Cabin fever? Cabinet re-do.

It sounds like this snow has left people housebound and a little stir crazy. I think we lucked out in that we had power the whole time, plus we were able to drive somewhere every day from Friday through Sunday. In fact, B and I were just saying we had a really fun weekend but didn't feel like we got to spend very much time in our house just vegging! Anyway, in case you're stuck in your house and ready to start tearing down the walls, here's some inspiration for updating your home, or in this case, your kitchen. I am crazy for this project.

This brilliant woman, Anne Turner Carroll, transformed her kitchen from basic (and not bad, just kinda eh) to beautiful. Here are the before photos:


Not too bad.


Shot from the dining room looking in to the kitchen.

The existing cabinets were moved up to the ceiling, and then capped off with thick crown molding. You can see the line (right above the brown paint) of the cabinet bottoms' original placement in this during shot:


Moving the cabinets up got rid of that empty space we all have above our cabinets (which is pretty much useless - or makes for ugly storage - and just seems to collect dust!) and made room for a super-cute display/storage ledge under the closed cabinets.

These after photos are incredible!:

It's amazing how a cheap and easy solution of repainting the existing cabinets white and adding new hardware made such a huge impact. I also love the white subway tiles that were used for a backsplash. This kitchen is so much lighter and brighter overall!


Don't the cabinets look great up higher like that? It's genius that she got to keep her closed storage (good for putting away dishes and items without having to meticulously arrange them), but she still has the shelves below for visual effect.


Here's the side of the kitchen. I really like all the light fixtures shown here.


Brilliant.


I also really love the beadboard-esque ceiling. It's a nice touch of added texture without closing things in, since it carries through the bright white.


Here's the after shot from the dining room. The cut-out to the kitchen was made much larger and arched. It looks like a different house!

I love, love, love this kitchen re-do, and the great idea for repurposing your existing cabinets.

All photos are from Cottage Living, as seen on Sabbe Spot.