For all of you that know me…it’s obvious why I wouldn’t like this kitchen right? I am a high contrast- B&W with bold colors type of person. I am not a warm tone….autumn colored person. I consider a panda my “power” animal for obvious reasons- because not only are they cute, but they go with EVERYTHING!
(excuse the mess above…hubby took the picture…right before he took off all the cabinets….he doesn’t have an eye for these things)
and now we have the AFTER!!!!!!
reya
One word…Stunning!
You know what I thought was the cutest thing about the whole kitchen (aside from the fact that the kitchen is so pretty it makes me want to buy my own house…)? The little baby chair in the corner.
angela
Hi, I can’t remember now where I found your blog from – but it was someone else’s blog…anwyasy I love your recipes and pictures and wish I could cook half as well. Question about your gorgeous new kitchen …..did you use the same cabinets? Did you just sand and paint them and then do new counter tops? We have old 1960’s cabinets in great condition and I was thinking about doing this. Did you have to hire professionals or were you able to do it all yourselves? If you dont mind sharing, what all did you find you could re-use and what’d you have to buy new? It looks WONDERFUL!!!!
Leah
WOW! Eventhough I do consider myself an ‘autumn colored person’, I like the “after” kitchen much better. It is so clean and light. I love that chalkboard wall, too. EXCELLENT!
Val
WOW WOW WOW….. Um, when am I coming over for coffee? LOL
good work bean and your mister too! love that my lil touch is still there. the high chair is perfect!
yowza – even kitty matches 🙂 looks awesome and so great to have it all done before bebe comes!
Simply beautiful. The “after” is so elegant and modern- who wouldn’t be inspired to cook in such a stunning kitchen? Kudos.
This is stunning! The black and white is so bold and clean. Must be so much fun to be in there cooking. Can you tell us who made the fantastic birdcage wallpaper?? Love that!
Heather M
Please come and redecorate my entire house! Your kitchen redo is AMAZING! Your lighting is FANTASTIC! Love love love the whole thing! (Sorry for all of the shouting, but wowee!)
THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS!!!! I AM SO GLAD YOU LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO!
xoxoxo
Tracy
Lovely, sparkly, bright and all new & fresh! Complete with black cat too! How great is that?!
Angela: Same old cabinets but after a month+ of refinishing them. Word of advice…pay a professional, its not worth doing it yourself, you will not do as good a job, it will take 10x longer then you think. I never came so close to crying . Steps are: take everything apart, scrub with 1000grade steal wool and TPS degreaser, LIGHTLY sand by HAND using something like 200grit paper. Do nto use a machine and DO not try to remove the original finish, you simply want to lightly scuff for adhesion (unless of course your cabinets are in bad shape) My mistake was using a machine sander and sanding too hard, created 10x more work for myself and affected the overall results.
Another piece of advice, use Fine Paints of Europe brand and NOTHING ELSE. apply even coat of Fine Paints of Europe Primer, DO NOT LEAVE ANY SLIGHTLY BARE SPOTS, They will always show. For better leveling characteristics and workability, consider an additive, not sue what the best one is but ask about Floetrol or something. Work quickly, do not go over your previous stokes. Sand, then apply your base coat of paint, sanding after base coat may be optional, then apply final coat.
Before starting any project, call the extremely helpful people at Fine Paints of Europe for advise, they have a company policy that NOBODY answers the phone unless they have at least 10yrs of professional painting experience.
Again, hire a professional, I tried to save money and it was a huge mistake. Luckily I knew I was overhead my head and had hit a wall, rather then rush to get the job done, I called a pro and had them do the final coat.
Kim
New reader, love the kitchen! Do you mind if I ask how much it cost to have the pros paint your cabinets?
Kim- thank you! we had pros come in and do the final coat. My husband prepped everything for them and did the first few coats. They charged us something like $35/hour per guy. There were two people and it didn’t take them that long since they were *pros* I don’t remember the final cost, but I hope that helps!
Anna
Your kitchen is so beautiful. Do you mind if I ask you what kind of microwave you have? It is gorgeous. Great site.
Mary Lou
Like all of the above, I love your kitchen reno. We are shopping for our reno and the one thing I’m sure of is that I want a black and white checkerboard floor. Can you tell me a bit about your flooring? What sort of tile is it?
Thanks!
Sandra
what a beautiful kitchen!!
by the way, this is my first post. i came by your blog through a friend who posted a link to one of your recipes. i’ve since gone through just about your entire sight looking at recipes. you have such a diverse range of recipes, and you present your food wonderfully…not to mention you photograph them wonderfully.
you’ve been bookmarked, so i’ll be back. LOL
Around the House: Kitchen {BEFORE} - Shutterbean
[…] Truth be told, my mom and I have pretty different styles. I love contrast…. which should come as no surprise and she’s more of an Autumn-tone person. Since we moved in, I’ve been dreaming of painting our current cabinets DARK and now it’s finally happening. I have a thing for black & white kitchens. You can see my last kitchen at our old house here. […]
