This NYC Kitchen Went from “Bland” to Breathtaking (The Cabinets Are Gorgeous!)

ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER

HOME TYPE: Apartment

PROJECT TYPE: Kitchen

STYLE: Modern

SKILL LEVEL: Professional

RENTAL FRIENDLY: No

Kitchen renovations — and kitchen renovation budgets — are difficult to get exactly right. When sales pro Camey Hess set out to remodel her Manhattan apartment kitchen, she didn’t expect her first renovation to take so long — or to go over budget.

The hardest part? Ultimately, it was deciding on the basics. She didn’t know what she wanted or the questions she needed to ask. “That made making informed decisions very difficult, from everything to where we should place the appliances, how big of a sink I thought I needed (looking back I wish I got a larger sink, but I didn’t want to sacrifice too much on counter space), or what type of wood and layout I wanted for the custom wood butcher block,” Camey says.

Interior designer Courtney Robinson of Materials & Methods, whom Camey found via Apartment Therapy, helped to orchestrate every layer of the renovation, offering curated options for materials, styles, and contractors. “A kitchen renovation felt daunting,” Camey says. “I knew I was going to need help honing my vision, bringing it to life, and pulling it all off — and that’s what Courtney guided me through.”

Camey originally aimed to get the entire kitchen remodel done for around $25,000, and ended up coming in just over $7,000 more than her desired cost (noting she didn’t cut anything from her original plan!). Keep scrolling for a complete cost breakdown.

Despite enlisting the help of a general contractor and a designer, Camey, a former Apartment Therapy Media employee, ran into plenty of unavoidable COVID-related shipping delays. “What should have taken about one month to complete, ended up taking five!” she says. “We had to keep finding creative workarounds to source additional materials.” Luckily, in those five months, they were able to renovate the rest of the apartment, too.

The Kitchen Feature She Loves the Most

Unsurprisingly, the star of the kitchen — the cabinets — are her favorite part of the remodel. “I am obsessed with the raw, exposed wood and the color that is a blend of gray and brown,” Camey says. “I also love the floating shelves and the archway to enter the kitchen.” The natural wood cabinet shade just so happens to be one of the hottest cabinet trends of the year, too.

Her butcher block countertops were a close second, as they “always get so much attention.” Camey also loves the added pull-out drawers for underneath her cabinetry that make her storage space more accessible.

Her Biggest Renovation Regret

Aside from the basics, another decision Camey struggled with was more specific: the backsplash grout width. “I knew I wanted a certain look with very limited grout, but when it came time to actually apply the grout, I didn’t know I had the option to not add any grout (which was ultimately what I wanted!).” Despite a few setbacks, she couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. “The general vibe of the kitchen is exactly what I was hoping for.”

The Complete Cost Breakdown

• Cabinets:

  • IKEA SEKTION Cabinets: $2,141.55

  • Semihandmade Cabinet Doors: CLJ Dusk, $107

• Flooring:

  • Sevilla Stone Tile, Seville Olimpia $623.55

• Countertops:

  • Taj Mahalquartzite slab: $2,673.45

  • Custom oak wood floating appliance shelves: $1,001

  • Custom butcher block: $750 (including materials and labor)

• Appliances:

  • Microwave: $300

  • Gas stove range and oven: $1,800

• Walls:

  • Timeless Clare Paint: $212.40

  • 4×4 Montauk Sand Dune Beige 4×4 Mixed Finish Ceramic Backsplash Tiles: $321

• Lighting:

  • Etsy opal globe light: $402

  • (Under-cabinet) IKEA Daylight White (5000K), Matte White Finished, 12-, 20-, 30-inch lighting: $226.01

• Hardware:

  • Sink:

    • Faucet: $220

    • Elkay ELGU2522GY0 Sink: $279.99 (+ $60 drain)

  • Drawer pull: Nouveau II 5-1/16″ (129mm) c.c. (honey bronze) $58.60

  • Cabinet knobs: Top Knobs Ellis 1-1/4″ (32mm) (honey bronze): $189.92

• Labor/Other:

  • Demolish existing kitchen cabinets and all finishes: $3,750

  • Install new flooring, backsplash, and fabricate and install countertop: $9,500

  • Create new arched opening at existing doorway: $5,000

  • Replace light fixtures: $500

  • Install new GFI outlet: $750

  • Create and install butcher block: $750

  • Skim coat popcorn ceiling: $1,000

Have you renovated your kitchen? What were your biggest learnings? Let us know in the comments below!

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: This “Bland” ’90s Kitchen Gets the Most Gorgeous Natural Makeover (We Have the Full Price Breakdown!)

Further Reading

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