Kitchen Makeover

Stephanie and Jon had wanted to redo the kitchen in their 680-square-foot Madison home for 18 years. They knew the space was sad; as it was, there was little storage and workspace, cabinet doors didn’t close, and the room lacked any and all personality. Then they saw that, thanks to a grant, a local green-building consulting firm was offering design plans at a discount. The result: a kitchen with improved functionality and a look as fresh as a blue sky on a sunny day.

Teruko’s kitchen renovation is one of the most colorful we’ve seen! This Culver City, California kitchen was dark and outdated before, but after adding three skylights, a large window, and an incredible Mexican tile wrap-around mosaic, this kitchen is now a bright, colorful, one-of-a-kind space. See the transformation below:Wow! That mosaic is so cool, especially considering that Teruko made some of the tiles herself.

After spending two years cooking and recipe testing in his 1950s kitchen, cookbook author Chris Reynolds knew the time was right to redo his kitchen. As he tells us, it was “while baking, at least, three recipes a day” that he was able to plan out his perfect kitchen — something timeless, free of gimmicks or trendy finishes. Chris also stayed with the retro vibe of his kitchen by installing quartz countertops that look like vintage speckled Formica!

When Katie Logan decided to rent out the first floor of her New Orleans house, she knew she would have to do something about the kitchen before the place could be Airbnb-ready. It’d be challenging for anyone to spruce up this grungy kitchen, especially with “no money and no time,” as Katie said. However, prepare to be amazed, because the ‘After’ transformation is truly inspiring: So, so, so much better!

When Kitchn reader Nathalie bought her house ten years ago, the small 10×6 galley kitchen wasn’t anything to write home about. It was “barely functional, and completely uninspiring,” she told us. She tried to improve it by painting the walls red, but there was no denying the lack of both counter and storage space. Finally, after many years of saving, she hired a contractor and remodeled the whole thing, opting for eco-friendly materials every step of the way: So great!

“I like to joke that this was the ‘Accidental Kitchen Remodel’ because what started as one project quickly snowballed into several, and our original ambition to make the kitchen just ‘liveable’ turned into making it just perfect,” Katherine tells us about her kitchen makeover. Yet even with that the whole project still came in under $400, and the result maintains the feel but adds a little finesse and personality.

Susan’s kitchen was in bad shape: “Every surface was starting to break down,” she wrote to us, like “loose light fixtures, slipping wallpaper, places where the vinyl floor was shrinking away from the walls, scarred Formica, and badly battered doors on the lower cabinets.” So with her house fully paid off and a home equity line sitting unused, she and her husband jumped into a renovation.

In 2009 Kitchn reader Debbie and her husband bought a classic 1920s Chicago bungalow in a short sale from someone who’d been unable to flip it due to the recent housing crash. When the owner couldn’t sell the place for what he was asking, “he ripped out everything in the kitchen and just slapped stuff on the walls, including cheap cabinets that were literally attached to the walls with a few screws,” Debbie tells us.

In August 2012 Kitchn reader Nicole and her family moved into a traditional colonial home and spent the next few months reworking the entire first floor. The kitchen underwent a major transformation, from the vintage vibe you see above (charming, perhaps, but not ideal) to a sleek space fit for a modern cook. See what the kitchen looks like now: More windows means even more light! We like the olive green cabinets, too.

When Kitchn reader Elizabeth moved into her Brooklyn apartment, it was a dull affair: “The kitchen floors were a brown linoleum that never looked clean, the cabinets were a mega mess, and the lighting couldn’t have been less desirable,” she wrote to us. “Nothing like halogen donut overhead bulbs!” But after a few DIY projects, including painting and redoing the kitchen floor, the new space is full of color and personality! See how her kitchen looks now: So cute!

Tux knows a thing or two about the frustrations of rental kitchens. His Brooklyn kitchen has a litany of them: “The floors are a pinky orange 90s faux terra cotta, the countertops are a horrible faux granite laminate in a weird speckled yellowy beige color… and the cabinets… are… I can’t even say it… honey oak! The horror!” he writes on his blog Brooklyn Homemaker.

