This White Kitchen’s Cheery, Vintage Makeover Was a “Happy Accident”
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
HOME TYPE: House
STYLE: Colorful, Maximalist
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
Sometimes it’s life’s hardest experiences that make us rethink what matters most. After El’s husband passed away, one of the ways she sought comfort was focusing on reimagining her home in Melbourne, Australia.
“What started off as a small project to take my mind off my grief turned into a passion and a love of painting and color,” El says. “I didn’t know it at the time, but the process of decorating and bringing color into my home was like therapy.”
One of the rooms El completely transformed first was the kitchen, which, in its original state, she described as “very white with a rather imposing gray glass [backsplash].”
She knew she wanted to include open shelving, but as the process progressed, the rest of the updates became a “happy accident” — and the color and pattern are cheery indeed.
To achieve the open shelving look, El removed all of the cabinet doors and painted the interior cupboard and exterior pieces with Haymes Paint’s Sachet (as well as the pantry door), max strength primer, and a water-based enamel. On a whim, she also painted stripes using a darker shade of pink on the thin wall next to her fridge, but admitted that it looked “a bit random” alone, so she continued the pattern around the top of her kitchen.
“I also painted the baseboards to match the dark pink of the stripes above, just to balance the colors,” El shares. ”It never crossed my mind to make the kitchen look like an ice cream parlor … It just happened!”
Along the way, El added some new-but-retro appliances, including a light blue SMEG refrigerator and a vintage scale she uses as a fruit bowl.
And El’s open shelving helps her kitchen become a happy showroom of sorts, as it’s a chance to display all of her vintage finds, artwork, and ingredients.
It took about a year to create the kitchen’s new look, and there are still things that she wants to add and complete, including replacing the backsplash and countertops.
She did all of the labor herself, so the cost of the project was relatively low — “just the cost of a few cans of paint and a neon sign.”
What El loves most about the kitchen, though? “It’s pink! The kitchen is 12 years old. By the time I sell and move on, it will probably be 20 years old,” she says. “I figured that whoever buys this house after me will probably rip out the kitchen anyway, so why not just have fun with it?”
And “fun” is the perfect way to describe not just El’s kitchen, but her entire home. To see more, visit the full home tour on Apartment Therapy.
This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: Before & After: An “Outdated” White Kitchen Gets a Colorful, Vintage-Inspired Makeover
Further Reading
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