20-year old kitchen renovation
From cluttered Dark green and pink to bright and practical
The previous owner of this kitchen was certainly not afraid of colour - the cabinets were dark forest green, the walls light pink, and the ceiling might have been a pale shade of lavender. The dining table was an orangey wood-and-glass thing with bright red leather chairs. None of this was my clients style, so it had to go, we only kept the floor and the ceiling beams.
The new kitchen has a gorgeous sand coloured fabric wallpaper (washable!), light cream wooden cabinets, and a huge kitchen island! The fridge and oven are no longer next to each other, which means the fridge has to work less hard to keep cool when the oven is on. The tiny stove has been replaced with a large 6-pit induction stovetop. The odd ‘belly’ the sink was in has been removed. The ceiling here is low, only 2.40m, so the lack of upper cabinets makes the whole space more open and airy.
There dishwasher and the rest of storage are hiding in the pantry. The entry to that is to the right of the ovens.
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![Before]()
Before
It was dark.
Very dark.
The countertop was black granite, the backsplash was a mirror! During deconstruction we would find orange tile behind the backsplash. Too many drawer pulls and door handles make it look cluttered and messy. The green of the cabinets went nicely with the floor though.
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![Main Kitchen]()
Main Kitchen
This is the main part of the kitchen. On the left side you see the built-in fridge and freezer, followed by counter space with a large, deep sink with a Quooker faucet. On the right is a 6-pit induction stovetop, a built-in microwave-oven combi, and a regular oven.
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![Kitchen Island]()
Kitchen Island
This is my personal favourite part of this renovation - the 3x1m kitchen island!
The doors on the left open to the garden, so it’s the perfect space to work with flowers and herbs, and to process the fruit and veg during harvest season.
On this side there are deep drawers, on the other side there are shallow cupboards. On the far back left where you can see the placemats, is a space for two barstools that can be tucked underneatch the island.
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![Drawers]()
Drawers
There are two reasons for why we decided to go with the drawer-in-drawer solution here. The first is to keep the lines of the kitchen visually uncluttered. The second, and maybe more important for the client, was that by reducing the amount of drawer pulls needed, we were able to reuse the drawer pulls from their previous home!
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![Cupboards]()
Cupboards
Lastly we have these simple cupboards. The half-wall is a room divider between the kitchen and the living room. The TV is on a swivel arm and can fold flat against the wall when not in use.
