Before and After

My Kitchen…

A year ago I updated my 1953 mid-century kitchen. I’m glad I did this after living in my home for a while. Because I wouldn’t have realized how we utilized the spaces in our kitchen. This is the main benefit of delaying a remodel until your home has been lived in for a bit.

The kitchen had red formica countertops and was U-shaped. I’m usually not into tearing down cabinets etc. However times have changed in the kitchen. Now helping in the kitchen is a family affair compared to 1950 when only a woman was in the kitchen.

There was a breakfast nook behind that. I liked it however my partner and son refused to eat there. It’s a little shoved back in the corner. We really didn’t use the space at all.

Before & After photos of my kitchen mid-century kitchen:

(Before left & After right)

 So much bigger now!

 Re-used the lower cabinet for cohesive look.

 Re-purposed my upper cabinets for this shelf.

 Added dishwasher & upper rounded shelfs.

 Not many changes here.

 Added on wooden corner shelves for more cohesiveness.

My problem…

A common problem of finding and choosing materials. I was stumped and could not decide on what counter top to choose. I didn’t want a full white kitchen and didn’t want to choose a color say blue (for backsplash) just because I didn’t know what color to choose. I wanted everything to be intentional.

After consulting with a friend who is experienced in interior design. Finally I got some good advice. She suggested to go with a bright color for my counter tops. I told her I had a lot of stainless steel in my kitchen and she suggested yellow. Because it goes well with gray/stainless steel. I would have never thought of yellow in a million years and I love the color!

Then I thought where would I find yellow countertops. She opened my mind to search beyond granite and quartz. Then I thought of the idea to do epoxy countertops! With epoxy any color can be chosen because its paint then a layer of epoxy on top. After figuring this out my mindset shifted and everything just flowed.

How I saved myself $10,000 on this mid-century kitchen remodel

Aside from me being happy with the outcome I saved myself around $10,000! Granite/quartz would have ran me about $5,000 and another $5,000 to get them installed. Wood and epoxy is a lot more affordable. Surprisingly I haven’t seen many people doing this.

Now

Walking into the kitchen now no one could ever tell that it was a remodel. It looks like my kitchen was meant to be this way and that is my biggest boast for this room. I also learned from my friend that should be the goal. To not even be sure or realize that someone remodeled. And I couldn’t agree more!

A small pet peeve I have is when walking into a beautiful plantation style home here and they re-d0 the kitchen super modern. Something just doesn’t feel quite right.

New benefits to our kitchen:

~ More counter space and space in general.

~ More storage

~ Dishwasher

~ An affordable remodel by using wood countertops and keeping my cabinets

~ A seating area that doesn’t feel closed off and where we can sit

~ Its timeless!