OMG...I almost thought for a minute it was a late April Fool's joke where they take pics of two different things and show before and after!!! Really beautiful transformation!!

Could you tell me where you got your pendant lights - very pretty. Do they shed enough task lighting on the island? What kind of light bulbs are they?

awww, thanks so much everyone! sjhockeyfan-all my lighting came from overstock. the lights are turned off in the pics but they provide a lot of light. they use 40 watt G9 base bulb . I am thiking of getting a smaller wattage bulb as they are almost too bright for me.

Wow! I had to go back and forth between the before and after photos. It's hard to believe it's the same place! It looks awesome.

The crown molding makes it look really finished, nice touch.

Edited for double post...who knows why!

This post was edited by dcward89 on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 13:47

Amazing!!! Is this Adel White or Ramsjo White?

Wow, that old kitchen sure had a lot going on in it. It's amazing how much more serene the new one is. How did you do the microwave shelf?

Very cool! What a transformation! I love the little retro touches. It seems to me like the left upper corner by your window would have been hard to plan and I think you handled it very well (I'm always agonizing over corners).

Wow that is an amazing transformation! You two must be enjoying it so much.

Great price on cabinetry. It looks very good in the store. Do you know the overall cost of the kitchen reno?

I agree with sjhockeyfan that you are in the running for the "best transformation 2014" award!

The granite is stunning - I love the pattern and colours. I like that you chose not to do a tile backsplash - it lets the granite be the star.

A tiny suggestion - see how the white cabinet shows along the corner of your island? You can easily fix that by applying edge-banding in that area, or even just brushing on some dark grey paint. Sometimes those little finishing touches make IKEA kitchens look more custom.

Super cute tub too - could you share the make/model?

My IKEA kitchen is in mid-installation (and will be for a while :/ ). I'm loving the quality of the hardware and drawers - a dream compared to what I'm used to.

PS Just noticed your microwave shelf -- that looks very awesome and custom. Great job!

wow! stunning! both kitchen and bathroom. I really love the modern look.

feisty-always open to suggstions.will totally do gray paint. good idea. I also still have to fill nail holes in crown and paint never ends!

They are adel white. I really wanted to do tile backsplash in both bath and kitchen but ran out of money and now find I don't miss it!

tub was the Jessica slipper tub seen here, http://www.signaturehardware.com/67-jessica-freestanding-acrylic-slipper-tub-on-plinth.html

i had a kitchen designer becuase i reconfigured whole house/added master bath, knocked out wall in between kitchen and LR..he planned the microwave shelf. He is the whole reason the IKEA cabs turned out so great. Works long distance (he is in chicago, I am in OH) and did all the IKEA ordering for me..that was a huge relief. If anyone is interested in using him, PM me.

just WOW!
those pics are making me wish i had thought about trekking 3 hours to ikea a little harder! totally magazine worthy and awesome!

Stunning transformation - you must be so thrilled with your beautiful new kitchen. Great job!
I also used adel brown as my bathroom cabs, lol.

Looks beautiful!!! Isn't IKEA awesome for cabinets!? I've had mine (also Adel) for almost 3 years now and still love them.

That is fabulous! I love ikea cabinets. :). And your kitchen is really beautiful. We did our last kitchen with ikea and one of the things that struck me is that I never felt like I had compromised at all--they were my first choice.

Thank you for sharing your reveal!

Whoa! What a great change!! What's the two colors in your bathroom?

Beautiful!

hi teachertile-it's just one color on the walls, BM silver lake love it..very soothing

Oh Wow! That is just a stunning design and transformation. What vision you had to be able to see that kitchen as a possibility in the space with which you started, just amazing. Don't you just love Ikea cabinets!! The drawers, hardware, innards, flexibility, and ease of changes, to say nothing of the incredible value. They look fabulous, as does the whole room. Congratulations! Please let us know if you hear from Ikea about using your kitchen in their ads, I won't be the least surprised.

There is a blog I follow that recentely started featuring Ikea kitchens. She is going to feature mine soon - I can't wait!!! Anyways here is the link to one of the kitchens and she asks that if anyone would like to be featured on her blog to email her if you are interested.

"Do you have an Ikea kitchen (it need not be 100% Ikea) that you would be willing to share on House*Tweaking? If so, please contact me at housetweaking@gmail.com for consideration. Thank you in advance!"

Here is a link that might be useful: HouseTweaking Blog

Fabulous transformation! You had quite a vision when you bought that house. Must be extremely satisfying to have it done and looking so nice. I really like the gray island--I am doing that too.

Holy cow - it really is hard to believe that is the same space. It is an AWE worthy transformation!!! I can't stop flipping between the before and after photos. I have no doubt you will enjoy cooking in the new kitchen. I love the aqua accents. Where did you get the chairs?

