Budget-Friendly Turquoise Kitchen Makeover
When my Hubby and I finally found our dream home on Lake Superior, we had a very small budget to make the home ours. We're saving for major renovations, but in the meantime we wanted to have a little fun. In the kitchen, open shelving and modern white paneling was a cost-effective replacement for dated tile and small, awkward upper cabinets. The lower cabinets were painted turquoise - to match my Pyrex collection, naturally. Then we got creative: we built a pantry (to the left of the stove) and even built solid maple counters (stained white) from scratch. The whole makeover came in under $1500 and will see us through the next five years, at least. It's a bright, happy space that we enjoy cooking in.
Here's the before, which boasted tired oak cabinets, peeling laminate counters and not-my-style tile.
And here's a different angle of the "after":
I get a lot of questions about the open shelving, but it's been surprisingly easy to keep clean: http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/2014/12/honest-thoughts-on-open-shelving-in.html
There are a lot of tutorials for the kitchen, from tips on installing paneling to the full tutorial on building the solid maple counter tops to how we painted our cabinets with a paint spray. You can find them all in this post: http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-big-kitchen-reveal.html
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2 of 972 comments
![Jamie Tyler Smith]()
Jamie Tyler Smithon Dec 29, 2020This has got to be the most beautiful kitchen I've ever seen! It's so bright and cheery! Thank you for sharing, it brightened my day!
![Melinda Record]()
Melinda Recordon Feb 3, 2021I have to agree with ALL the positive comments on this kitchen: BRIGHT, CHEERY, MAKES ME SMILE ... I can't say enough good things about this kitchen ~ I love it!! In fact, I've checked out your website/blog and ALL your home decorating projects tie seamlessly together, yet each room stands on its own. VERY impressed with your creativity and talent and your overall decorating style ~ so refreshing and clean!
Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing and inspiring ~ love all your projects and I can clearly understand why your work has been featured in major publications ~ your work is awesome and happy!
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Have a question about this project?
Where do you put your food at?
Hello, if you were to read the full article on her blog, she explains that the bulk food is in those glass canisters. The smaller items like spices, condiments and snacks, are in the cabinets below.
I don't see a ventilator over your range. How do you keep grease and food from settling on the open shelves? I ask because that was a problem that I had.
You can get (which I had in my pre-renovated kitchen) an exhaust /ventilator fan - that can be installed in the ceiling. Better than nothing, tho' a regular clean is the best way.
Brand name AND color of turquoise paint please????