Young House Love

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Ripping Up Carpet And Renovating A White Kitchen

When Barbara sent us her almost-too-good-to-be-true before and after photos we couldn’t wait to share the eye candy. Here’s her letter:

I have been enjoying your blog and thought I would send over my most recent remodeling project. My parents bought a home that was built in the 70’s and gave me and my husband the project of remodeling it. Here are the before and after pictures of the kitchen. As you can see this home stayed in the 70’s until about a few months ago. Dark seemed to play a theme in the entire house. And wanna know what was hiding beneath all that brown carpet? Beautiful wood floors. We were so excited! Here are a few things we did to get the room into this decade:

  • Cabinetry was semi-custom. We had a budget to work within so we went with cabinets from a company that worked out of China they are called HQ cabinets
  • Countertops are from Contempo and done in Premium Black Granite
  • Paint color is Glidden’s Lemon Ice
  • Barstools are Ingolf from Ikea
  • Clock is from Ikea

Thanks so much for the great site! I hope you enjoy these before and after photos- it was a lot of work but well worth it! – Barbara

Here are the dark and dingy before photos:

RR Kitchen Before2

RR Kitchen Before

And here’s the kitchen now, after some major updating:

RR Kitchen After2

RR Kitchen After

Is that not an amazing makeover? Especially since Barbara and her husband had such a great DIY approach and fearlessly ripped up that terrible carpet to uncover amazing wood floors. And of course we love that affordable Glidden paint and inexpensive Ikea furnishings helped to transform the space. It looks like a million bucks in there! Thanks so much for sharing your photos Barbara! What do you guys think? Is it not amazing what a little updating can do? What’s your favorite part? I’m torn between the glass fronted doors and the amazing pendant lamps over the peninsula…

Comments

  5. Sandra says

    Job well done! I can’t access the cabinet company’s website (the page it leads to says that this IP isn’t allowed to browse there, and no I’m not at work!) but I’m dying to know how much you had to spend on them to get that beautiful result.

    Reply

  10. Ashley M. [at] (never home)maker says

    This is such an incredible before and after — I’m really impressed with their work! I especially like the lighting fixtures they went with. Very classy!

    Also — it’s nice to see someone else also had carpeting in their kitchen area! We thought we were the only ones :)

    Reply

  11. Jill Stigs says

    Love love love it! I have a soft spot for white cabs, black counters and wood floors so this just sings to me!

    Fantastic job. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey everyone,

      So glad you’re loving Barbara’s kitchen makeover! We’re hoping she’ll stop in to answer any and all questions soon so stay tuned…

      xo,
      s

  13. Kari says

    Under cabinet lighting is my favorite!!!! This kitchen is breath taking. Absolutely phenomenal. I LOVE the stark color contrasts and the shade of yellow is absolutely perfect. However, thinking about a yellow kitchen takes me back to the colorology post a while back…yellow kitchen=more fights? Maybe they could test this? Although, who would want to fight in that magnificent kitchen?!?!

    Reply

  14. Jenny @ Words On Wendhurst says

    So fresh and clean! I love the redo, and how light and airy everything looks! I wonder if it is hard to keep clean? :-) Also, a yellow kitchen, should we ask them if they argue in the kitchen all the time! ;-)
    Just kidding, beautiful remodel.

    Reply

  16. TheClassyWoman says

    WOW!!! This kitchen is amazing and because it’s my personal style I love it even more! ;)

    They did a FAB job and am so glad they found the treasure of hardwood under the carpet. My hubby inherited a 1959 built house that his grandparents lived in. While growing up he got used to the hideous green shag carpeting, after they passed away, he repainted and ripped up all the ugly carpet to reveal beautiful hardwood too!

    While it’s a shame the grandparents seemed to care more for the carpet than the hardwood, our floors look near pristine and shiny because they have only been used for about 8 years total. :)

    Reply

  18. Elisa says

    Could their kitchen be any more perfect?! I LOVE it. My favorite part is the big Ikea clock on the back wall of the dining room. Such a nice touch. And those cabinets… so much storage space. Oh and that dark granite countertop… Do I need to say again that I LOVE IT??

    Reply

  19. AlexisS says

    Love it! When I read the description of “Lemon Ice” paint and black granite countertops, I could only picture a taxi cab, but the results are beautiful!!! I never would have paired pale yellow walls with black granite, but then again my kitchen is not this cute!

    Reply

  21. meredith says

    wow, awesome awesome makeover!!

    i love the combination of the white cabinets, dark countertops, and stainless steel appliances. keeps it super clean and streamlined. love it!!! great job!!!

