Our Mid Century Modern Kitchen Renovation
Last week I showed you our dining room reveal; this week it’s all about the kitchen. The space that had the biggest transformation was the kitchen. When we moved into our house, we knew we wanted and really needed to work on the kitchen as soon as possible. It was dark, dingy, and frankly really gross. Plus it was cut off from the dining room and I wanted to be able to see the dining room, deck and patio from the kitchen.
We originally considered refinishing the original cabinets since they were custom made and a beautiful walnut; however, a visit from a carpenter we were told to rip it all out and start fresh. Although IKEA gets a bad rep sometimes in the home design and decor space, their kitchen cabinets are top notch and come with a great warranty. However, they don’t offer enough customizations so we decided to work with Semihandmade for custom cabinet fronts. Semihandmade specializes in creating fronts that fit with IKEA products. They offer an amazing selection of fronts and customizations so you can get exactly what you want. We selected the Walnut horizontal grain fronts from Semihandmade to keep the aesthetic similar to the original kitchen, although updated. We kept the original pulls from the kitchen since they match the doorknobs and pulls in the rest of the house (the original owner of this house really paid attention to details).
If you want the 411 on buying a Semihandmade x IKEA kitchen, definitely read my post where I break down the process and cost.
Pictures by Bethany Nauert
Sources + more below!
I saw this Fireclay backsplash on Pinterest a year before we started our renovation, but I didn’t know the source. We started the renovation and I was still searching for this perfect backsplash and then Alan found it in the final hour. It’s called the Escher tile pattern and I’m in love with it. The folks at Fireclay were so amazing and they sent us samples and our beautiful tile as quickly as possible. The backsplash was installed after the kitchen was completely done but it was well worth the wait!
The flooring and countertop are from Choice Granite & Kitchen Cabinet Company in Pasadena. We wanted to keep the finishes modern but still stay true to the architecture of the house. I love Terrazzo flooring but we couldn’t swing $100/SF for the entryway and kitchen, so we found quartzstone tile that looks like terrazzo and it was only $4/SF. Please note that this pricing is from 2015!
Alan demolished the entire kitchen himself with a bit of help from me. Side note: I was 8 months pregnant and seeing him go to town with a sledgehammer looked soothing amidst all the chaos. So I took a few swings and it seriously was therapeutic. Alan also put together the entire kitchen, from the IKEA boxes to Semihandmade fronts. He literally finished our kitchen the day before I went into labor with Harlee – talk about timing! I’ll be writing up a separate post about the process of buying an IKEA and Semihandmade kitchen (spoiler – it’s easy and fun!).
Kitchen Finishes: Fireclay Tile Backsplash, Semihandmade Cabinet Fronts, Quartzstone counter and terrazzo-like quartzstone floor tile, Ikea cabinet box, Delta Trinsic Faucet, West Elm Pendant Light
Other Sources: Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, West Elm Canisters, Vintage Print, Tea Towels, Hand Soap, Marble Cutting Board, French Press, Cup & Saucer, Wood Cheese Board, Vintage Runner
Check out our Dining Room Reveal and more renovation posts!
