PepperidgeFarm, I LOVE how you updated your kitchen! Love your wall color and those stainless open shelves (hmm, I wonder if could fit something like that into my re-do)! The new counter and backsplash change the looks of everything! You must be thrilled with your new sink & faucet--would you please share what brand/style your faucet is?

Bon appetite and thanks for sharing!

You did a great job...it looks wonderful and so user-friendly. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

LOVE IT! Really good job here! I'm sure you are lovin' that extra counter space! The backsplash is perfect.

Wow -- I love your creativity of working within constraints and coming up with a pleasant place to work. Your backsplash is delightful -- I like the motif behind the range -- and how you've expanded your storage space with the wall racks -- does the former peninsula now fit under the window?

And what is your wall color? Green or gray?

Fabuloso!

What a great job on a budget. Wonderful idea with the tiles above the range. The backsplash looks great and now so much more counter space. It looks so much better.

Thank-you :-))

The faucet is a Price Pfister Marielle line;
The area under the window is now a stand alone "island" that is black on the bottom and birch counter, runs up to the birch idea counter.
The wall color is a green from Benjamin Moore, called Baby Turtle. The room has windows on both sides but not very light inside, so I just addressed it with lighting rather than trying to keep a light color on the wall.

Initially I had a hanging pot rack to the right of the range, but changed it to shelves to help open up the room, and it definitely did just that.

I am really happy with the room as it stands finally, and certainly more than livable for me.

Such an amazing improvement. Very well done!! Love the open shelving for your pots/pans.

what a huge, huge change! did you lighten the cabs or is the difference from the lighting?

great that you could add much needed counter top - even if empty underneath (good place for trash bin).

the change in sink makes a big difference. I didn't even 'see' it in the after pics...had to go back and relook. thought you missed posting a pic of sink area! much nicer!

it has to be much more pleasant and functional to work in now.

You kept the cabinets, but stained them a different color? They look much better in the after photos but I am terrible at telling if they were replaced....a bright kitchen, hooray!

I love your kitchen reno/'touch up'! I especially love your metal shelves for pots, pans, and hanging utensils. It is so charming and so functional. I've always loved potracks. But this is a really refreshing take on the potrack that looks a bit more modern and less country-cluttered than a potrack sometimes can look. Love your simple subway backsplash with details and the "Baby Turtle" color. I've always wanted to paint something that color -- so gorgeously earthy. Congrats on your beautiful new kitchen.

Did you do something to your cabinets? They look lighter.

Great job!

You guys did a great job updating your kitchen! We are 15 months into a whole-house remodel and are just now getting a facelift for the kitchen...it feels so good!

Congratulations, pepperidge!

Love the appreciation, glad others can also see the difference!

The cabinets are not changed other than the hardware! There was tarnished finish peeling brass like handles, and I bought a pack of oil rubbed bronze (that matches the main faucet) to finally replace them- they are darker, and the lighting is ridiculously brighter, so it must be those 2 things that make the them look lighter.

My hope is to refinish them as they actually look quite beat up in person; scrubbing helps, but with the clean new tile, it makes them look worse- always the way!

Permitting, I may try to go the "celticmoon" route of re-staining over the summer, but may need to wait due to all sorts of other stuff.

Just gorgeous! What a difference you made without changing the cabinets! The little details make a big difference, love the backsplash especially the tiles over the range.

maybe you could wipe the cabs down with a stain - lightly? don't use a darker looking stain. just enough to perk up the stain on it - and to flow into the nicks, making it look a bit distressed. better to look like they should be there than to look beat up NOT on purpose!

A number of recent threads have discussed oak cupboards in "before" kitchens. You have shown that existing oak cupboards can be attractive and useful. You have also used laminate and a white sink as features and not liabilities. The backsplash is attractive and thoughtful. Your restraint is as important as your kitchen features. This is a working kitchen and also an inviting one.

Thanks, mentor!

What an amazing transformation. The backspash is beautiful.

florantha- we touched on this on another thread. I think it is so important to look at the home, the style of the home inside and out, and the setting of that home; or at least how one integrates all of that.

We are in a wooded setting, and the house is a colonial with a gorgeous brick fireplace. Things are in good shape, but definitely worn- not bad, just have more of rustic vs shiny and newly built look.

As I had mentioned, golden oak is not my first choice for cabinets, however, they really seem to fit the house, the setting and the design. It's hard to actually imagine them different and I have some concerns about changing them, color or stain, that they will not blend so seamlessly with the rest of the house! I even think those darn arched doors seem to fit in!

As for the sink- it was my first choice. I love the look of white cast iron sinks (so freakin heavy to get home by myself!!). In some ways, I regret it practically as it is marred by my anodized pots, and the bottom needs bleach once a week to look white. It's only 4 years old!

Although the house was built in the 50's, it has the feel of a house from the 20-30's (I previously had a dutch colonial that age, and it really had the same feel to it).

I hope whatever I end up with when I am all finished will be timeless. I know, high hopes.

Thanks for the positive thoughts!!

Also, BillV? or someone had posted a link on wall color that I thought was so interesting (on another thread). Basically trying to make a dark space light did not happen with white or light paint necessarily! It was reassuring that my instinct to embrace the dark room with a deep color vs trying to lighten it with a white was not so crazy!

Wonderful job - I love the hanging pots. What grout color did you use? I am using a very similar subway tile and my last (really) decision for my kitchen is grout color.

thanks

thanks! I used delorean gray. I wanted a slightly heavier look as the room is not "delicate"!

there's a whole thread about which gray, and it seems to be a toss up between this one and the next lighter shade.

Wow, fantastic job! What a pleasant, soothing space.