A "Drab" Kitchen Gets a Cabinet Glow-Up in One of 2025's Trendiest Colors
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
PROJECT TYPE: Kitchen
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
Danielle Kelling (@daniknyc711) has lived in her Brooklyn apartment for 12 years, and she’s led it through several design phases over time. One room that’s undergone some serious changes is the kitchen. It was last updated in 2003, and Danielle describes the original space as “cold, depressing, drab, and soulless.” Yikes!
There were some elements of the original kitchen that Danielle appreciated, like the high ceilings and ample countertop and storage spaces. However, some features had to go, including the broken oven vent, cabinet laminates, and a few other outdated facets.
“I hated the flooring; it was a dark and dirty gray vinyl. I felt the cabinet and wall color felt institutional, and the overhead lighting made it feel even colder,” she explains. “The cabinet hardware kept catching on my fingers, which was a nuisance. Last, I had a countertop microwave that took over a lot of precious counter space, and it would be nice to find an in-cabinet microwave that also functions as an oven vent and light.”
Danielle began updating the kitchen to be more functional and aesthetically pleasing. The first change was removing and replacing the broken oven vent with an in-cabinet LG STUDIO microwave. Danielle and her boyfriend reworked the wiring and cut a spot for an electrical outlet.
Installing the microwave themselves was a tricky project; in hindsight, Danielle says it would’ve been a better idea to hire a professional, but it provided much-needed additional counter space. “It also allowed for three different working zones, when before I had only two,” she shares. “I can now have two people cooking in the kitchen at the same time with ease.”
The kitchen got some more light, too, as Danielle installed LED strip lighting under the cabinets to “counter the cold fluorescent light.”
Vibrancy didn’t just come from the lighting fixtures, though. Danielle also stripped away the peeling laminate on the cabinets and painted them in a deep red — after all, cherry red is trending for 2025! The cabinets are Farrow & Ball’s Incarnadine, and the walls are Farrow & Ball’s Pink Ground.
Remember that “dark and dirty gray vinyl” flooring that Danielle detested? She and her boyfriend swapped it out for a peel-and-stick black and white pattern, which only took an hour or two to accomplish. She says updating the floor alone was one of the “biggest transformations” in the room.
The entire kitchen makeover took only two months to finish and cost just shy of $1,000, Danielle says. All of the new colors and patterns perfectly complement her art collection, which she displays above the cabinets. She added that if and when she decides to leave this rental, most updates can be removed and returned to their first look (including the original appliances and hardware).
“I feel so much more at home cooking in my kitchen now,” Danielle says. “I actually enjoy being in the room now and also work more productively.” If you want to see more of her gorgeous Brooklyn apartment, visit the full home tour on Apartment Therapy.
This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: Before & After: I Can’t Get These Red Cabinets Out of My Head — They Make This “Depressing” Kitchen Look So Cute for Under $1,000
Further Reading
I Just Discovered the Smartest Way to Store Paper Towels in Your Kitchen (It’s a Game-Changer!)
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
