One of the biggest and longest projects I’ve done in my house has been my kitchen remodel. I touched almost every part of the kitchen– from the walls, to the cupboards, counters, and the floor.

The goal of the project was to embrace the midcentury style of the kitchen, but refresh it in a modern way. I wanted to keep the original birch cupboards as-is and design the room around them. I also wanted to brighten up the space to give it a more open and airy look. Finally, I wanted to add my own personal touch on it, to make it feel like it fits my home, and isn’t just a copy paste from something on pinterest.

When I first bought my house, I painted the walls a retro green color because I felt like it fit the style of the kitchen. After removing the outlets and heat vents, I realized that the kitchen had been painted a very similar color at one point in time. These are the parts of interior design that I just love!

The paint I originally used was a cheaper paint and the walls needed a refresh. I kept a similar style but brightened it up to a lighter minty green. I love how the pastel base brightened up the room.

The floors were the last part of the remodel, but I also feel like they made a huge impact to brighten the room. I struggled with what flooring to go with, and even questioned my choice once I started doing them, but I also didn’t want something too busy or that didn’t fit with the retro look. The light tile brightens the room and doesn’t distract from everything else.

I ended up installing my new sink faucet early because my old one broke, so that is featured in both the before and afters. I felt a little forced to go with an undermount sink with my new quartz counters, but I am so glad that I stuck to my gut feeling and went with the matte gray granite instead. It looks so sleek, and I love the look of it as an overmount. I think this choice reiterates the value of sticking with your preference in a remodel, even if it’s not the “trendy” thing to do.

One of the most time consuming parts of the remodel was rebuilding the hole where the dishwasher sat and matching new wood into the existing cupboards. We ended up sanding down and refinishing the entire bottom section, but the hard work was worth it! I’m so happy with how the wood turned out.

I feel like all of the updated style details really made an impact to the look of the kitchen. The new drawer pulls, microwave, and cleaned up decor pieces pull it all together for a clean and updated look.

Looking back, the kitchen used to seem like a dark and dingy hodge-podge of styles. Now it’s authentic to my midcentry home, but in a styled, refreshed way. I also feel like the kitchen is timeless enough that I can easily change the look in the future without having to do major renovations. I’m also excited to take a little break from home renovations for a while, since this project has been going on since last summer!