Kitchen Cabinets Makeover (before and after)
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Considering a kitchen cabinet makeover? We replaced dark, outdated cabinets with painted gray cabinets (yes, we painted these cabinets!) and crisp white countertops for a fresh, modern look which is perfect inspiration for your own kitchen refresh!
If you’ve ever thought about giving your space a refresh, this modern kitchen makeover might be just the inspiration you need.
Our old-world Italian-style kitchen, once a statement of the early 2000s, had started to feel outdated with its deep brown granite and heavy cabinetry.
Why did we decide to do a kitchen cabinet makeover vs replacing the cabinets?
MONEY!
Revamping your existing cabinets through painting or refinishing is significantly more budget-friendly than a complete replacement.
By painting our kitchen cabinets and replacing the hardware, allowed us to allocate funds to other areas of our kitchen remodel, like changing the dated countertops!
Kitchen Inspiration & Color
Our cabinet makeover also allowed us to pick the perfect color.
With a vast array of paint colors and finishes available, you can achieve a customized look that breathes new life into your kitchen, making it a more enjoyable and inviting space.
Updating your kitchen cabinets can also significantly boost your home’s market appeal.
A modern, refreshed kitchen is a major selling point for potential buyers, often leading to a higher resale value and a quicker sale.
We chose Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray for our kitchen cabinets because of its timeless and classic appeal, striking the perfect balance between warm and cool tones.
This sophisticated shade helped seamlessly transition our Tuscan-style kitchen into a fresh, modern 2024 aesthetic while complementing our new white countertops.
Now, with a bright and airy design, our kitchen feels brand new!
Isn’t it amazing?
Once we updated our kitchen, we decided to refinish the red oak hardwood floors to a lighter white oak looking floor.
I’m loving the new white countertops and backsplash—such a game changer! The kitchen feels so much brighter and happier now. 😊
Kitchen Lighting
We installed upper cabinet lights using inexpensive strip lighting from Amazon.
This is a great way to update kitchen cabinets without needing to hire an electrician.
Lighting plays a huge role in any kitchen cabinet makeover, and Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray is no exception!
With natural light and overhead lighting, the cabinets appear blue-gray, perfect for a modern kitchen.
In artificial light alone, they shift to a soft khaki undertone, adding warmth.
Choosing the right paint is key in a kitchen renovation!
Read my Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray review and check out the best gray kitchen cabinet paint colors this year for more kitchen inspiration.
You can see the entire painting process of the cabinets by clicking through this post, how to paint kitchen cabinets professionally.
Kitchen Cabinet Makeover With New Hardware
Soft close hinges are a must have if you are remodeling your kitchen.
We also installed new cabinet pulls giving our new kitchen an overall modern and designer look.
You will notice that we installed long cabinet pulls on every cabinet door which I LOVE!!
Cost To Paint Cabinets VS Replacement
We paid just under $10,000 for materials and labor to paint the cabinets.
New kitchen cabinets for this space, were almost $50,000.
Needless to say, our kitchen cabinet makeover with paint saved us a ton of money!
Related: See how we painted our kitchen cabinets step by step
Pictures speak a thousand words.
Our kitchen renovation transformed the space from dated cherry wood to a sleek gray and white design, proving just how impactful a makeover can be.
Here’s the same view now, showcasing our modern gray kitchen cabinets with crisp white countertops!
The white walls and refinished wood floors enhance the brightness, making our kitchen feel more spacious, and every guest now compliments how the white countertops and gray cabinets create a modern, inviting look.
So what do you think?
Would you dare paint your dark kitchen cabinets from early 2000’s to a lighter and brighter color?
Leave me a comment below or send me an email, I would love to know!
Catch Up On Our Entire Kitchen Renovation Below
- Modernizing our Mediterranean kitchen & entire house (and why)
- Calacatta quartz countertops (8 of the most stunning countertops in white)
- How to find a contractor for a kitchen remodel and hire with ease
- How to paint kitchen cabinets (step by step process on how we painted the cabinets)
- Best 7 grey kitchen cabinet paint colors (in real spaces and homes)
- how many coats of paint for kitchen cabinets (the exact number coats of primer and paint)
- Updating a kitchen without removing cabinets (why we kept our existing cabinets and savings)
- How to remove granite countertop without breaking it
- Countertop Templating Process (how the counter company measures and fabricated our new countertop)
- How to choose kitchen hardware
- How to remove tile backsplash (before and after)
- Quartz backsplash and is it right for you (this post)
- Best kitchen cabinet paint (all the details on the paint we used for this project)
Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
