Gorgeous transformation -- I especially love the floors, windows, and the wallpaper in the foyer.

Very incredible! One of the most dramatic transformations that I've seen here! It is all beautiful.

I am wondering, what is the little square door on the far wall?

Anna, glad to see the posting on Gardenweb side besides the Houzz side. I like the additional pics that you posted here.

Gardenweb users you should visit the Houzz side before and after sometimes. I originally saw this reveal there.

Just beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

I'm going to lay it right out there: the "before" was one ugly, unusable kitchen. The "after" is a dream come true. Wow :)

Love it. Beautiful. Those windows and that floor! You did an excellent job.

Yep, game over indeed. Were it not for those shots that show glimpses of your foyer, I would have sworn you were pulling our leg. May you make many happy memories in your new space.

I grew up with that linoleum pattern, it did look lovely with the harvest gold appliances. Very professional trim job. The crown is simple and proportional and let you get a lot of cabinet on the wall.

Wow!

Ditto what everybody else has said above. From incredibly ugly to fantastic!

And DIY too. I'm so impressed.

I would love to see a drawing or layout of your space, before and after. It would help me see how you got from that disaster of a kitchen to your beautifully open and bright space.

Given your starting point almost anything would be a major improvement. So I was expecting the change to be largely cosmetic, remove the brick, put down a new floor, paint the cabinets, move the pulls. Even that would have been a laudable achievement, especially done as DIY.

But you've gone far beyond "a laudable achievement". The "after" is superlative. It is beautiful, usable, workable, to the point where it would stand well in comparison to any "after" kitchen I've seen here on GW.

Thank you everyone for your kind words! Yes, our 'before' was pretty horrible. possibly worse than it even looks in the pictures. 24" stove with three working burners and the inside never fit any of our bake ware. none of the drawers inside the fridge matched, maybe they picked parts off of old refrigerators on the side of the road? parts of the countertop had been nailed down, other parts that had massive stains were painted white to cover the stains. The cast iron sink was essentially worn down to the metal, and again painted to cover it up.... i could go on and on...

bpathome you mention unusable. would you believe the previous owners had seven children, and their family of NINE ate at a table in the kitchen every day... even though there is a huge dining room adjacent to the kitchen.

jml248 ... we live near pioneer too! :)

enzaenza I struggle with this cabinet color choice. It is a VERY moody color with lots of undertones. You can see it in the the photos somewhat where the bright areas are soft and creamy other areas turn a darker gray/green/purple tone. ex. look at the cabinet above the fridge in the third after photo. I have found my color choice to be very limiting when i select other materials. I do like the way it has turned out... but i warn, this cabinet color is NOT easy. I really really really hope i don't tire of it.

raee_gw the square door is a laundry chute. one of the next steps is to do something along that wall for storage and to make the laundry chute less offensive.

jlc712 not an official box bay, but we did build the wall out 10" so the countertop could continue out behind the sink faucet. and the windows sit directly on the counter. I LOVE IT. this is probably one of my favorite things we did in the room.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KIND WORDS! :)

modellie .... I'll dig up some drawings for you later today!

Totally amazing transformation! You are an inspiration to those considering DIY. Awesome outcome!!!

Beautiful. The windows are incredible!

Diane

Beautiful! I love all of it and especially the floor and windows. And what a lovely house! Congrats and enjoy!

It's lovely :)

Fantastic! And DIY! Unbelievable. What an achievement and transformation. When people say "I'd like some brick in their kitchen", I think your "before" is not what people were thinking. (so. much. brick).

Beautiful! But you scared me with those intermediate pix that seemed to have white cabs but the same floor and backsplash. My heart was sinking. What a relief to get to the finale! I can only imagine how thrilled you must be after all those months. And DIY?! Holy Cow! Time to reap the rewards now.

AnnaP, thanks, I thought it might be -- the house I grew up in (built 1914) had those also. I love the built ins in old houses, don't think it detracts at all from the space!

My cabinet color is a complex one also (Martha Stewart 'Gull') and at first I thought that I had made a big mistake -- but as time goes on I find that I do really like the way it changes through the day from a sort of cream in the morning to almost gray in evening. But yes, the other colors have to accommodate it, and I repainted the wall and trim because my first colors weren't quite right.

Wow, it's amazing! So the little peninsula is the cabinet with the under counter microwave? Where is the fridge now? I see it is no longer in the "eating nook." I find it hard to believe what some people will live with!

I can't even...I really don't even know that there's anything left to say! It's absolutely beautiful!

Wow, that is an incredible transformation. It blows my mind to think it was DIY. You must have some serious skills! Your end result is so gorgeous, congratulations! I especially love your "moody" cabinet color!

Fantastic job!! Are the cabinets a shade of white? Kind of hard to tell. The London Grey quartz looks great with them.

LoriIntheNW's comment made me chuckle because I, too, just got to the pictures with white cabinets and white painted brick and thought "oh, no!" And then a few seconds later I saw your final kitchen and said "WOW!!!!" Awesome job.

Beautiful! I will have to look closer when I get to a computer, but from what I see here, wow. So far my favorite parts are the faucet and your floors.

i love that it's diy, and it looks so perfect. Sometimes I think diy is disparaged as likely to be a hack job, better not attempted unless you're a professional. So glad to see this!

Absolutely stunning! You've really created a perfect space! Can't wait to see how you top it off with the backsplash. Good job...

OMG - amazing work!!! absolutely gorgeous!

wowzer! seriously gorgeous, and functional, too. congrats!

But the BRICK ... the lovely exposed brick!

How could you ruin the tacky 1960s esthetic of the house by replacing all that brick?

/end sarcasm

lol, lazy gardens, I was going to post something quite similar!