You know that little kitchen project you’ve been meaning to cross off your list for ages? For me, it’s been re-covering a tiny, weird table in my kitchen, and I’ve been meaning to do it for oh, two years. This week, I finally tackled this one and the effect is dramatic. With its burst of springtime color, I’m over the moon for this very simple update.

Removing the doors from a few choice upper cabinets is a simple way to introduce open shelving to your kitchen. The beautiful kitchen pictured above inspired to integrate the look by tiling open cabinet backs. While the cabinets shown above appear to be actual open shelves hanging on a tiled wall, tiling the back of an open cabinet could achieve similar results. Over at 320 Sycamore, the backs of glass-doored cabinets were tiled with penny tile (pictured above).

Christene Barberich, editor-in-chief of fashion and shopping site Refinery29, decided to get serious this spring about the storage issues in her small Brooklyn kitchen. “Having everything piled on this one butcher block table was really taking the zen out of my kitchen,” she told Refinery29 recently. But how do you get more space in such a tiny corner, you ask? You go up… …and go red! This, friends, is the LACK wall shelf from IKEA ($49.99).

Three years ago John and his family moved into a new home in Newport Beach, California. While the kitchen was arguably very nice (if not their style), these avid entertainers were frustrated by how the space was awkwardly divided into a kitchen and an eat-in dining nook. The island cut the kitchen in half and made it much smaller than it could have been.

When Beth moved into her San Diego home, the 1980s kitchen had never been updated. “The kitchen was very small for the size of the home (4 bedrooms),” she wrote to us. She dreamed of an open kitchen and dining area, and a large pantry. Over the course of four months the existing kitchen was stripped to the studs and rebuilt it into a beautiful, light-filled space. See what this kitchen looks like now! So, so lovely!

Deme’s Dayton, Ohio kitchen “was definitely drab,” she writes on her blog House For Five. “And dirty. And really, really blah-brown.” We see what she means. The enormous lightbox in particular “made the ceiling feel like it was grazing the top of your head,” especially for her 6’4″ husband. It was time for a change.

When Christina and her husband first looked at the Philadelphia house that would eventually become their home, they almost didn’t buy it because of the kitchen: “It was so small, so brown, and so ugly,” Christina writes on her blog Christina’s Adventures. But they did, after deciding they were going to figure out a way to open, brighten, and maximize every bit of space in the kitchen — and on a tiny, $3,500 budget. And that’s exactly what they did!

Bethany liked her chalkboard kitchen cabinets in the beginning, but felt over time they made the kitchen look too dark and depressing. “I wanted it to feel bright and happy!” she writes on her blog This One’s For You. So, armed with $200 and three free days, she decided to completely overhaul her kitchen. See how it looks now! Amazing! Bethany pulled the cabinets off the wall, hung pre-painted wall panels that look like beadboard, and then installed two open shelves from IKEA.

When Jessie of Cape 27 Blog and her family got their new home, they got right to work on renovations. Just two months after moving in they were making big updates, including opening up this kitchen that was closed off from the rest of the house. Take a look at what they did. They started by tearing down the wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the living space. They also removed a bar-height counter that created another barrier to the kitchen.

Reader Belinda’s kitchen was functional, and had lots of cabinet space, but not a lot of personality. The wood grain cabinets and the beige walls made for a drab space that even her colorful dishware couldn’t make up for. Just take a look at how Belinda renovated and rearranged her space. Belinda really lightened up her kitchen by removing a good portion of the closed cabinets.

Reader Barbie sent us photos of the dramatic transformation her kitchen underwent as part of her remodel. We were excited to see how this narrow kitchen got a modern update, and how Barbie and her family gained a lot more space. Take a look at how her kitchen looks now — it’s almost unrecognizable! The renovation made the kitchen feel more connected to the rest of the house instead of being so closed off. There had previously been a wall where the large, dual-sided island is now.

