Dear Danica, My Dated Kitchen Needs A Mini Makeover. What Would You Do?
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The kitchen is arguably the most expensive room in the home to renovate, which is why light makeovers and temporary improvements are a common necessity. Today I’m stepping into the kitchen of two very different homes – one is a Bungalow built by her great-grandparents, the other is an 1850s house in France. Both homeowners want to do a light kitchen makeover and are looking for guidance on what to change versus what to keep. Let’s dive in!
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Dear danica,
I live in a bungalow that was originally built by my great grandparents. [We] likely won’t be able to do major renos for approximately 3-5 years. That said, I’d love your advice regarding how I could update my kitchen on a budget to help improve its appearance. What color would you paint the cabinets? Would you change the counter top to something else budget friendly. It’s currently a wood look laminate. Would you change the tile backsplash? Should I build something to hide the side of the oven? The flooring is being replaced with narrow plank oak hardwood as we speak and should be completed in the next week or so.
– Hannah
How cool that you are living in your great-grandparents’ home! That’s incredibly special. You may think I’m silly, but I definitely would not paint the cabinets. The wood tone is beautiful and it naturally exudes charm – something that’s often missing in new and painted cabinetry. Even the soffit, decorative trim, hardware, and H hinges (which are highly sought after) are incredibly charming. Your great-grandparents did a wonderful job.
The elements that are dating your kitchen are the floors, the countertop, and the window. Replacing the floors with oak hardwood will be a wonderful update. I also like your idea of building another cabinet next to the stove, assuming you can match the existing wood species and stain color. Line up the new cabinet with the edge of the upper cabinets to keep it tidy. A new drop-in sink and faucet would be a fairly easy update too.
In the long term, just a few additional changes will make a big impact. Soapstone countertops would be a fitting replacement. (I wouldn’t bother replacing the existing countertops with a budget-friendly option in the short term. Just save up for the good stuff!) Love the size of the window, but it would be greatly improved with double-hung windows. Windows in historic Bungalow houses generally have a divided lite upper sash and a single lite lower sash. 3 or 4 windows side by side would update the kitchen wonderfully. From the photos, it’s hard to say if the backsplash is either perfectly fitting for the style or dated. It really could go either way. With the other changes, I think the existing tile could become incredibly charming.
Other changes I’d recommend – roman shades or cafe curtains (a neutral backdrop with a colorful pattern would be my pick) would complement the wood tone wonderfully while softening all the hard surfaces. Updated appliances would make a big impact as well. I personally would stay away from stainless steel, but everyone has their own preferences. But honestly, the bones of the kitchen are what make it so charming and I would lean into keeping most of it as is.
Dear danica,
We live in a house in France from 1850. The kitchen is lovely but needs a spruce. As we are changing the floors we might also want to renovate the cabinets. We would like to go dark but we are utterly confused. Could you help us?
– Daniela
Your home is lovely! The texture of the walls and the beams are just delicious! It seems as though there’s a strong pull between the original 1850 character and modern adaptations. As far as flooring, I would choose either limestone or a similar (light colored) natural stone. This would honor the architecture of the home and would blend well with the existing modern elements.
The construction of the full overlay cabinets naturally leans modern. Even if you remove all other modern touches from the kitchen, the cabinet fronts make enough of an impact on the space that the kitchen will always have a modern touch. If you like that, perfect. If not, swapping to inset cabinets would remove the modern edge.
Currently, there’s a lot of emphasis on the drawer pulls on the island. I would replace all the hardware (on the island and perimeter cabinets) with 2-3 different styles of knobs, bin pulls, and/or latches in a matching finish. On your island specifically, you could have fun with it. Maybe a row of bin pulls on the highest drawers, and then knobs on all lower drawers. As far as what finish to choose, antique brass or bronze would be my recommendation.
With limestone floors, you could do a dark paint color on the cabinets and still have a fairly bright kitchen. That said, a dark color will further enhance the modern feel. I personally would look at mid-tone colors in the green family. French Gray by Farrow & Ball is a personal favorite of mine, and it complements both brass and black accents nicely.
For those of you who are also planning a kitchen makeover, I shared care & maintenance guides for the 6 most popular countertop materials here. A designer friend of mine gave her insight on where to save vs splurge in a kitchen remodel in this article. And I’ve addressed a plethora of kitchen-related design dilemmas here. Happy reading and happy renovating! 🙂
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