Kitchen transformations

If you've read my blog before, you'll know that I just love 'before' and 'after' house transformations. And I think many of you do too - it's so inspirational to see what can be done with some imagination, hard work, time and a little (or a lot of) money!


In today's post I'm focusing on kitchens. So many people get put off buying a house because of a dated, dirty kitchen, and yet you can sometimes grab yourself a bargain-priced house if you are prepared to put in the hard yards and renovate your kitchen. And when it is done you can sit back and admire your brand new glistening new kitchen, knowing that you have also increased the value of your home greatly.


Starting off with this stylish white beauty....white cupboards, stainless steel benchtops and splashbacks with a stone-topped island bench.

Now look at it before.....cheap and outdated looking....

Here's another view of the same kitchen after it's transformation. Ikea's Kalcuim pendant lights add a slight industrial edge (and are cheap too!). Love the use of turquoise accessories to add a bit of spark. And look, they've even colour coordinated the little girl with the kitchen accessories! The wooden floor, wicker storage baskets, and custom-made rangehood add a little bit of country.

Take a look at this sad little kitchen: cheap, dated and boxed in....

And now....

Travertine benchtops, industrial light fittings and stainless steel splashbacks make this white kitchen extra special.

And finally for today we have a dark, outdated 70's kitchen, complete with the brown laminate and orange counter tops that were so popular back then.

Here it is today. What inspires me most is that this kitchen makeover cost less than $6000

New doors were placed on the old frames and new splashback and countertops were added, while panelling was added to the island and Ikea pendant lights installed. Then the kitchen was simply tricked up with some stylish accessories. Simple, but effective!

I love the baskets on top of the cupboards. They remind me of this basket:

I love this delicious photo of the textured blankets folded in the basket. It is from the gorgeous Swedish blog dreamhouse. The creator of this blog, Camilla, has the most exquisite taste! I'd been looking for an excuse to put this basket picture in a post, and now I've found it!

Pictures 1 - 5 Australian Home Beautiful, 6 - 7 For Me (no longer in publication), 8 dreamhouse