Reader Jillian was dealing with an very dated, dreary kitchen when she and her husband bought their house. In fact, the kitchen was one of the things that kept the house on the market for so long before they bought it. With just a couple of updates Jillian was able to give it a fresh new look while spending only $150 on the makeover. Take a look at what she did. It’s amazing what a little white paint can do, isn’t it?

This kitchen was completely serviceable, but it was just a little bit blah. Yes, it has great counter space and plenty of storage, and it gets decent natural light. A pretty good starting point! But the owner, Danielle, was ready to bring it up to date and add some special touches to make all the cooking she does that much easier. Check out the transformation!

When Jenna moved into her house in the California countryside, she had some dated details to contend with. Just off the entry to her home was a dining room, complete with recessed bar, and a kitchen that was closed off except for a pass-through to the dining room. It wasn’t ideal for entertaining or for Jenna’s aesthetic. After five months of renovating, you’ll barely recognize this transformed kitchen and dining area. Take a look!

When Meg bought her first house, it was in need of a lot of love. She bought a house that had been foreclosed in Georgia, and she decided that the kitchen was the first place she wanted to start. Meg took the drab kitchen, which was also in need of a good scrubbing, and made it into a lovely farmhouse style space. We’re not only impressed with Meg’s kitchen because it looks so inviting, but also because she DIYed many of the projects herself.

Ashley and her family moved into this Texas ranch house in 2008, and they took their time with renovations (toddlers do cause some delays after all). The peach paint and light wood cabinets weren’t their style at all, but the first thing they replaced were the appliances. Next, they tackled the kitchen one project at a time, and now it looks like this — take a look! Such an improvement right?

There are plenty of good things about buying a house from the original owner. No questions about when appliances were replaced, when work was done, or whether there’s a reason for that sticky window in the guest room. But the downside? The house might be in need of a major update. Emily found herself in this situation when she bought a 1950s ranch house from the original owner. Here’s how her kitchen looked before. Get ready for a major update.

When the photos of this kitchen renovation hit our inbox, we were shocked by the transformation. Especially given that the reader, Laura, who sent them isn’t an interior designer (although she tells us she is in her dream life), but an English teacher at a university. Laura and her husband took this incredibly dated (have you ever seen an oven that color?) kitchen and gave it a whole new life. Take a look at how this kitchen went from 70s Tang to farmhouse chic.

Homeownership is a huge step for so many people, which is why we’ll always be impressed by those in their early 20s who take such a huge step and purchase a home. Courtney wrote to us to share her kitchen makeover in her first home, which she bought this year at just 23 years old. Since she was working on a budget, she made several DIY updates to put her own stamp on her new space. Take a look at how much fresher it feels! Doesn’t it look so much fresher and up-to-date?

Uncle Sam owes you money? Congrats! People say it’s actually better to owe money in April because otherwise it’s like you gave the government an interest-free loan, but who cares what those people say! You’re about to get some money. Money that you didn’t technically have before! Put that money to use in the place that matters to you the most: the kitchen. Here are some ideas on how to spend that refund check if you’re getting a cool grand — or more!

There are few things more satisfying than an absolutely jaw-dropping kitchen makeover. While you may think that you need a big, beefy budget to elicit those “OMG” gasps, you’d actually be wrong. Sometimes, amazing makeovers are much more about what you do and how you do it than how much money you spend on making over your space. Case in point? This incredibly fun, playful kitchen makeover from Heather Douglas of Mysa Home Styling.

Here’s a thing that’s bound to happen when you’re house shopping: You see a place where the previous owner has replaced the kitchen (or bathroom), ostensibly as a selling point, but the new space already looks incredibly dated. It’s especially frustrating if you really like the place otherwise, because then you find yourself in the position of either living with a kitchen that you really don’t like, or ripping out one that’s brand-new.

