Maker projects

Kitchen renovation

Short but sweet
Duration
Dec 20, 2022
-
now
Mar 19, 2024
Type of project
Hobby
Tags
Research
Learnt skills
Concepting
Critical thinking
Planning
Client communication
Key work

In 2022, I put my hand to more permanent renovations for the first time, namely: a kitchen! When I started living in my current apartment, I knew that the dark grey kitchen with mismatching black top cabinets, didn't suit my style at all. That, combined with a tiny tile backsplash that didn't reach to the top cabinets, made me want to make some changes. I'm super happy with the result. The kitchen is now one of my favourite places in the apartment and blends perfectly with the rest of my living room!

Project images
No pictures found.
The first picture shows the kitchen as it was when I moved into my apartment. The others show some of the process towards the end result. I especially had a hard time deciding on the colour of the tiles.
Method
The left side of the kitchen.
The right side of the kitchen.

Since the kitchen is the part of the living room that receives the least natural light, I wanted to make the space feel more bright. The bones of the kitchen were all great, so I kept all the cabinets on the bottom part of the kitchen and replaced all fronts with a more modern, matte white and wooden black handles. The shiny black top cabinets didn't provide a lot of space, so I replaced them with higher, white cabinets. I decided to place three of those, so that I would have space to hang two wooden wall shelves that would go around the corner. I wanted the open shelving so I could display some of my favourite kitchen items. Later, I decided to install three growing lights. During the spring and summer months, I started growing my own herbs and vegetables and the top wooden shelf provides the perfect space to grow those!

Since the kitchen is the part of the living room that receives the least natural light, I wanted to make the space feel more bright. The bones of the kitchen were all great, so I kept all the cabinets on the bottom part of the kitchen and replaced all fronts with a more modern, matte white and wooden black handles. The shiny black top cabinets didn't provide a lot of space, so I replaced them with higher, white cabinets. I decided to place three of those, so that I would have space to hang two wooden wall shelves that would go around the corner. I wanted the open shelving so I could display some of my favourite kitchen items. Later, I decided to install three growing lights. During the spring and summer months, I started growing my own herbs and vegetables and the top wooden shelf provides the perfect space to grow those!

A part of my living room that I wanted the tile to match nicely with.

The last big decision I needed to take was which new tiles I wanted to install. I first went through many neutral options before I set my eyes on a colour: either green or blue. I loved the blue shade but I had the feeling it would add another big accent colour to my space, which is already quite colourful. So, I opted for green, which matches nicely with my couch and plants. It is a matte, square tile that gives some depth due to its texture/material. To me, it gives a very luxurious feel!

Video
Conclusion and future plans

A project like this never comes without some struggles. For example, one of the front doors for the cabinets was in the wrong style, the wooden shelves were too short at first (a manufacturer's fault), the putty to put the tiles on top didn't dry fast enough so the tiler had to come back, the tile store didn't calculate enough tiles so we missed 3 of them and needed a quick trip to the store on the tiling day itself... I believe the project taught me to keep my patience, communicate clearly with professionals (kitchen installer, tiler, tile store professionals) and hold on to my vision. But I can only imagine what a big kitchen renovation could be like... I think I only scratched the surface!