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

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Photo By: Matt Blair

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

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

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

The kitchen island's top is cold-rolled steel wrapped around a plywood substrate for a smooth and durable work surface.

Living Room, Detail

Galvanized pipe fittings are repurposed as coat hooks just inside the front entrance.

Kitchen, Detail

Wood and metal barstools provide a nice complement to the rustic look of the kitchen island.

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen Maestros

Licensed contractors and kitchen design experts Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri strike a pose in the newly renovated Nashville kitchen.

America's Most Desperate Kitchens

Desperate Kitchen Makeover: Retro Collectibles Kitchen

Shop This Look

Retro Collectibles Kitchen

Retro Collectibles Kitchen

Retro Collectibles Kitchen

Retro Collectibles Kitchen

The Hosts and the Homeowners

Kitchen, BEFORE

Kitchen, BEFORE

Kitchen, BEFORE

Kitchen, AFTER

Kitchen, AFTER

Dining Area, BEFORE

AFTER

Living/Dining Room, BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

Custom Kitchen Island

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Work in Progress

Kitchen Island, Detail

Kitchen Island, Detail

Kitchen Island, Detail

Kitchen Island, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Living Room, Detail

Living Room, Detail

Living Room, Detail

Living Room, Detail

Living Room, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen, Detail

Kitchen Maestros

Finis

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