our first before & after post of the day is all about 2 great kitchens. first up is lisa fontaine of picnic. she recently remodeled her berekely, ca kitchen and bathroom with dramatic results. i am loving the tile in both rooms and the clean modern look she’s got now. and all that light in both spaces? i’m so jealous…great work, lisa!
lisa’s bathroom:
CLICK HERE for the second beautiful kitchen before & after after the jump!
next up is maria of vintage simple. maria said it took about four months worth of weekends (and a whole week in december during the holidays) to get her kitchen where she wanted it. she ripped out “hideous” tile countertops and replaced them with ikea butcher block counters, took out the lower cabinets and put in place unfinished, off-the-rack oak cabinets from lowe’s (which they painted and distressed), put in a new farmhouse sink (ebay), faucet (ditto), and appliances (craigslist, friend’s cast-off, lowe’s). whew! for the upper cabinets, maria took out a couple of doors and added period details with moldings, brackets and trim, then covered some of the remaining glass doors with pretty fabric and painted the fronts of a couple of solid doors with chalkboard paint. then they added beadboard all around and put up vintage tin tile for the backsplash and as a detail on the vent hood over the stove. in the unused space next to the fridge wall, they made a built-in bench and hung a vintage chandelier (but painted it blue-gray) and an old beveled mirror, and bought a round table from ikea (“some day, I hope to be able to afford a Saarinen one, but for now, docksta will have to do…”). the result is really gorgeous and i’m so impressed with all of maria’s hard work. great job!!
[have a before and after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your images]
60 Comments
WOW!!!! That kitchen turned out fabulous!
Wow! Love that first kitchen, what a beautiful transformation!
Lisa, What kind of Faucet and side spray did you put in your kitchen? It looks very sleek and matches the feel of the kitchen so well.
Love love love the second kitchen!
Oooh, I love the green tile in that bathroom!
I have no words!! Both kitchens are so nice!!
oolala, I love them both!! I especially love the window seating area of the first one and the deep sink of the second. *sigh*
Love the cabinets in the first kitchen — can we get source info on those?
the second one is lovely. i love every little thing they did, especially the chalkboard cabinet. very clever.
Beautiful!!! Talk about a total 180!
WOW. B-e-a-utiful!!! How did they do it?!?!
I love that green tile in the bathroom too! I looked into it for our own remodel but man was it expensive!
Beautiful work. How did you do the glass back splash in the 1st kitchen? I’d like to try that.
I love all the afters; the bathroom is stunning, I’m coveting. I have to say that I kind of have a soft spot for the before in the first kitchen too. The after is brilliant but I love old houses and the character they have,
I LOVE the second kitchen. Butcher-block counters and farmhouse sinks make me happy.
Are those Kitchen Cabinets made from that new Bamboo Plywood? It is glorious!
there is such gorgeous simplicity and warmth to both of Lisa’s rooms. I especially love the tile work in the bath.
Love the second kitchen (the first one is nice too). The refrigerator is exactly what I’m looking for. Any idea what kind it is?
Love the tile in the bathroom!
Oh, really liking the bathroom – the green tiles are beautiful!
holy cow, that tile is incredibly beautiful.
Kithcen #2- In addition to the butcher block island and apron sink, I love the beadboard wainscoting, especially in the breakfast area!
what kind of fridge is that in the second kitchen? thanks!!
oooh the creative thought behind that..so envious! I love all of it!
thanks for the kind comments…! elissa and cml, to answer your question, the fridge is fisher & pykel (we got it through lowes) and i love it; it’s small (yet roomy) and we have to make ice cubes the old-fashioned way ;), but i love it. and i love having the freezer on the bottom.
-maria
What?! You didn’t want a pink kitchen and a blue-tiled bathroom?! What’s wrong with you?
Just kidding. I like both remodels but what’s the deal with the plexiglass behind the sink in the kitchen? I don’t get that. Why not do a tile backsplash or something? I am really digging the tile walls in the bathroom. Nice work!
GREAT kitchen makeovers. The first one is lovely, but the second one amazing. Nice to know that with some elbow grease great things can get done. Love the Before and After feature – inspiring.
so cute! Love that last kitchen – adorable!
I am in love with the green bathroom tile. The bathroom would be lovely anyway but the tile kicks it up a notch.
And the second kitchen has me in awe at the DIY skills and dedication needed. It turned out just perfect.
very cool; love the juxtaposition of the two different kitchen looks; I am a sucker for open base cabinetry; very lovely work on both spaces.
