It’s One Room Challenge time again my friends and this go-round I’m tackling a project I’ve been wanting to get to since we moved into our house 3 1/2 years ago. The kitchen! Although this will not be a gut remodel, I will spend the next eight weeks transforming my dated kitchen into a warm and colorful place to gather.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, The One Room Challenge™ is a biannual interior design blog and Instagram event. In each round, twenty design influencers are selected to take the challenge as Featured Designers, and transform a space and any blogger or Instagrammer can join as ORC Guest participants by linking their own room transformation each week. Every Wednesday, the designers document their process while sharing their sources and professional advice over eight weekly posts.
I will be posting every week until the final reveal to keep you up to date on how the project is going.
WEEK 1 (You are here) / WEEK 2 / WEEK 3 / WEEK 4 / WEEK 5 / WEEK 6 / WEEK 7 / WEEK 8 – REVEAL
As we go along, be sure to check out other ORC Featured Designers and Guest Participants over at The One Room Challenge!
I also want to give a big thanks Lights.com and Amerock for gifting products to help complete this project.
Now let’s talk about the project.
The Existing Kitchen
When we bought the house, the kitchen looked like the photo below. This was not the original 1973 kitchen but an early 1990’s remodel so it’s about time it had some updating.
This kitchen included lots of green on the walls and countertops, white appliances, and white Thermofoil cabinets. Thermofoil is a thin layer of vinyl that is vacuum-pressed onto cabinet doors and drawer fronts, which are typically constructed of medium-density fiberboard (MDF). The problem? Over time Thermofoil, especially near heat, often fails and mine are failing for sure.
After moving in we did a few very basic updates. We painted the walls to neutralize some of the green and added a couple of open shelves.
I also tiled my backsplash a while back but other than that the kitchen has not changed much.
What Must Change
The kitchen is improved but the cabinets continue to peel and there are a few things we just don’t like that are due for a change.
- Remove peeling Thermofoil
- Update lighting, fluorescent light must go!
- Remove over range microwave and replace with a hood.
What Stays
- Lower cabinets
- Countertops, except for the bar top
- Floors
- Appliances with th expetion of the over range microwave.
- My yellow bar stools (affiliate)
- Hex tile back splash
The Plan
For this kitchen update, I am planning to do a mostly cosmetic remodel. One day down the road I would love to do a total gut job remodel so I am trying to keep big-ticket items to those I can use again. My goal is to add color and warmth to a kitchen which right now seems all one note..
To create more depth, I am planning to use warm wood tones on the open shelving and gold accents on the hardware. I also want to ramp up the color with some fun wallpaper that complements our existing yellow stools and Sherwin Williams Tradewind blue wall paint and paint the lower cabinets a darker version of this color. I’m thinking blue cabinets and lemons right now, but it could go in any direction if the right paper turns up.
The over the range microwave will be removed and replaces with a stand-alone range hood with the fan in the attic. This is my husband’s only request a powerful quiet exhaust. We will keep the hex backsplash and extend it up behind the hood to the ceiling.
We have a walk-in pantry and plenty of storage, so I’d like to expand the space some with open shelving in a warm wood tone butcherblock. I’ll also be using the butcherblock to replace the bar top using a more modern waterfall edge like the one shown below.
I’m planning to add a soffit to the uppers that remain so they will reach the ceiling and add height. I haven’t decided if these will go blue as well or remain white. I will have to build one out and add an appliance garage below to house the microwave.
The lighting will also be getting a makeover. I’ll remove the fluorescent ceiling light and replace it with recessed LEDs for overall lighting and add new pendants and sconces for ambient lighting.
This will be a pretty big project but since we have everyone coming to our house for Thanksgiving, once it gets started it has to get done. Here is the To-Do List…Wish me luck!
The To Do list
- Demo cabinets
- Peel Thermofoil and paint cabinets
- Run new electrical for lighting and hood
- Reinstall cabinet and drawer fronts
- Repair Drywall
- Paint ceiling
- Install new tile behind hood and on bar front
- Build out soffit and microwave cabinet
- Paint hood
- Install hood
- Trim out soffit and repair crown molding
- Install bar top
- Install floating shelves
- Install cabinet hardware
- Install wallpaper
Really looking forward to seeing this fun kitchen design come to life