We feature a lot of amazing kitchen projects, but this kitchen makeover might just have the very best dollars-to-damn ratio yet. It went from oh-so-’70s to totally timeless, thanks to some hard work, tile bravery, and some stickers. So charming! I love the interplay of the hexagonal tiles of the backsplash and the ornately patterned floor tiles. The combination of black, white, gray, and stainless steel is fresh and modern, while the wood counters add warmth and coziness.

As kitchens go, this one isn’t too shabby. There are really nice white countertops, classic subway tiles on the backsplash, and basic wood cabinets that look perfectly sound and in good condition. There’s no horribly dated light fixtures, no crappy peeling wallpaper, or any odd woodwork that needs to be ripped out. Even the walls are white and ready to go. Not much you can do to improve this space, right? So very, very wrong.

Earlier this week, we wrote about a perfectly serviceable kitchen that got a few tweaks to become totally wow-worthy. (See: A Perfectly Fine Kitchen Gets Unbelievably Better Thanks to a Bit of Paint.) And here’s another one! Instead of starting totally from scratch, homeowners Lindsay and Matt used a minimal budget to make just a few small changes to their Brooklyn kitchen, creating a fresh, modern space without much hassle.

This kitchen makeover is gorgeous and impressive on its own, but when you factor in that it’s a rental, it becomes mind-blowing. Check out all sorts of magic Eliza, the design wizard of note, worked out on her kitchen. She even faked her way into a temporary herringbone floor!

This kitchen has a few of the same issues that my own kitchen has — mismatched countertops, dated details, cabinets stained a color I don’t care for — so I was so curious to see how it was improved. Perhaps there would be a few ideas I could steal! Alas, the makeover is so totally incredible that it’s a level of transformation to which I can’t currently aspire. But perhaps something this dramatic is more attainable for you?

Like a lot of the “before” photos we often show, this kitchen is perfectly nice. It’s got lots of windows, a beautiful hardwood floor, and classic cabinets. Its owner, however, wanted something beyond perfectly nice, and, after four years of plotting and planning, made it into something truly special. In this full-length shot (above), you can see that lovely floor, as well as more of the mustard walls.

This builder-standard kitchen’s strength lies in its plainness — there might not be a ton here to flip over, but there’s not really anything to be put off by either. Fortunately, this kitchen’s new renter found a way to play up its strength and minimize its flaws, and all for only $700!

Be forewarned: This disco-fabulous backsplash is not long for the world, so enjoy it while you can. The rest of the kitchen was perhaps not worthy of such sparkle. It was so dated, mismatched, and confusing. Now it’s fresh, unified, and bright. This kitchen is right at home in a 100-year-old house, and the modern appliances are nicely camouflaged against the white cabinetry and tiles.

Kitchen renovations are expensive! If you’re working on a budget, you can eat it up with a single appliance. And you can forget it if you want to make changes to the layout or upgrade your countertops. In fact, HomeAdvisor reports that the national average cost to remodel a kitchen is $22,387, with $4,000 at the low and, and $54,000 at the high end. Even at the low end, $4,000 is still something you’ve got to save up for.

As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve got budget kitchen makeovers on the brain, and we’re not the only ones. Whether you’re a cook-every-night type or someone who only uses their kitchen to store takeout menus, it’s one of the spaces you look at all the time. And when it’s dark, dated, or tight on storage, you really feel it. With that in mind, the folks at our sister site Apartment Therapy tackled a run-down rental kitchen.

Andrea is a stylish fashion blogger who founded the blog Blonde Bedhead. And although her expertise is in personal style, it’s clear she’s also a master at interior design, too. In fact, she’s recently been able to flex her interior design muscles, thanks to her newly purchased first home. Although the house didn’t quite fit her own style when she first saw it in person, she could see the potential.

This kitchen had a somewhat odd configuration — water heater and washing machine, but not a dryer? — and two of our readers were plumb sick of it. In just over a month, they transformed this slightly confused space into a kitchen that’s as practical as it is elegant. Plus it has a bonus laundry room! This is so different and excellent.

