Get In My Kitchen

The very last issue of Cottage Living was in December 2008 and it featured the Assistant Decorating Editor, Anne Turner, in her redesigned Birmingham, Alabama kitchen. I am total behind the times with this news flash, but I want this kitchen so so so bad that I had to share these pictures with you. I love before and after pictures and this kitchen transformation is truly awe inspiring. My two dilemmas 1. I just remodeled my kitchen 2 years ago but I am tired of it already 2. the idea of having different color top and bottom cabinets. Is this just to trendy to my accustom of having a uniform looking kitchen - can I be happy cooking outside this box? I love mixing new modern pieces with old vintage pieces, is this not the same concept? 

This is Anne Turner's kitchen before: 

And her amazing after pictures: 

   

Details: 

Wall and upper cabinets are painted Farrow & Ball Lime White. 

Lower cabinets are Farrow & Ball Mouse's back. 

Window sashes and doors are Farrow & Ball Stoney Ground. 

Hardware: Restoration Hardware, Ephram 6" pulls

Countertops: Black honed granite from Dupont at Lowes and walnut butcher block from AWP Butcher Block

Appliances: Kenmore Pro, Sears

Tile/Splash: Ann Saks, Capriccio in antique white (it has a great wavy finish to it that makes the tile)

Pendants: Restoration Hardware, Harmon Pendant in dark brass

Floors: Lumber Liqudators 2 1/4" white oak select stained with half formula of Special Walnut

Fabric behind French doors: Lewis & Sheron

Faucet: Price Pfister

Paint on Dining Room Walls: Pratt & Lambert "Sierra Night" 

NOW FOR ME: 

My kitchen looked like this when I first bought my "it has potential" starter home, I took a sledge hammer to the cabinets the first day I got the keys. Can you say yellow? I am not a morning person so the very idea of fixing my morning coffee in this cheery sunshine yellow room was more than I could handle. The cabinets were built with the house in the 1940's and dingy would be a great word to describe what they looked like on the inside. The layout was all wrong, top cabinets to low, so I decided to start fresh. 

And now in its current state. I am so proud of all the money I saved on this project, and thanks to my uber talented buddy David we did all of the work ourself. The average kitchen renovation cost between $15-20,000, my kitchen renovation averaged around $7,000 with all new cabinets. But I now cringe at the stock maple cabinets from Lowes - they scream at me to paint them, and the red is wearing on me. Deep down do I really have the courage to take on this project or should I let bygones be bygones? In all reality its just a fresh coat of paint, but in my other reality it's alot of work.