Before & After: A Dated Kitchen Gets a Dramatic Purple-Centric Redo for $3,125

Is burgundy-ish purple the new hot color for kitchen cabinets? The unexpected cabinets in this kitchen redo would have you believe it, as would these four kitchens that are just plum gorgeous.

One more to add to the list? The kitchen of Katherine Thewlis (@hausmatter); her entire brick ranch house has a new pinkish-purple color scheme.

“Since I work as an eDesigner helping people with their homes remotely, I like to try out new ideas in my own home,” Katherine says. “I’m constantly changing things up.” One idea she wanted to try in her kitchen? Bold paint.

Before, the kitchen was “Easter egg yellow” and “lacked a focal point,” Katherine says. The cabinets were in decent shape and were original to the ranch, but the floors and counters were products of the ’90s and were beginning to show their age.

The laminate floors “were stained and peeling,” Katherine says. The space also had mismatched appliances that bothered her, not to mention dated popcorn ceilings.

Katherine and her husband, Andy, had already taken steps to update the kitchen but wanted to go even bolder. They wanted to bring vibrancy to the overall beige and bland space, so they renovated it (including the dining room across from the kitchen) on an approximately $3,000 budget — $3,125 to be exact — tackling the floors, the cabinets, the mismatched appliances, and more.

“We figured everything out ourselves,” Katherine says. “We did a lot of things for the first time, including rewiring lighting on the sides of the cabinets, cutting tiles, and installing new countertops.”

Underfoot, they painted over the laminate flooring in Eider White by Sherwin-Williams. They removed the upper cabinets from above the sink and then painted the rest of the cabinets (and the existing once-white fridge) in Sherwin-Williams’ Rookwood Dark Red.

Katherine says painting the fridge was easier than she thought it would be, but the walls took way more coats than expected. “Painting the walls dark red took about five coats,” she says. “I’ve needed less coats painting walls black before! Apparently there is something special about red that requires many coats. I think next time I would use a sprayer and save my wrists!”

Another tricky part of the project was installing the blush-colored zellige tile backsplash. “Since handmade tile has irregularities, it doesn’t exactly stack together evenly,” Katherine says. “We realized we needed a laser level to get it precisely right.”

The peninsula’s 3D peel-and-stick tile — added in her previous makeover — got a bright white makeover that matches the new granite-look laminate countertop

The light fixtures, open shelving, sink, and faucet fit right in with the kitchen’s sophisticated new look.

A mirror above the sink blends new with old, as it’s a 100-year-old vintage piece, Katherine says — and one of her favorite design details. “We decided to remove the cabinet above the sink to create a focal point and a sort of “window,” she explains. “It instantly felt open. I love being able to see the mural in the dining room reflected here.”

Stay tuned for Katherine’s dining room details and check out the rest of her home for more clever DIYs.

Inspired? Submit your own project here.

This post originally appeared on Apartment Therapy. See it there: Before and After: A Dated Kitchen Gets a Dramatic Purple-Toned Redo for $3,125