gam51's Kitchen

DIY Original Stained Oak Creatively Retrofitted into Distressed Off-White Kitchen

Posted by gam51 on Sat, Jan 10, 09
Link to gam51's Gardenweb finished kitchen post
Link to gam51's kitchen photos

Details:

• Cabinets:
  Perimeter - original stained oak cabinets, creatively reused, painted off-white, distressed and glazed (see below for paint, glaze and finish),
  Island - Bertch Legacy in Cherry
• Countertops:
  Perimeter - Green Mountain PA Soapstone,
  Island - Crema Bordeaux granite
• Backsplash: Limestone subway tiles and a couple of 12x12s that DH cut into the size of squares we needed to make the design fit. The black squares are leftover soapstone that he cut.
• Hardware:
  Perimeter - iron finish knobs/pulls from Target
  Island - Montana Aged Iron Appliance Pulls from Bellacor http://www.bellacor.com/productdetail/97432.htm
• Range: KitchenAid
• Refrigerator: KA counterdepth
• Faucet: Grohe K-4
• Sink: Blanco Silgranit
• Coffeemaker: DeLonghi
• Windows: Pella
• Flooring: Oak
• Spice Bottles: Specialty Bottle Company http://www.specialtybottle.com/

We took the kitchen from an oak that was turning an orange we weren’t crazy about to a painted, distressed and glazed off white. Some of the pics look more yellow (darn lighting). The off-white color shows the more accurate color of cabinets and walls. The upper cabinets were all 30" cabinets that we added crown molding and an undercabinet trim to so they would look taller. We added some wood to the one over the microwave to break up the heights. We added beadboard to the backs of the glass cabinets and on the ends.

We took down a wall and incorporated the hall into the kitchen gaining us about 44 inches of space. All perimeter cabinets were ones we re-used (green not cheap!). All but two were changed in some fashion by my DH.

DIY: We did all the work except for the soapstone/granite install. The total cost was less than $12,000 but we decided to add new Pella windows (installed by DH) since the walls were down so that added $2000.

Cherry Island. This is the one set of cabinets we ordered. It consisted of a bank of drawers, an upper wall cabinet on the end that was turned into a trash pullout, and some panels. DH built a base and made it all fit together. The granite is Crema Bordeaux. DH ran 2 pieces of flat ½ X 4 inch plate steel across the top of the cabinets and extended out to support the granite overhang where the 2 stools are.

Cabinet transformation:

• Cabinet paint is antique white milk paint by American Finishes with a watered-down solution of their VanDykeBrown glaze effects. We then put a spray finish of Minwax waterbased polycrylic clear satin finish over it.
• Cabinets to the right of the microwave: We took a couple of cabinets, cut them shorter, added the plate shelf, and converted the doors to glass.
• Countertop cabinet to the right of the sink: This was constructed from a cabinet that we changed to glass; the upper part of our old oven cabinet turned into a "garage"; and one he just made because I wanted a pullout to put soaps etc in.
• Sink base: We bumped out the sink base, first because we were forced to so the sink/faucet would fit; and second because we liked the look. He built the legs from a pic I found. We painted the base behind black so the legs stood out more. Added pullouts for recycling.
• Peninsula: On the peninsula, we actually have two cabinets we didn’t mess with and then we took some fronts of pasta bins that we had on an old end cabinet and made 2 deep drawers. We had a narrow door that we turned at an angle and made a cabinet for cookie sheets, etc.
• Cabinet to the left of the oven: We made this into a pullout that DH custom made to fit the lids; and the pots do all manage to fit in even tho the cabinet is only 15".
• Cabinet to the left of the refrigerator: The cabinet to the left of the frig is a combination of 2 base cabinets (one with 3 drawers and one with 1 drawer and 1 door—turned upside down to make the opening with the 2 vertical doors (which were actually previous drawer fronts). Then we left a cabinet open that we cut apart and put shelves in to make the cookbook shelves. DH built the shelf above the frig to tie the cabinets on either side together. We turned the opening of the cabinet into a "poor man’s coffee bar". Works great to keep it off the countertop but easily accessible. The coffee pot is actually filled by pulling out the handle (not from the top) so that makes life easier.
• Display cabinet: We had this display cabinet with the glass doors before so we retro fitted it into this angled wall and added the beadboard inside to match the other cabinets.

Features:
Low Budget
Appliance Garage
Baking Drawer
Beadboard
Blumotion
Bookshelf
Coffee Center
Counter-depth Frig
Full Extension Drawers
Glass Doors
Island with Seating
Lighting: Above Cabinet
Lighting: Pendant
Lighting: Recessed
Lighting: Under Cabinet
Pasta Bins
Plug inside Cabinet
Pullout Pantry
Rollout Trays
Spice Drawer
TV