I absolutely love a good before and after when it comes to home makeovers, and today’s kitchen remodel almost literally knocked my socks off! See for yourself.
I live 10 hours away from where I grew up, so I don’t get to see my parents and siblings very often. But I chat with them frequently over the phone. My mom seemed to talk nonstop, a few months back, about how much she wanted to update her kitchen. They’ve lived in the home for just shy of 20 years. The oak cabinets were yellow and she was in desperate need of a new oven hood. She also wanted to add hardware onto the cabinets. After looking through tons of home magazines, she made a glorious plan, which my handy-man, do-it-yourself-kind-of-dad was very (I can’t emphasize it enough) reluctant to carry out because of all the time and labor it would entail. In other words, only a miracle would get her a new kitchen. 🙂
Ironically, just a short time later, my dad was re-shingling the roof one weekend, and before he finished, a huge rainstorm hit and flooded their kitchen. We’re talking waterfall-through-the-ceiling, dry-wall-crashing type of stuff. Sound awful? Yes, definitely. But my mom certainly didn’t see it that way. It was her miracle.
So here’s their beautiful new kitchen, all thanks to a terrible, but wonderful bout of rain and a very inconvenient or conveniently-timed (depending on who you ask) roofing update.
Here’s the contraption that my dad set up to hold the ceiling up after the rain water soaked the drywall. Also, take note of the scalloped border by the window on the far left, because that’s about to go.
And here’s their kitchen area right after he began the remodel. My dad built and installed Shaker-style cabinets (as per my mom’s request) to the ceiling, leaving a few spaces open for glass fronts to display pretty dishware.
Notice the sad-looking oven hood here and the chicken on the counter. Nice. 🙂
My dad installed a new, stainless steel oven hood and added brushed nickel hardware knobs and pulls to the cabinets. He removed the scalloped decor piece above the sink and added a clock there. He also took out a large fluorescent fixture in the kitchen area and added in recessed lighting. He put a frame around the window over the sink as well.
The upper cabinets and pantry were all painted in Vanilla Milkshake by Benjamin Moore, and the peninsula and lower cabinets were painted with French Gray by Farrow and Ball in semi-gloss (they color-matched it in Behr using 888-511-1121). Next on my mom’s list is to replace the refrigerator with a stainless steel model…as soon as their current one gives out.
I’m so glad they emailed these pictures so we all could enjoy today’s fabulous kitchen remodel story. It’s pretty drastic and amazing!
So what do you think?
Are you going to make any home updates soon or maybe you’re in the process now? Do tell!
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