Desperate Kitchen Makeover: Retro Collectibles Kitchen
In a small Nashville house, John and Anthony take a cramped, barely usable kitchen and give it a much bigger feel with a larger footprint, tall vaulted ceilings, modern industrial touches and a colorfully retro vibe.
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July 22, 2015

By:
David L. Haynes
Retro Collectibles Kitchen
When it comes to kitchen remodels, Kitchen Cousins John and Anthony have been known to blow out a few walls. For this project they took out the ceiling as well. They added a more substantial ridge beam and took the space to new heights with high vaulted ceilings.
Retro Collectibles Kitchen
The radical makeover also included installation of a new kitchen island and a custom dry bar made using reconditioned pallet wood.
Retro Collectibles Kitchen
Midcentury inspired furnishings combine with industrial touches to create a fun and funky vibe that's ideally suited to the homeowners -- two self-proclaimed nostalgia and antique-shop junkies.
Retro Collectibles Kitchen
Above the new kitchen island, a pair of caged pendant lights, mimicking the look of antique factory fixtures, provide illumination with simple, utilitarian appeal.
The Hosts and the Homeowners
Homeowners Ross and Mallory's kitchen-reno wish list included new cabinets, an open floor plan and a space in which they'd feel proud to entertain friends. John and Anthony helped make each of those wishes a reality.
Kitchen, BEFORE
Prior to the renovation, the tiny kitchen was tight and awkward with a half wall separating it from an adjacent dining area.
Kitchen, BEFORE
The space looked as if it could have been a storage room tmodified for a makeshift kitchen. Anthony described it as "the least kitcheny kitchen anywhere."
Kitchen, BEFORE
Counter space was far from adequate, the flooring was fake-wood laminate and none of the kitchen cabinets -- upper or lower -- had cabinet doors.
Kitchen, AFTER
The Cousins gutted and thoroughly reinvented the space, removing the wall that divided the kitchen from the dining area and another bordering the adjacent hallway.
Kitchen, AFTER
In the finished space, the ceiling height is 13 feet at the peak.
Dining Area, BEFORE
The dining/living area just off the kitchen had damaged, beige tile flooring, and the paint and decor were decidedly neutral in tone.
AFTER
John and Anthony turned up the dial on the color palette a few notches, employing bright blues and turquoise for the wall paint, window treatments and furnishings.
Living/Dining Room, BEFORE
AFTER
The renovated space gets a dark gray accent wall to offset the bright blue, and new flooring throughout in pre-finished white oak.
BEFORE
AFTER
The old molding around the front door is replaced with a wider, vintage style flat-plank trim.
BEFORE
AFTER
AFTER
AFTER
Custom Kitchen Island
Anthony and John created this custom island designed to suggest the look of an antique cabinet from an old hardware store.
Kitchen, Detail
The island's frame was primed in white, then painted in pastel turquoise and given a distressed finish.
Kitchen, Detail
The island's front is covered in raw tin tiles that are painted with a white base coat then given a color wash in coral to emulate an aged look.
Work in Progress
Anthony and John hard at work creating the faux antique finish on the island's stamped tin tiles
Kitchen Island, Detail
The island's end piece is etched glass. A new dishwasher is faced with a distressed wood panel in keeping with the antique look.
Kitchen Island, Detail
The distressing effect for the island was achieved using a heat gun to deliberately cause areas of the paint to bubble. More subtle distressing was done using fine steel wool.
Kitchen Island, Detail
The rustic look of the island is accentuated by the addition of an apron-front concrete sink and brass fixtures.
Kitchen Island, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
Contemporary and vintage themes meet with the addition of this modern styled chandelier above the dining table.
Kitchen, Detail
This custom range hood is powder coated in white for an exact color match with the new refrigerator.
Kitchen, Detail
Free-hanging steel shelves installed above the new bar are ideal for displaying glassware as well as some of Ross and Mallory's vintage collectibles.
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
Galvanized pipe and matching hardware double as curtain rods for another industrial accent.
Kitchen, Detail
The daring color theme is carried through with this multi-hued wallpaper. John opted for the colorful leaf pattern to pick up on the yellow cabinet fronts.
Kitchen, Detail
Two stylistically different backsplashes were usedin the kitchen. This one with teal-blue vertical tiles extends to the ceiling on the feature wall behind the new range.
Kitchen, Detail
The second backsplash, on the adjacent wall, is in dark gray pennyround and is finished with bone white grout to accent the shape of the tiles.
Kitchen, Detail
The custom dry-bar provides extra counter space as well as place to store and display liquor. It's clad in oak wood that was salvaged from wood pallets then run through a planer to give it a smooth finish.
Kitchen, Detail
The new cabinets have beechwood surrounds and plywood back boxes. All doors and drawers are soft-close and are inset for a clean, modern line.
Kitchen, Detail
The cabinet hardware has the look of weathered copper with a blue-green verdigris patina.
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
The kitchen island's top is cold-rolled steel wrapped around a plywood substrate for a smooth and durable work surface.
Living Room, Detail
Living Room, Detail
Living Room, Detail
Living Room, Detail
Living Room, Detail
Galvanized pipe fittings are repurposed as coat hooks just inside the front entrance.
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
Wood and metal barstools provide a nice complement to the rustic look of the kitchen island.
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen, Detail
Kitchen Maestros
Licensed contractors and kitchen design experts Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri strike a pose in the newly renovated Nashville kitchen.
Finis

Photo By: Matt Blair