Well well well….looks like I’ve done it again. Done what, you ask? Thrown a major curveball and pulled a switcharoo!
Long story short, in 2017 we built what we thought was going to be our forever home. But, as they often do, minds change, and in January of 2021 we sold our beloved “forever home” to my parents. And here’s the craziest part of the story…we turned around and bought their house.
So now I, along with my family, live in my childhood home! There’s a long-ish backstory to be told as to why on Earth we did such a thing, but that will have to come in a later post because for right now I have to show you the transformation in my “new” kitchen!
So here’s the kitchen in my childhood home. It’s so hard/weird/confusing to call this MY kitchen because for my whole life, this has been MY MOM’S kitchen. It’s where she dutifully prepared supper every.single.night growing up. It’s where she lovingly baked apple pies and birthday cakes for all of us kids and then for the grandkids. It’s where she stood and wrapped Christmas gifts for HOURS every single Christmas Eve night. I have so many warm and happy memories in this kitchen, HER kitchen.
But now that it’s MY kitchen, I had go about making it my own. And I’ll be honest, it was not quite as simple as I thought it would be. I’ve never considered myself to be all that sentimental, and usually it takes quite a lot to move me to tears. But changing what my folks spent nearly their whole life building, creating, making, loving, living in proved to be way more emotional for me than I even care to admit. Even now as I sit here typing this post, I can’t help but choke back the tears that won’t stop (and I’m sure my mom is crying as she reads this too).
Okay, okay, this was really just supposed to be a before and after post with lots of photos! Let’s go…
The Before
My dad is one of those wood purists who thinks that painting Oak is tragic 😂 How lucky is he that his daughter receives her greatest joy from painting most everything?!
**NOTE: We aren’t fully finished with this space! This update is meant to tide me over until we can do a more extensive remodel in the future. I felt like I had to do these updates now so that I didn’t become depressed in a sea of dark wood. So, I’m calling this the after…but y’all should know by now, a finished “after” is something unattainable for me! *Sources linked at bottom of post!
The After
The Details
As you can probably tell, the doors and drawers look different. We hired a local carpenter to make new doors and drawers for us because the old ones had certainly seen better days. I know it might look like they were in good shape, but just trust me, they weren’t.
We also had him remove the scrolled cabinet face frame around the window, install a new vent hood surround and add chunkier crown molding!
Here’s what it looked like after the new pieces were put on but before I painted everything.
The existing cabinet frames are made of Oak, and the new doors are made of Poplar with MDF panels. In order for the two different woods to match after they were painted (ie: Oak has visible grain and the new pieces do not), I filled the grain on the frames.
In case you ever find yourself needing to know how to fill wood grain before painting, you can sign up for my free grain filling mini course here! And as always, if you want to download a free paint supply list so you’ll know everything you need to paint your own cabinets like a pro, click here to send it straight to your device!
The Sources
- Upper Cabinet Color: Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Lower Cabinet/Pantry Color: Benjamin Moore Berkshire Beige
- Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Natural Choice
- Cabinet Drawer Pulls
- Cabinet Door Knobs
- Backsplash: Beadboard paintable wallpaper, painted in Simply White
- Countertop: Carrara Bianco Laminate
- Window Blinds: Premier Woven Shades From Select Blinds (color Agava) – LOVE THEM!
- White Curtains: IKEA Ritva
- Rug: Vintage find from @lovelyvintagerugco
- Barstools: Wayfair
Shop The Post
This space is SO different from the kitchen at our other house! I do miss that other kitchen, but this one is good too:) What say you? Which one do you like better?
Until next time, xo
Kayla
It looks soooo good, Kayla!!!! AMAZING transformation!!!!! 🙌🙌
Thanks so much, Kara! xo
Just stunning and your words made me 😭.
Thanks Ann. I had so much more I could’ve said, but this is all I could muster. Seems I getting soft. And not just in the middle. xo
Smiling thru tears for you and your dear mother. I’m an old lady now, and when my baby girl is happy, my heart is happy, even when she’s changing something of mine or my mothers. Life goes on. What you’ve done is beautiful.
Looks SOOOO good!! I can’t imagine redoing the house that I grew up in.
Thanks girl! It was a trip for sure! xo
Kayla, you did an amazing job! I love it!
Thanks girl!!
How fantastic that you’re living in your childhood home. ❤️ So many memories you can now share with yourself children. And you get a chance to redo and make it your own. Oh how I want a fixer upper. My hubby rolls his eyes every time I even mention it. 😂
The kitchen looks great. Enjoy and I can’t wait to see more. 🙂
Thanks Do! You 100% need a fixer upper lol…just DO it! xo
The kitchen is the heart of your home. It’s amazing from every angle.
Thank you Sandi! xo Kayla
Your “new” familiar kitchen looks wonderful. Enjoy evolving your home just as your folks did. Also, where does your energy come from?
It might look like I have lots of energy from the outside, but I really don’t. Just ask my husband lol….I require lots of naps. I’m like a cat lol. Thanks so much for your comment!! xo Kayla
What a great job! I live in my childhood home as well, so I know all the feels! I couldn’t have done what I did without your course! Great job and thank you for all you do!
Right, all the feels! I’m so glad the course helped you make your “new” home feel like it’s truly yours now:) Thanks for sharing, Amy! xo Kayla
The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful white secretary with the leopard fabric (I recognize it from your blog!). Glad it’s found a place in your “new” home. And fabulous job with the kitchen! Much more modern and bright.
Kayla, did you use the revere pewter at full strength color or did you have it at a percentage? Thinking about this for cabinets in my son’s rental house. He used PPG shark on the walls but the backsplash has beiges in it.
I am so very happy for you ! What a wonderful idea ,parents downsizing and you gain more footage ,I assume . I have 2 questions :Do you find it difficult to load /unload dishwasher with cabinet above ? Assuming some dishes are kept in that cabinet .
What is the length of your island from backsplash to end ?
Thank you so much for all your tips !
Love the transformation. I just finished repainting my kitchen cabinets. It’s such a brighter kitchen now. 🙂 I’ve spent numerous hours researching bamboo window treatments. Can you tell me where you ended up getting yours? They look great and it’s exactly what I want. I appreciate it.
OMG sorry, I just saw where you posted them. Ugh, sorry. Thanks again!!