The kitchen’s so pretty after the makeover. Wow!
Also love the made-over bathroom w/ aqua green tile. The view through the large window is awesome too!
These two make-overs are fantastic! I wonder what the price tag on something like this is?
was thinking of making over my kitchen, maybe we just trade houses. love it! congrats!
Gorgeous transformations to both! I like the color scheme of the first kitchen and bathroom. Thank you all for sharing!
WOW!
Love the glass-tiling!
I am loving the green bathroom tile too. Where is it from? I would love this in my bathroom….
Both kitchen makeovers are wonderful, but I am saving that photo of the breakfast nook for my inspiration file. It’s perfect.
yay for greenville girls……..I agree that the second makeover is fantastic! CONGRATS!!
Love the “after” pictures, but that pink and white kitchen was pretty darn cute “before” too!
I love those green tiles in the bathroom. I might have to get hold of some similar ones!
what an amazing transformation. I love the combination of the wood with the green tile.
fabulous transformations!!!
thanks so much for sharing
and i love maria’s blog, vintage simple!
Lisa is the back splash in your kitchen Plexiglass?
That bathroom tile looks like the same tile candice olsen used in a recent kitchen remodel, I love it so much.
The first was absolutely amazing! Love the glass as the backsplash!
In the second kitchen with the butcher block counters, how were they treated? I have IKEA butcher block counters and they don’t look as dark or as nice as the ones featured in the pictures.
wow, i LOVE the 2nd kitchen! esp that sink and butcher block. gorgeous
Liz – the island’s butcher block is Numerar in oak, and I left it as it was (I just wipe it with mineral oil once in a while). Pronomen (which is thinner and more affordable) is around the sink and stove… I stained it with a water-based stain (“english oak) and then put a couple of coats of low-sheen poly (also water-based). It made a huge difference. (Keep in mind that I don’t chop veggies directly on them, though).
-maria
are the cabinets in the first kitchen in Formica Rattan Cane? It looks exactly like the cabinets I custom designed for a client’s kitchen (so of course I love it!) Is the green bathroom tile Opera Glass?
Lisa – can you give me the source of your bathroom cabinet pulls. I am loving the simple bent metal shape. Thanks!
I can just say WAUUUUUUU!!!! Fabulous work
Such extreme differences, nice work!
Wow! What a beautiful renovation! I’ve been looking at doing a few updates to my kitchen like update my aging appliances, but the cost makes it a little difficult. However I did find this web site Appliance Art (http://www.applianceart.com) that sells appliance covers. It’s not as nice as getting a new appliance, but it def makes in improvement in the overall look of my kitchen.
lisa fontaine: where did you purchase your cabinets and countertops?
merci.
aow
Thank you for all of your comments! To answer your questions in regard to my kitchen and bath (the first one)…
kitchen faucet- KWC, Eve Mini
kitchen cabinets- formica laminate
kitchen counters- Concreteworks in Oakaland, concrete
bathroom tile- Island Stone, glass linear interlock in reed
bathroom pulls- Sugatsune, SN-95
x + o
Lisa
So beautiful! What a wonderful job you did! Absolutely gorgeous…….
xo
Melis
Kitchen #2 is inspiring for a kitchen reno I am in the process of. Maria, you mentioned you purchased your farmhouse sink off ebay. do you know know the brand or company? I am looking for a similar sink. Beautiful work!
Lisa Fontaine: Love the kitchen & bathroom! That inset bath shelf is amazing. What type of toilet did you use? It’s great looking!
after looking at lisa’s beautiful kitchen, I can’t help but question it’s inclusion in a B & A. Usually, before and after projects retain some of the “potential” and charm of the original. Lisa’s kitchen, while really quite beautiful, has been COMPLETELY gutted, so that not one element of the original kitchen is there. It seems to be a total makeover. The fun of B & A is to see something that I could do too, if I learned to have a good eye for potential like the submitters do. Lisa’s project requires a good eye for design, knowledge of materials, and a substantial checkbook. I’m not sure it fits. Is there a better place to post this beautiful spaces?
Jackson
The point of the before and after column is to show inspiring makeovers, big and small. Most of them will be something easily replicated by readers, but I think you’d be missing out on a lot of inspiration if you only stuck to lower budget, easy replicated projects. So I like to have a mix. Regardless of budget I think there’s always something inspirational you can pull from projects-even if you can’t replicate the entire look.
Grace
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