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Design Dilemma Kitchens

Need help with kitchen reno inspiration

Elizabeth Austin

last year

I just bought my first house and love the layout and bones of the kitchen but am not wild about the coloring/design. It's not terrible just not my vibe. I am looking to do some minor renovations to make the kitchen feel more modern but don't want to put too much money into the kitchen as I'm hoping to be able to add an addition and refinish the kitchen in a few years. Any ideas on simple ideas for an upgrade? May changing the pulls? If we wanted to go the route of painting cabinets what color? Concern with the bright tile floor and don't want it to look more orange.

Also, there is a walk-in pantry that we are currently renovating. We are getting some refurbished cabinets and will paint them + beverage fridge and shelving. Ideally, the finishes I use in the pantry will work with the kitchen. I like the eclectic look so am comfortable if the pantry and kitchen aren't perfectly aligned.

kitchen looking into the walk-in pantry

color of tile + cabinets + countertop

detail of counter top

better look at current pulls

Comments (3)

PRO
RL Relocation LLC
last year
Just a couple thoughts, I would start with painting the walls, . i would also change out the light bulbs, this is a good read for you. I wouldn't change the cabinet color to much work not enough worth, Id take out the pantry wall before I painted the cabinets lol. you could update the cabinet pulls but I say live with it for a couple months and see if you really still think that.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6007842/wall-color-with-orange-tile-floors

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1304095/perfect-paint-color-for-orange-tone-tile-floor
Elizabeth Austin
Original Author
last year
Super helpful! I really appreciate the input! I plan to start with painting the walls white and go from there. Love the idea of taking out the pantry wall. Not on my immediate to do list but high on the wish list. Thank you!
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From a countertop fabricator/installer's point of view. If you add new countertops to the existing cabinets, no problem there. The potential issues arise if and when you decide to get all new cabinets and want to use the new countertops. You'll have to get the same fabricator to remove the tops from your original cabinets and then re-install them unto the new cabinets. Other fabricators will not want to take this on as it is fraught with issues. We get asked all the time to do this and we always politely decline. Material breaks, sizing can be off on the new cabinets compared to the original. You would have to keep the cabinet footprint exactly the same and hope it all re-installs perfectly. More often than not homeowners who have done this wind up buying all new countertops, thus doubling your cost for this one portion of your project. Best of luck with your project.
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Carly, you should first find out what needs to be done to remove that wall... Not to mention you can't go by other pictures, you have to do a current layout of space you have, i.e. kitchen + dinette area + dining room with the right dimensions, etc to see what you have and what you end up with after that wall is removed. Your best bet is to contact someone local, a GC who specialized in kitchen remodelings, or a kitchen distributor rep from a local kitchen showroom and see what they can come up with... or you can locate a drafter who can do a 3D schematic layout who knows about kitchen design, etc this way you can visualize the outcome and make any changes. To give you an example, I did this for one of my customers a while back. They also wanted to see what can be done if the wall separating their kitchen and dining room was removed. This is the existing kitchen if an update and direct cabinet replacement were done. This is the layout with the wall removed. Good luck
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herbflavor
last year
if the hulking fridge were replaced w a better french door fridge and pushed away from the wall you could actually do something with the opening to pantry and probably add quite a bit of focus and a door would serve a purpose too. what is the space to the left of fridge for/ with stuff sitting on the floor....you want a galley kitchen to be fitted seamlessly. heres an interesting set of doors . I wouldnt remove the wall anyway right now.
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