Dramatic Kitchen Makeover

I found this dramatic makeover of a kitchen that went from drab to amazing on Designed with Carla Aston. Her story originally appeared several years ago in the Kitchens and Baths magazine. Her challenge was to take builder standard oak cabinets and make them look good.  Well, let me tell you, she did more than make them look good! Since I like to work with what I already have because I am frugal and try to be a good steward, I see this as a great example of how you can make drastic changes without ripping everything out and starting over.

Here is the Before Picture of the Kitchen that is Wall to Wall Oak Cabinets.

Carla was right about the cabinets being standard. After 2 years of looking for a house to buy in our area, the before picture looks like many of the houses we went through. Nice and usable, but nothing to get excited about. Yet, to find cabinets in good shape is a good feature when buying a house. But too often we just don't know what to do to update them and make do. Her improvements are amazing and quite inspirational. It just takes vision.

Here is the After Picture of the Kitchen with a New, Updated Look.

 

I think if this were my kitchen you would have a really hard time getting me to leave. Seriously, isn't this just beautiful?  Check out her site to get the whole story here.

It goes without saying that it is a tremendous task to take what you have that you are not satisfied with and make it beautiful. To me that is what is so rewarding about a DIY home. Anyone can call up a builder or designer and say, "Rip it out and give me new." But too often we spend money out of laziness or a lack of vision. This designer took what the home owner already had, took into consideration what they wanted, and created a new look. Beautiful.

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” ~Will Smith

Question of the day: Do you try to impress anyone?