    Reply

  23. Natalie says

    Congrats, Barbara, on such a beautiful renovation! I agree with the previous raves about the pendant lighting and under cabinet lighting – I have actually been thinking about attempting both in my kitchen. I’d love to hear about the pendant lights and the install process for the under-cabinet lights! Also, where is that great dining table from?!

    Reply

  24. Erin T. says

    What a great job! I’m curious where the pendant lights came from. I’m shopping for pendants for my kitchen re-do.

    Reply

  26. Christin says

    Wow. That is a STUNNING make over. Absolutely incredible. That is like me dream kitchen! I really love the cabinets and how a couple have glass doors. Really, really, incredible. Bravo!

    Reply

  28. Tracey says

    I’m in love with this whole kitchen! If/when I ever am lucky enough to own my own home this is a huge inspiration for me.

    Reply

  30. Angela says

    I just painted our cabinets white and my husband has wanted black granite countertops but I was unsure. This makeover has me sold on the idea, and now we have inspiration for lighting too. The kitchen looks amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  34. Carrie says

    What a great makeover. We are about to undertake something similar soon and I hope ours turns out half as well, and with our marriage not ending in divorce! Just one question for Barbara or anyone else who might know- where did you find the organization stuff on the wall by the doorway? I have been looking for something exactly like that but don’t want to drop a couple hundred dollars at Pottery Barn.

    Reply

  35. Chelsea says

    Beautiful! I’m currently in the throes of a kitchen remodel myself, and it looks like I’ve made many of the same choices Barbara did for her kitchen (except a light khaki color instead of yellow paint). Seeing this remodel confirms that I have definitely made the right choices for mine! I can only hope mine turns out half as good as hers! Lovely job. :)

    Reply

  37. Autumn says

    So so wonderful lookingin there. Hoping that these will inspire my hubby and encourage him not to be scared when we eventually look at houses that have…potential.

    Reply

  38. staceys says

    Love the pendant lights, they look like the swanky schoolhouse electric ones. Really well done makeover. Made that old gal sing again!

    Reply

  40. Joshua says

    I LOVE THIS RENOVATION!!!!!!

    Reminds me of what we have done recently in our kitchen…..painted the cabinets white, nice new black countertops, sink, etc…..Now if we could just finish the floors, a custom cabinet for above the fridge and last but not least new lighting. I love the recessed lighting, we have cathedral ceilings so we can’t have that, but it looks fabulous….Kudos Barbara and your husband….I too am interested in the budget :D

    Reply

  44. Rose @ The Art of Dealing says

    LOVE this makeover. I’m saving it as inspiration for our some day kitchen makeover. Thanks for sharing this Barbara! I think my parents had the same dark brown carpet in one of the houses we lived in – but that was just in the den. The rest of the house had some swanky shaggy green carpet with matching curtains.

    Reply

  46. Barbara says

    WOW! Made my day to see our kitchen on this site, and for all of your great comments!

    Alright lets answer some questions…

    -My parents DO have a great daughter. BUT… I also have the best parents. Not only did they let us remodel this place, but we are the lucky ones that get to live here ‘rent free’ for a couple of years too

    -kitchen and more fights? Hmm… never knew about this one. I dont think so, but I’ll keep that in mind next time I have a fight in there. lol.

    -I went for a solid black granite countertop. It shows crumbs easier, but I dont mind because I always love a clean countertop! The look is totally worth it in my mind.

    -Believe it or not the dining room table is a hand me down from my brother Stephan. I am guessing they purchased it from RC WILLEY (its a very popular furniture store here in UT).

    -Pendant lighting was an Ebay find. I love the pendants too, I’ve always wanted a kitchen with a schoolhouse flare to it.

    -The organizing stuff by the doorway is a white board from walmart with a picture frame ledge as the marker caddy, and the chalkboard is from Ikea. I love the potterybarn organizing stuff too it was my way of recreating it all without the cost.

    -I’ll see if I can go crunch some numbers again and give you the total on the kitchen remodel. We did the entire 3000 sq. ft home remodel just under 50 thousand. But I’m not sure what the kitchen came out too. I’ll keep ya’ll updated when I find that out…

    Thanks again for all the great comments!

    Reply

  47. Jessaca says

    Wow, what an awesome makeover. I love the white cabinets! It’s such a refreshing space. I was in need of some barstool ideas for my new home. Did they paint them white?

    Reply

  49. Barbara says

    Actually, the barstools come in white! I was worried about keeping them clean, but they are really easy to wipe down and take the beating of my two toddlers really well. And for only $60, we’ve been really happy so far.

    Reply

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