This Vintage-Inspired Kitchen Makeover Totally Transforms 1980s Cabinets
Credit: Allison Skiff Credit: Allison Skiff
Credit: Allison Skiff Credit: Allison Skiff
Credit: Allison Skiff Credit: Allison Skiff
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
HOME TYPE: House
PROJECT TYPE: Kitchen
STYLE: Traditional, Vintage
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
RENTAL FRIENDLY: No
If you love to read — or if you’ve seen Beauty and the Beast — you’re probably familiar with sliding bookcase ladders. In this redo, DIYer Allison Skiff (@allisonskiffdotcom) makes the case that the best place for a sliding latter is not a home library, but in fact the kitchen. It’s equally, if not more, practical for grabbing hard-to-reach bowls and items from the very top shelves of cabinets.
In an $11,000 kitchen makeover ($6,000 of which went to the ladder), Allison totally transformed her kitchen during the Fall 2024 One Room Challenge. The kitchen was partially updated in 2016 (counters and backsplash), “but there were still so many elements in it from 1988,” Allison says. Here’s how she made the whole thing more cohesive to match the vintage-inspired vision she was after.
A cabinet ladder is pretty and practical.
“My Dad, Rod Skiff, helped me install the 1’x4’ wood on top of the soffit for my rolling library ladder, as well as the rails for the ladder,” Allison explains.
“While my dad and I worked on the library ladder, my mom, Janet Skiff, primed and painted the kitchen island, which was a huge time-saver help. Otherwise, I did the rest of the project completely by myself.”
The 1988 cabinets got a facelift.
Allison says the original homeowners’ style leaned more toward modern farmhouse with bright white cabinets, while hers leans more toward cozier, warmer tones. She painted her cabinets in Benjamin Moore’s Stone Hearth to warm things up.
“New cabinets for this kitchen would have cost well over $20,000,” Allison says. “The paint I purchased was $500, and I bought an extra gallon I didn’t even open. The same goes for the countertops.”
Allison works full-time, so she used weeknights to clean and sand the old cabinet boxes and saved paint spraying for the weekend. Every single cabinet door was a different size. “One of my most ingenious moments was creating a drawing of my kitchen cabinets and labeling each set of doors and drawers by number,” Allison says. “This saved me a lot of headache down the road when it came time to put everything back together.”
She also replaced all of the original cabinet hinges — straight from ’88 and squeaky, too — with soft-close ones.
The backsplash and countertops got budget-friendly upgrades.
Allison says new marble countertops would have cost around $10,000 for her square footage, so instead, she opted for two paintable countertop kits from Giani for $400 instead, and the end result looks “remarkable,” she says. After adding the island in a previous project, she also replaced the island countertop with budget-friendly walnut butcher block.
One of the most painstaking parts of the project, Allison says, was upgrading the tile backsplash. She didn’t want to damage her drywall (or find any surprises behind it), so she used an oscillating tool to grind out each line of grout and then chiseled the tiles off in pieces. “The glass flew everywhere,” Allison says. “I think if there was a blood, sweat, tears section of the renovation this would be that part, but I will say I got it all off without damaging the drywall!”
She replaced the backsplash with wood paneling, which she painted the same color as the cabinets.
Finishing touches enhance the (new) vintage vibe of the kitchen.
Lastly, Allison replaced the old farmhouse-style light fixture with a vintage milk glass pendant, added brass hardware and brass barstools, switched out the light switch plates, and added decor.
The kitchen is in the center of the home, and “feels warm and welcoming” now “and flows with the surrounding rooms.” Allison says, “The simple design really allows for some of the heroes to shine, like the library ladder and the milk glass pendant above the island.”
Her proudest accomplishment, though, is all the DIY skills she learned along the way. (Hello, oscillating saw, paint sprayer, jig saw, electrical outlet extension, marble countertop kit, and more!) “At the top of 2024 I had only used a power drill,” Allison says. “I’m really just so proud of the entire space and the fact that I did it myself!”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.
This project was completed for the Fall 2024 One Room Challenge, in partnership with Apartment Therapy. See even more of the One Room Challenge before and afters here.
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space
I Just Discovered the Smartest Way to Store Paper Towels in Your Kitchen (It’s a Game-Changer!)
