Removing Kitchen Cabinet Doors To Make Open Shelving: a house log

When Alexis sent her fabulous kitchen makeover pics our way we could barely contain ourselves. Here is her letter:

I enjoy your journal and read it daily. My husband and I picked up our house a year ago and are working our way to redoing simply about every space. You folks are a large inspiration. I hoped to share our kitchen before and after… we are right now working on the adjoining family room where the fireplace is, but we are not quite there yet! Dark wood cabinets, knobs and chair rail molding truly made the kitchen feel much smaller than it is. The photo I sent is not even a true “before” since we had already taken down the maroon wallpaper which made it even darker. Although we painted the cabinets, replaced the appliances, brought in a backsplash, and got new counters, one of my go-to parts of the makeover was truly affordable. I picked up those cork squares you used inside your kitchen cabinet and hot glued them to the old laminate to create a custom cork board in the desk area. Strong to keep all those lists off the desk and still see my to-do’s and invites as reminders! Here is a swift source list for your curious readers:

Paint: walls are Butter from Restoration Hardware while cabinets are semi-gloss White by Benjamin Moore, hardware: the knobs and pulls are also from RH (I was working there at the time and got a sweet discount!), flooring: we replaced all the various flooring on the first floor (carpet, vinyl, oak) with vertical bamboo, appliances: new stainless steel appliances by Kenmore, countertops: Silestone from Home Depot and butcher block on the island, backsplash: low-cost white subway tiles over counters, pendant: West Elm (we cut the cord to hard-wire it).

Hope you enjoy the transformation at least a 1/4 as much as I enjoy your site. -Alexis

Enjoy it? We live for it! Here is the ugh-inducing before:

And here is the ooh la la after:

Is that not appetizing and remarkable? Strong job Alexis! We enjoy your light and modern kitchen transformation (especially that crafty pinboard project and the lovely lamp over the dining table). What about you folks? Let us play a little game I like to call Pick Your Go-to Part.