Modern Gray Kitchen Makeover

Like most new-construction homes built in 2001, the kitchen of this two-story house was designed using contractor-grade materials — including blonde oak veneer cabinets, engineered composite countertops and a ready-made island too small to function properly.

Conscientious of the client's return on investment (ROI), this kitchen got an upgrade with cost-saving and custom options. While new cabinets would have cost an estimated $12,000, the existing contractor-grade cabinets were refreshed with high-gloss latex paint for only $1,200. The composite countertops were replaced with a Carrera marble remnant found in a slab yard. The biggest splurge was the storage-packed kitchen island, which is made of welded steel and silvered alder wood, topped with a concrete work surface.

Just off the kitchen sits a modest breakfast nook. A drab existing chandelier was swapped for a designer-quality, rope-covered orb pendant. To pull the black and white tones found in the floor-to-ceiling basket-weave wall tile into the breakfast nook, draperies custom-made from black-and-white check fabric were used to dress the bay windows.

When space is at a premium in a kitchen, it's important to assign a purpose to every square inch. Prior to the remodel, the angled wall separating the kitchen from the adjacent formal dining room was dead space. To put it to good use, a custom serving buffet was designed to provide extra storage, then finished with the same paint used on the existing kitchen cabinets for a cohesive look.