapy!) for inspiration,” he explains. They scoured the web for kitchens that had similar colors and textures as theirs, and visited nearby restaurants that had elements, like countertops, that the couple appreciated. “We wanted the space to feel true to our borough and our 150-year-old building, but we also wanted to modernize it,” he says.

The couple used MagicPlan, an app that allows you to create 2D and 3D floor plans, to map the room. They also ended up working with a designer to help them carry out their vision. “The designer came up with the idea of creating a U-shaped kitchen by connecting the island on one side rather than floating it, as we had imagined,” the homeowner explains. “This helped define two spaces — the kitchen and dining room — and increased the counter space and seating area.” 

Custom cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s “Wrought Iron” with recessed hands and smart lighting choices (like lighting under the floating cabinets and illuminating the brick wall) also came from working with the designer. It was important to the couple that the exposed brick have a leading role in the room’s color palette — and that all other shades in the room be neutral to complement that detail. 

In terms of flooring, they chose wide-plank white oak floors from Mirage to replace the tired plywood. New countertops, with light veining and a buttery texture, were installed, too. “We incorporated natural walnut wood as an alternate color in specific accent areas, like the tall cookbook shelf on the end of the cabinetry, and an exposed shelf in the floating cabinetry above the bar area,” the homeowner shares.

New appliances were the last addition to the kitchen, and they didn’t arrive without some drama. “We’ll never forget the moment our refrigerator arrived,” the homeowner reminisces. “We were so excited to see it, but even though we had measured the area many times, when it arrived it would not fit through our door. After much persuading of the delivery crew, we ended up having to remove the threshold of our door to get it inside — it was a matter of millimeters.”

The kitchen took around five months to complete (and cost approximately $100,000), and the transformation is astonishing. It’s incredibly functional, with a pantry that pulls out, disguised storage nooks that hold items like coffee machines, narrow cabinets for trays and cutting boards, and sliding shelves for easy accessibility. 

“We love the natural light from the skylight, the uplighting in the floating cabinetry, which is also dimmable, the color palette (charcoal, white marble, and warm walnut wood), and the functionality of our open space,” the homeowner shares. Since moving in 20 years ago, they’ve made serious changes to their home — and are continuing to do so. To see more, visit the full home tour on Apartment Therapy.