CasaSugar

Before and After: J Paige's Amazing Kitchen Transformation

CasaSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:02 -0700

Su Casa member and artist J Paige bought her house six years ago, and while it was, as she notes, "dirt cheap," it also hadn't been updated in over 40 years. "The bedrooms had shag carpet and the kitchen had indoor/outdoor carpet (eck!) and ugly cabinets and plain laminate counters and matching laminate backplashes," she reports.

Instead of lamenting over the ugly, outdated look of her new house, J Paige set about remaking it into her dream home. She writes, "First, I tiled the floor, since that was in our budget at the time. Then we had new cabinets, a new counter, a dishwasher, and new lights installed. After that, we put French doors out the back of our kitchen and actually put a fan over the stove! But it took me over a year to finally figure out what I wanted to do with the backsplash. I am a mosaic artist and sculptor but it is always hard to get to work on your own house."

Well, even if it took a little while for J Paige to ruminate on the perfect kitchen backsplash, I've got to say that it was time well spent. To see the magnificent results, read more.

Wow! It's hard to believe this is the same space. I love J Paige's use of color and pattern in her mosaic backsplash. The whole kitchen is absolutely stunning. Want to see what else she's up to? Find out on her house blog.

Have you changed anything in your home? Post photos and stories in my Su Casa group!

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Before and After: Lauren's Retro-Modern Kitchen

CasaSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:00:03 -0700

Craftster member Lauren is an amazing crafter, but she's been taking a hiatus from personal craft projects to work on a much bigger one: making over her new house.

Lauren writes, "We bought our house in mid-August and have been going to town on every inch of it. It is a 1931 cottage style 1 1/2 story house that we fell in love with on the very first round of showings. We have mostly completed the house in just one month, but the kitchen was the first to be finished to completion."

To see the great improvement Lauren made on her kitchen, read more.

Lauren, who says she loves retro kitchen decor, has done a great job integrating '50s-style items with a more modern look. I love her use of pattern and color, from the curtains to the wallpaper and cupboard inlays. The cupboards look super fresh thanks to the new coats of paint, and I love the scalloped edging over the sink. Her use of accents is spot-on, too. What a nice update!

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Room Therapy: Easy Fixes For an Outdated Kitchen

CasaSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:16 -0700

Hi CasaSugar Readers,

My husband and I are purchasing our first home, and I would love suggestions on how to "refresh" the kitchen and bathroom. In the end, we're going to only have probably $2,000 (max) to spend on both spaces.
In the kitchen, I'm thinking of painting the cabinets, and the countertops (has anyone done countertops painting?). What do you guys think of that idea? Does anyone have a better idea than that? I'm rather desperate. And it's going to be a few years or so, since hub and I have to save up to complete the reno, so I really want it to be a nice, decent and comfortable place for me to cook, since I love to cook.

P.S. I like muted and neutral colors usually. My appliances most likely will be white.

Thanks in advance!
Nevaeh1978

Do you have any great ideas for Nevaeh? Leave them after the jump!

Before and After: A Kitchen Expansion

CasaSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:00:30 -0700

While turn-of-the-century homes are often quite spacious when it comes to shared spaces and number of bedrooms, often the kitchens are cramped and ill-suited for modern-day home chef work. MainStreet Design Build, a Michigan-based renovation and build firm, came to the rescue, for this family, stepping in to add a kitchen and breakfast nook addition to the home.

Here's the home from the rear exterior, where a small entryway opens onto a large deck. To see how the firm improved the home, read more.

The kitchen and breakfast nook addition added grace to the appearance of the rear of this turn of the century home. In the kitchen, Dynasty Omega cabinetry and commercial grade Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances updated the functionality of the space.

To see the interior pictures, check out the gallery.

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How-To: Renovate Your Kitchen to Accommodate a Wheelchair

CasaSugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:00:25 -0700

Su Casa member Hihowareya recently updated her kitchen with a cool DIYed backsplash, some fresh paint colors, and new lighting. She also made an important, practical change to her kitchen as well: she added an island and sink that allowed her wheelchair-bound mother to maneuver around the space and use the kitchen to her best advantage.

To find out how Hihowareya created this island on a tight budget, read more.

