Well do I ever have a beautiful before-and-after feast-for-your-eyes today! It’s coming to you courtesy of the very talented Jae of Design OCD. (Also, is Design OCD a real thing? Because I think I’ve been afflicted. And I don’t think there’s a cure. And watch out, because it might be contagious!)

I’m Jae, from Design OCD, and I am super excited to be here. This is actually my first guest post!

We recently remodeled our kitchen and I’m not exaggerating when I say it has been life changing! We added functionality and eliminated wasted space. It’s also just so much prettier now.

For this remodel, we completely gutted the room but saved money by reusing most of the appliances. The stove, oven, and refrigerator all remain from the old space. The dishwasher is our only new appliance.

But before we get into how it all changed, let’s first take a look at how it looked before.

We had solid wood cabinets from the mid 1980s that we had painted a few years back. There were a lot of cabinet doors packed into a small area. The cabinets were showing their age and several drawers were broken and not working at all. We didn’t have a place to put the microwave so it took up all the counter space next to the pantry.

The stove was on a peninsula with upper cabinets above it that completely cut off the room, blocking light and conversation from the breakfast area.

For this remodel, we completely gutted the room by taking out everything seen above. We saved money by reusing the appliances, consolidating vendors, and doing some of the work ourselves.

We chose Shaker style cabinetry made of solid maple finished in white. The new cabinet doors are tall, going all the way to the ceiling. One of my favorite features of the new cabinets is the pullout bins (for both the spices and the trash).

We chose kashmir white granite for the counter tops. We extended the counter top 12 inches beyond the peninsula cabinet base to create a seated bar area. I also added a small wine cooler behind the stove.

We freed up counter space by moving the microwave up (the one pictured is the one we already had and will be replaced eventually).

We used Carrera marble for the backsplash and extended the tile to include the area above the window. I painted the window black but left the trim white and added a seeded pendant glass light directly above the sink.

The breakfast area was updated with a new color and curtains.

This remodel was completely finished in about 4 weeks. I am so pleased with the new space! For more details, you can view the individual posts on the entire kitchen remodel here.

Thank you Kelly, and View Along the Way readers, for the opportunity to share!
-J

Can you believe they worked that magic in just 4 weeks?! I love the black window, the pendant, the backsplash! Okay, I’m a little bit in love with every detail. What’s your favorite part of Jae’s fabulous kitchen? Don’t forget to swing by her blog and check out the rest of the beauty she creates!