Sara and her husband bought their home several years ago to accommodate their small family. Four kids later (that’s right, FOUR!), they came up for air, looked around and decided their kitchen, dining and living rooms could use some sprucing. Sara envisioned a sophisticated palette of grays and blues, but was stumped on fine tuning her ideas. Of course, we were happy to help!
Sara’s kitchen is huge with enviable storage, but her cabinets were wearing a dated paint effect and the walls were a yellow that just wasn’t working. Here is another view from the opposite direction.
That small desk in the kitchen picture above just wasn’t making the grade. Sara wanted a bigger workspace for the back wall to use as her command center and home office. (The white door leads to the foyer.)
Below are two shots of the living room. We love the gorgeous antique sofa and chairs that Sara inherited from her grandmother, and the fireplace and built-in bookcases have uber potential.
As you can see from all of the tearsheets on the floor, Sara had done her research. She knew exactly “the look” she had in mind. Although she didn’t have beaucoup bucks for new furniture, we knew that some affordable updates could really get her started in her visual pursuits for these rooms.
Since we’re all about frugal fabulousness here at simple-e-design, our recommendation was to update Sara’s kitchen with the biggest design bang for her dollar: paint. We recommended painting the upper cabinets in the corner area and the doors and cabinetry on Sara’s pantry/appliance wall in Benjamin Moore’s Simply White 2143-70 with a semi-gloss finish. Once we committed to that white “color” (to read more about that topic, click here), we continued with the Simply White semi-gloss on all trim throughout the three connecting rooms for consistency.
Since Sara’s kitchen is so big (JEALOUS!), we decided to ground the potentially overwhelming sea of white cabinetry by painting the base cabinetry a darker color. We used Sara’s existing granite countertops to direct our color selection and decided on Stone (BM 2112-40), also in a semi-gloss finish. We find that the semi-gloss finish works well on cabinetry since messy splatters and spills wipe off more easily.
In an effort to improve the visual flow from room to room, we recommended that Sara paint all three rooms the same wall color. We chose Iced Cube Silver (BM 2121-50) in an eggshell finish for it’s serene and sophisticated gray/blue tones. The eggshell finish will stand up to sticky fingers, but contrast with the shiny white trim for the classy effect Sara was craving.
Here is Sara’s gorgeous kitchen after.
Isn’t it an amazing transformation?! The white paint on the cabinetry, pantry doors and trim pulls the whole space together, and the darker shade on the base cabinetry grounds the central kitchen area. Sara reused her existing cabinetry hardware and still longs for a new backsplash, but had to splurge on new double ovens instead. Priorities! The family must eat!
Remember Sara’s puny desk on the other side of the kitchen? Well, this well-deserving mom upgraded to some stylish and functional desk furniture that’s more worthy of a busy domestic diva who is managing four kids and working from home.
In the living room, we suggested that Sara enhance her already stylish bookcase displays by using the leftover Stone paint on the interior backs of the built-ins. Now her collections really pop.
On the opposite end of the room, we eliminated the red tones that the bricks were introducing into the room by painting them the same Simply White. Now the fireplace wall has that smoky, sophisticated look Sara was seeking.
Sara’s inherited antiques are framed beautifully by some glamorous yet affordable silk dupioni drapery panels in platinum. A pair also hangs in the dining room, connecting the two rooms in an elegant fashion.
Impressively, Sara did most of this styling on her own with only minimal online consulting from us. She just kept playing around with different configurations until she settled on arrangements that work.
Sara still has her wish list: a living room rug, a sleek coffee table, new light fixtures, a hipper kitchen backsplash, but we can all agree that with these budget friendly updates, she’s well on her way to achieving the sophisticated, stylish space she had in mind all along. What do you think?
If you want to truly love where you live, please contact me about design services.