In about six months, I’m putting the raised ranch home I have owned for 20+ years on the market. I know I must say goodbye to years of accumulated items — I really don’t think I need 12 colanders anymore — and I also know there are some repairs and upgrades I need to do to entice a buyer. I am thinking of starting with my kitchen — the most-used room in my home — because, well, it needs some TLC.

Have you ever had that dream where you find a room in your house that you didn’t know was there? That’s one of my recurring ones, and I’m sure it probably symbolizes something, but I tend to take it literally. Buying a sprawling, bargain Victorian home in need of some TLC three years ago was like that dream come to life. It had more rooms than I knew what to do with (which was a big adjustment, coming from a one-bedroom bungalow!).

Before anyone gets too attached to this kitchen’s slightly retro style or admittedly charming checkered floor, it should be known that the charming floor was actually rotting — and there were a lot of other issues as well. Not an enormous surprise in a rental, but one renter was determined to give this kitchen a fresh start. Thankfully, she had a lenient landlord who was open to changes.

The after pics are so bright and airy!

Chelsey Brown’s kitchen was pretty nice from the beginning: It had modern-looking appliances and cabinets, and there was enough square footage to move around without feeling like the walls were closing in. But Chelsey found the space a little too boring for her liking. She wanted to make the room brighter and more open, while also respecting the terms of her lease and keeping costs down. She totally pulled it off.

It's so bright and colorful now!

There are only so many changes you can make to a kitchen you do not own. Jess Bunge, Senior Market Editor for Emily Henderson, faced many of the classic challenges of a rental — dated floors, lackluster countertops, an oddly shaped floor plan — but brilliantly worked around them to make the space one to sigh over. The real star of this new kitchen is the countertop cover. With help from her dad, Jess cleverly cut plywood to fit over the gray granite, and built a matching backsplash.

When Heather Knight moved into her new home, she had to focus on more urgent repairs and wasn’t able to put as much money into the kitchen as she would’ve liked. (So yes, although $7,500 is a lot of money, it’s not really that much when you’re talking about a kitchen renovation.) While the space was in good shape, it was dark and a little too dated for her tastes. With some pretty clever spending, she pulled off a pretty impactful renovation project.

As much as our sister site, Apartment Therapy, specializes in House Tours and room makeovers, we’ve got our fair share of before and afters too. Some are more transformative than others, and some are way more popular than others. Curious about what our readers are obsessed with? Here are five of our most popular kitchen makeovers of all time.

There are two house tours over at Apartment Therapy in which the renters decided their apartments’ plain, boring kitchen cabinets weren’t cutting it. Renovating wasn’t an option, but these clever renters found a way to add color and pattern anyway: with washi tape! Both examples are vibrant and unique, but how much does it cost to cover your kitchen cabinets in tape? And how long does it take to do it? We got the lowdown.

This is an intriguing transformation, because the only difference between the before and after is the decorating. No remodeling, no renovation, no repainting or replacing anything — and yet the results are incredibly dramatic. So inspiring — especially to all of us with neither power tools nor the skills to wield them. Let’s back up to get a full view of the drop ceiling and beige floor — two standard rental features that add a fair amount of blah to any room.

Stacy and her husband found themselves with a very trying kitchen on their hands. After two years of living with not enough storage, poor ventilation, and lots of mice, they decided to take the plunge and create a kitchen that was clean, functional, and easy on the eyes. From Stacy: Our kitchen had a hard life. We bought our home back in 2011, a recent flip after the previous owners had foreclosed.

What’s the best remedy for two competing patterns of speckled stone in a kitchen? Sometimes the answer is a third, completely different material. Can you believe this is the same kitchen? It’s so pretty! And those cabinets — is that middle upper cabinet an ingeniously disguised range hood? The marble walls are pure luxury, and that wonderful blue brings out such interesting hues in the stone. Also, that stove is classic and covetable. Sigh.

