This $600 Gorgeous Green Paint Transformation Is One of My Favorites
As a home editor who writes about a lot of extraordinary kitchen transformations, I’m always especially inspired by ones that get a significant makeover on a small budget. Sometimes I’m guilty of assuming that an undesirable kitchen needs to be demolished so that you can start fresh from a blank canvas. But while demolition is an option, it’s also costly and not always necessary.
That was exactly the case in the kitchen in Roselyn Quell’s mid-century modern Cleveland home. Roselyn is a pastry chef and finds inspiration from nature, but unfortunately her original kitchen wasn’t sparking any culinary creativity. “When I first moved into the house, this kitchen was a blank, dull shell,” Roselyn explained at the time of the tour. “Along with the dull cabinets and flooring, the whole space just needed some color and TLC!”
Even though Roselyn owns her home, she didn’t feel the need to get rid of the existing natural oak cabinetry or backsplash. Instead, she got creative. Green is her favorite color — she admittedly gets a “little dopamine hit” from home design related to nature — so she wanted to drench the space in that color.
The first step was painting the cabinets in Behr’s Equestrian Green (S410-7) and finishing them with Rust-Oleum’s satin white protective enamel. She considered painting the ceiling and trim, but decided against it because she worried it might make the room feel too dark. The paint alone made such a dramatic, gorgeous difference, but she also made other changes, like swapping out the hardware and faucet and hanging a peel-and-stick backsplash.
In total, the kitchen transformation cost around $600 (including installing new appliances). Most of the work was done by Roselyn herself, which helped to lower the expenses. This room update proves the inexpensive power of paint and how it can completely refresh a space without any demolition.
The kitchen isn’t the only incredible room in Roselyn’s home. To see more, visit the full House Tour.
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) Every Sofa at West Elm — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