A neighbor of ours in the '60s had a kitchen that wasn't far different from your before, AnnaP, except that it had carpet not vinyl floors. I thought it was so (as we said in those days) groovy! But the look doesn't age well at all.

First off, I can not believe this was DIY. Holy Cow, hats off to you and DH and your team! I have scrolled up and down several times since you posted your reveal, taking it all in.

What an amazing transformation! So many things to love! The glass knobs, the windows over the sink, the view, the mix of vintage and contemporary touches, and the overall sense of elegant serenity.

I love your cabinet color. It works so well with your floors and counters and the DR's blue walls.

Love the ceiling light. It suits your home's vintage so much better than the ceiling fan did. Are the pendants over the peninsula similar to it?

Are you planning to keep that small bit of wallpaper over the door to the stairs? I kinda dig it as a nod to one of your home's many lives.

PS I love your shoes, too. =)

Wow! Absolutely amazing! I love all of the rooms pictured as well; your dining room in that dark blue is beautiful and I adore the wallpaper in the hall (foyer?)

Here is the general idea of the floor plan, before and after.

lisa_a .... i will probably be switching out the main light which was put in as a temp light to get rid of the awful fan a few years ago. the pendants over the peninsula are also glass globes. TOO similar. Too much glass globeyness (that should be a word).
and yes... the wallpaper over the back stair is staying. GREAT eye to notice that!! :)

and yes... the wallpaper over the back stair is staying. GREAT eye to notice that!! :)

Didn't hurt that I spent quite a bit of time looking at your reveal pics, taking it all in before I finally posted. =) Love that you're keeping the wallpaper.

...glass globeyness (that should be a word).

I agree!

Amazing!!!

Ditto to the below post by amck2 Totally jaw dropping!

Thud! I couldn't believe the difference when I scrolled down to the After!

I've been following GW kitchens for years and I can't remember many reveals that were as jaw-dropping. What a great transformation. And it's a DIY?! Congrats to you for having the vision and skills to create this beautiful kitchen.

Annap, I have a very, very "first" to give you. Now, keeping in mind I've been around GW since 2004. I've looked at millions of kitchens. No joke. millions. Then Houzz was invented and I looked at trillions. Then Pinterest. Ka-zillions! My point?

For the very first time ever. EVER. I got goosebumps up my arms and legs.
I was boggling at how anyone could ever think that white and awful, depressing brick could go together. But what else could they do!? I knew immediately you were trying to brighten up that kitchen in that intermediate picture.

(Did I inspire the feet pictures!? You, demurely covering your toes with lacy little shoes!)

Then...
THEN...!

Holy moly it's absolutely gorgeous.
Not only do I live and breathe for beaded inset, I LOOOOOOOve the colors. Your finish choices are beautiful. That faucet speaks to me like no other chrome faucet has EVER spoken to me. It calls my name..."Chrrriiiiistiiinnnneee... don't be jealous. I'm taaaaaakennnn."
A complete reconfiguration! Those windows are not important, vs. in the way. An absolutely great use of space!

I'd love to see the smaller details at some point. With a kitchen like this, with so much thought, I'd like to see what you did INSIDE your spaces now.

Geeze. Two kitchens in one day that exemplify what we're all about here: Beautiful and functional spaces. And eye candy. yea. Eye candy. Or just candy. Candy will do.

MORE CANDY!

Just plain gorgeous! Love that space behind your sink. Beautiful floors. Do your shoes match your cabinet color?

CEFreeman_GW .... wow :) i am honored. I plan on finishing up all the undone details and i PROMISE a full post w/ details. stay tuned!

I look forward to it.

I realized I wasn't clear about the windows. In the 'before' they just seemed to be in the way. With the sink moved, it's like it should have always been that way.

I keep coming back to look.

Fabulous kitchen!

Amazing! I missed this post, and am so glad someone linked it to the best reveals thread. What a beautiful and functional transformation! And DIY! makes it super impressive.

How do you like your Berta range? And what color is the dining room , I love it!

What a stunning transformation! That window over the sink + that faucet = heaven! I love the "moody" color of the cabinets.

I'm so glad this got bumped up again. It's just a really nice, inspiring kitchen. Love to look at such great work!

Sorry it took me so long to respond here. mabeldingeldine, we LOVE the range! and the dining room is Sherwin Williams "Outerspace"

Still no update on tile since I last posted. I fear I may never decide. Also stuck on making some decisions with light fixtures. I may have gotten myself in a pickle with the lights, i'll post later to see what you all think.

Absolutely stunning. Love, love the colors.

I would never have been able to see past that kitchen to buy that house. What you've done is absolutely amazing. I hope you enjoy many years in that home, and that if you ever sell it I'm shopping in your area because now I could never see past that kitchen and choose another.

It's just as wonderful as everyone has said, but I have to say I would have loved it even more if the afters hadn't been shot with so much wide angle lens distortion. It's a great kitchen; it can be shown the size it really is.

Annap, don't worry about a couple of months or a couple of years, actually to make finish choices.

Really. Think about it. If you go with something that's not AH HA THAT'S IT, you'll end up changing it and wasting money.

I'm here to tell ya'.

After all. I installed reuse center cabinets.
I reconfigured, gave them away or redonated, and built most of the next set myself.
Then. I. Discovered. That. Beaded inset. SCREAMED my name.
I gave all those away/donated and started again, with yet another reconfiguration.
(Then I moved my refrigerator into the mudroom and cut off the peninsula, but kept the cabinets.)

So just take it easy and go with what you love. I think I might put a sticky on it or something, so you don't get used to it. That way, something vaguely annoying that you remember you don't like will remain a (dare i? Sticking point) something to address.

How are you enjoying those gorgeous windows?