She writes,

The island is lower so [my mom] can reach the sink. The sink is a bar sink and we picked out basically the cheapest sink and faucets out there that would suit our needs, and that total came out to be less than $100. The sink is 15 inches by 5 inches deep, so it's tiny but it serves its purpose. The countertop to this island is a butcher block we custom ordered from Home Depot for $227 (that's including tax) and measures 42 inches x 25 inches. We bought two unfinished oak wall cabinets, placed them back to back, and then I stained them with the same stain as our original cabinets so they'd match (my mom wanted matching). There's also an electrical outlet on it, so my mom can plug in her teapot to boil water and make her tea, or plug in her bread maker and make bread and such. It's awesome how something so little can improve someone's independence tenfold.

Hihowareya reports that the entire island and sink renovation cost less than $400. What a great investment! She was able to give her mom more independence in the kitchen, and I bet that now, Hihowareya has another set of helping hands in the kitchen now as well. Have you made any renovations that improved accessibility for a wheelchair-bound family member? How did you go about it?

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Before and After: Updating a '70s-Style Kitchen

CasaSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

While there's much to love about living in Victorian homes, one thing that's often not a coveted feature is the multitude of renovations that succeeding generations of owners have added to the homes. The '70s-style kitchen renovation in this Boston Victorian definitely fits in that category. To see how it was fixed, read more.

Bamboo floors lightened up the previously dark space, while customized cabinetry allowed for greater organization. Recessed lighting, along with cheery yellow pendant lamps, brightened the scene, and the custom tile work added some needed personality. A new mudroom area also made the space more functional and open. Quite the improvement, isn't it?

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Before and After: A Bold Kitchen Makeover

CasaSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:45:09 -0800

Susan Smart and Art Westerinen bought an over 100-year-old Shingle-style home two years ago. Since the home was compromised by tiny, cramped rooms, the couple decided to gut the entire home, starting with the kitchen, which was tight quarters at 11 feet square.

Here's how it looked before they started their renovation:

To see the impressive transformation, read more.

Susan, who's a kitchen designer by trade, expanded the space by getting rid of an extra bathroom. She also moved the sink and dishwasher, took out upper cabinets and replaced them with open shelving, and mixed styles and surfaces to make this space both modern and eclectic. I love the change!

Find out all of the details, as well as more photos, at This Old House.

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Before and After: Halsig's Kitchen Makeover

CasaSugar — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:30:35 -0700

TeamSugar member Halsig, who recently installed a brilliant bathroom door, has been working on remodeling her loft - which began as, in her words, "a big empty cement box" - into exactly what she wants for about five months. Thanks to her keen design sense, she now can cook in style in a warm, industrial-looking modern space with all the essentials for a great chef. She installed stainless countertops, Bulthaup open shelving, beautiful Swiss pear Bulthaup cabinetry, a Gaggenau convection oven, Dacor convection microwave, Dacor refrigerator, and an appliance storage room, which serves as a pantry, too. She also designed and installed an anodized aluminum and glass backsplash on her very own! In addition to all of these wonderful amenities, a warm gray/beige (in her words, "greige") paint color kicked the sterile feeling of the loft before, and a round glass table in the middle of the room keeps the space cohesive. To see this impressive transformation, read more.

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What You're Wanting: A New Kitchen For Peggy

CasaSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:30:06 -0700

I love Peggy Olsen, the junior copywriter on Mad Men. She's tough as nails, fascinatingly complex, and a genuinely good person. While I have some hope for her personal fashion changing a bit since she's been hanging out with openly gay and Euro copywriter Kurt (he made a vast improvement to her hair), I'm not so sure if I'm so hopeful for her apartment.

For this latest What You're Wanting, I want to know how you'd improve Peggy's kitchen. As you can see from this photo, it's pretty dull. What would you do to improve the look? Would you change the paint color? What accessories would you add? Any furniture that could dress up her Brooklyn walk-up? Add all the finds to your ShopStyle Living stylebook, and create a look tagged with the phrase Pegg's Mad Men Kitchen. Private message me if you have any questions. Oh, and as extra incentive, I'll give some Sugar schwag away to my favorite look!
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Before and After: Kitchen Update

CasaSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:45:24 -0700

This Old House recently ran a story about a California couple who waited almost 20 years to renovate their kitchen. The original kitchen, which is shown here, was dominated by oak cabinetry and outdated accents.

To see what it looked like after the reno, read more.

Working with a local designer, the couple managed to completely reimagine the look of their kitchen without changing any major components or knocking out walls. Highlights of the kitchen include walnut and marble counters. A nice update, don't you think?

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