Bippity Boppity Boo! How a Little Pixy Dust and Imagination Made This KITCHEN Spectacular Long After The Stroke Of Midnight! Part TWO

The clock struck midnight just as this plain and outdated kitchen received a fairytale makeover fit for a princess! I am excited to finally share the photos and walk you through how the new and improved kitchen was created! The first post mainly focused on the statement wall and how it was created. This post will focus on the lack of cabinets and how we created an affordable solution to not only update the cabinet color but create more cabinet space.  

I can remember when my friend Tara asked me to come take a peek at the house she was remodeling and then placing it on the market when it was finished. The house looks amazing on the outside and has great curb appeal. It is located in a great neighborhood and is quite large around 2800 square feet. When I first walked from the laundry room into the kitchen I had to take a step back. The walls had already been painted a neutral color and were no longer the burnt orange color. I had to take a step back because this large beautiful home had a kitchen that was stuck in time. When you look at the photos you can see that the first floor has super high ceilings but the kitchen cabinets are only 36" and just so small. I don't understand why the builder did not put in 42" cabinets when the house was originally built! Another problem with the kitchen was that the counter tops were the original white laminate and the cabinets were OAK.(I just have trouble even typing that word). I kept thinking to myself that with this outdated kitchen, Tara is never going to sell this house for the asking price because potential buyers will think the kitchen needs too much work and that will cost too much money. The problem with the kitchen was that there was no money for granite and no money for new cabinets. New stainless appliances and new wood look tile was already in the works so at least there was a starting point. To make a long story short, I did a lot of brainstorming on how to make the kitchen amazing and I'm pretty happy with the results. I thought of the following ideas to make the cabinets appear larger. 

1.  Add rustic wood open shelves above the cabinets. 

2.  Add a 6" piece of wood around the top and then add crown molding to make the cabinets appear about 10 inches higher. 

3.  See if ready made cabinets could be added to the top to create a double row of cabinets.  

BOOM!  As you can see from the photo above, #3 was just what we did.  Luckily, Lowes had the unfinished already assembled cabinets in stock and they fit perfectly.  They just had to be installed and stained with the AMAZING GENERAL FINISHES JAVA STAIN GEL! There was exactly 36" from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling so in theory they would fit nicely.  Wrong...  The cabinets had to be lowered just slightly to allow the new ones to be installed smoothly. Then, a piece of molding was added in between the two sets so it seemed like they belonged together.  The gel stain covered the existing oak cabinets and the new unfinished cabinets perfectly and was a match made in Heaven! 

We chose to add knobs on the doors and the bars on the drawers to coordinate with the statement wall and now this kitchen looks amazing and is ready for the real estate market!  The white laminate counter tops look like they were meant to go with this kitchen and the new potential homeowners have plenty of cabinet space with double stacked cabinets that go to the ceiling. (Oh wow, as I am editing the paragraph I noticed I am in the photo staring at the cabinets with a super serious look, LOL)

I am still to this day AMAZED by how this kitchen turned out!!

The five inch bar pulls only cost $1 ish each (Check out the first post about the statement wall to see where we got them)!

The wood look tile floor was installed throughout the entire bottom level of the home and even though the cabinets and floor are dark, they look wonderful against the while laminate counter tops and the neutral color walls. You really can't tell in the before photo but the housing around the recessed lighting was yellow because of the age of the plastic. Cookie made a great template and spray painted them crisp white so now they look brand new! Did I mention that this home was only on the market for less than a week and sold at asking price? The total cost of the new cabinets on the top row was around $300. That price even includes a set of cabinets that were placed in the laundry room as well.  The General Finishes Gel Stain was around $80 for the gallon and the memories that many of us shared painting the cabinets and all of the other projects together are priceless! I cant wait to help out with another project!  

I absolutely love being given a design problem and figuring out different ways to solve it in an economical way that gives you the biggest bang for your buck and of course has a WOW factor like the statement wall achieved!  In design, I always believe that you don't have to spend a ton of money to make something look fabulous, it is just how you design it and put it all together!  

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Orlando, Florida area, give Tara a call! Click her photo be taken to her 

Millenium Realty Group Facebook Page! 

Start Small- Great Design Takes Time- Enjoy!