This project has so much going for it: It was done for less than $200, it was done in a rental, and it features faux DIY granite countertops and a covetable KitchenAid! (Mixer obviously not included in the $200 total.) Click through and get dangerously inspired. The pink + celadon + white + gold combination is comfortingly and charmingly vintage, but the clean lines of the cabinet doors, handles, and subway tiles keep things modern.

This kitchen makeover was renovation-free and budget-friendly. Wendy took her kitchen from standard issue to a colorful, customized tile wonderland in 30 hours. Keep reading to check it out! From Wendy: For my kitchen makeover we worked to a pretty tight budget but man, I gotta tell you, I love it. You know when you go to a party and everyone winds up in the kitchen? Yeah, that’s basically me — every single night. Party for one. This is my most favorite space.

Here’s a kitchen that makes me think, “Sure! Great! I’ve paid many dollars every month for the privilege of cooking in much worse and much, much smaller spaces!” Turns out, though, it wasn’t all that great — and the makeover is so much better. See that gorgeous blue floor-to-ceiling cabinet to the right of the sink? That’s the refrigerator. The dishwasher is also hidden behind paneling, and can be seen below and to the left of the sink. Utterly magical.

Adam and Amber bought their first home — a 1940 Tudor in Knoxville, TN — in 2016 and have been carefully re-designing it ever since. One of the main projects was the “heart” of any home, the kitchen, which Amber described as “on the verge of cardiac arrest.” Amber likes to cook, so functionality was her biggest focus.

As nice as it is to see Before & After projects that seem totally approachable, aspirational whole-house renovations are highly entertaining and inspiring. And that’s exactly what we have today: A “bland, boring ’60s ranch” gets a total — and totally amazing — makeover. If you’re having a hard time orienting yourself in this room, it’s because it used to be two rooms and an attic.

Not only did this kitchen receive a major aesthetic upgrade, but the project also achieved the Holy Grail of renovation dreams. In the words of the condo owner, “Same footprint, more space.” Hashtag goals indeed. So elegant! Malcolm Simmons of Mas Means More did such a fantastic job on this project. Is it strange that my favorite part is the cupboard above the refrigerator? It elongates the fridge and adds grace to a necessary appliance.

When artist and designer Lindsay Hollinger bought a house in Joshua Tree, CA, she went to work designing it into a bona fide bohemian beauty and chronicled it all on her blog, Casa Joshua Tree. The biggest transformation in the 1236-square-foot space? A once drab and dated kitchen that Lindsay turned into a bright white cook space. “I am a minimalist with bohemian leanings,” Hollinger explains.

A lot of the before-and-after photos we share here and on our sister site, Apartment Therapy, feature dramatic changes: new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances, new floor plans. But in this Fort Greene kitchen, the changes are much more subtle. They’re so subtle, in fact, that flipping back and forth between the before-and-after photos is a little bit like one of those puzzles where you try to spot the differences between the two pictures. Can you spot the changes?

Diana Marsh spent 11 years living in Brooklyn before returning to her home state of Michigan. After purchasing this Ann Arbor house, she set out to renovate it. It had good bones, but was a bit on the small side and a lot on the dark side. As the owner of a brick-and-mortar store called Thistle and Bess, Diana has a keen eye for crafting creative spaces. Her year-long remodel of this house was no different! Although all the rooms got a facelift, the kitchen is the most unrecognizable.

For years Maria Jordan, the blogger behind Maria Did That, painted and updated almost every room of her house — except the kitchen. “I couldn’t afford the kitchen I wanted so I just lived with a dirty yellow vinyl floor, yellow backsplash (of an unknown material), yellow Formica countertops with scorch marks, and dark wooden cabinets,” she says.

For years Maria Jordan, the blogger behind Maria Did That, painted and updated almost every room of her house — except the kitchen. “I couldn’t afford the kitchen I wanted so I just lived with a dirty yellow vinyl floor, yellow backsplash (of an unknown material), yellow Formica countertops with scorch marks, and dark wooden cabinets,” she says.