Absolutely stunning. I love it.
What a fun tub!

Chairs were an awesome find on Craigslist. Very expensive chairs 10 years ago that needed some TLC. Love them. Recovered them and spent a ton of time buffing the corrosion out of the alumnium.

Here is another angle. the "sitting" room was eliminated and we used half that space to bump out kitchen, other half was used to bump out master bed and build my master bath. It's a small mid century ranch. 1500 sq ft.

Gorgeous! I love the pendant lights...and is that a clock made out of utensils? Genius! Also, that tub is just beautiful. Enjoy!

That must have soooo satisfying to knock that out! It does look fab, and it is an amazing project. Congratulations!

Erinb, do you have before and after floorplans to share? I'd love to see how you reworked the entire space. This is fabulous. Thanks!

Wowzers! Love it all, extra shoutout for the stools, the very nifty clock (did you make it yourself?) and the faucet arching gracefully as a swan. The fireplace is speaking to me, too.

Excellent job! Such a pretty & soothing kitchen. I'm going w/ IKEA boxes & drawers & can't wait to get them in. Enjoy your new & wonderful kitchen.

I think Ikea kitchens are awesome and am thrilled whenever someone uses them so well. Even though I didn't use them myself LOL!

Congratulations on such a wonderful transformation! You really did a good job in pairing your granite with your fireplace.

How did you find your long distance designer?

thanks rae! my kitchen desgner is actually a relative who has an architecture background. I knew I needed help when I started planning on moving walls. Having an expert inovlved to help me utilize every square inch of space was critical to the success of this project. For a 1500 sq ft house, we really have a great floorplan now!

WOW! I am stunned at the difference! It looks amazing. Like what is bigger than amazing? Words are failing me!

The new kitchen looks so serene and beautiful, but also highly functional. I bet it's a fun place to cook! As everyone is, I'm just astonished at the transformation. Congratulations!

I have a condo in Chicago and was looking for someone to help me with an Ikea kitchen. Definitely pming you for information about your talented relative here!

justmakeit-just sent you a pm :)

I'm always amazed at the before & after but WOW, what a change. Your new kitchen is lovely. Love your aqua/turquoise accents. You deserve a bubble bath in that big tub. Excellent job!

Fantastic! The "after" is just gorgeous, and how wonderful you did it without breaking the bank.

someone asked me about customer service with overstock, as I bought all my bathroom tile and lighting fixtures there. I will say it's mixed. I have had issues with a couple of lights. It's hard to communicate with the customer service reps (i usually use online chat) because they are clearly from another country. There is a lot of misunderstandings. I had to fight them on a couple of things and originally go them to refund defective merchandise but it wasn't easy. I have bought from them for years and think the customer service used to be better.

Oh my goodness, what a transformation! A fantastic job! So hard to believe from where you started. Wonderful kitchen

erinb007,
Love how your kitchen turned out. You have the exact cabinets that I am considering....I was not sure about the Adel because they are the thermofoil(?) front, but yours look wonderful! The closest Ikea is about 3 hrs away so I have not been able to see them in person...

For your pantry, did you use 2 15" cabinets together? And are they the 80" or 88" inch high (I love the idea of using crown at the top like you did) so I am assuming you used the 88" high pantries?

I love your Ikea kitchen so much! How tall are your cabinets? How did you do the crown molding and what paint color/manufacturer did you use? I love your Fantastic White Granite counters! I love the placement of your microwave! The transformation is amazing!

Thanks Lynn and Judith! I still love my kitchen and couldn't be happier with the IKEA cabs. The pantry is 24x64 on the bottom and 24x24 on top. My pantry is insane. I still pinch myself. Everything rolls out so smoothly. Perfection. In looking at the renderings, it looks like the tops are 39" high, does that make sense/answer your question? I too love the Fantastic White! I used BM Paper Mache for the crown..it' s a perfect match. I just told my GC that I wanted a simple crown, nothing too elaborate and that is what he came up with. Hope this helps.

This is one of the most impressive transformations I've seen. Such a huge change my brain cant even comprehend that it's the same room.

Well done.

I just did a Ikea renovation using the opposite scheme - gloss grey and white in the bathroom, Adel Medium Brown in the kitchen. They both look so good, no matter which room you use them in.

erin,
thanks for the feedback on the size of your pantry, it helps me alot in making decisions.

Erin, well here I am back with a question again..I just went to the Ikea website, I can't find a pantry that is sized "24x64" as you mentioned (only 80 tall or 88 tall). Did your designer tweek a taller pantry (cut it down to 64")?

hi judith-found my purchase order.. the pantry is hte 24x88 one, sorry, i think i misread the design plans (happy to e-mail those to you if you like)

Erin, thanks for the correction :) Yes, I'd love for you to email me your design plans. (I opened my email on my GW profile page)
thanks again for all your help!