So did you paint or reface the cabinets? Is the counter wood?

We painted the cabinets. Washed with tsp solution, sanded, primed with oil based primer and four top coats of a latex enamel paint. The counter tops are all butcher block by Boos. We wanted something durable but with a more relaxed feel than granite. We replaced all the hinges on the cabinets as well as the door handles. We also had our contractor build us the wine racks over the sink area.

We also pulled up all the old laminate flooring and replaced with porcelains tile as well as tiled the backsplash with a honed stone tile. We removed the unnecessary soffit over the cabinets too.

What a great job, kudos!!

Beautiful. I love the wood breakfast bar. Nice work.

Nice job. I'm curious. What do you figure your savings were vs. new cabinetry?

And, how much of the work did you do yourselves?

Great job!

These cupboards look like they will last a very long time. They look like they were originally custom made. No particle boards on the side of them. Glad you kept them they look great.

We hired a contractor to retrofit the cabinets, install the countertops, open the wall, and do the tile work. We painted the cabinets ourselves. They were custom built cabinets from the 50's originally and were still in great condition. If we purchased new cabinets and did a complete gut the new cabinets alone were upwards of 15k. And that would have been the very bottom line cabinetry and of course didn't include tile etc.

This is just like my kitchen! :) How fun to see this!

Great transformation of kitschy shelves to wine storage!

Very,very nice,love the colors and textures.

Great transformation with existing cabinets. Love the table and matching counter tops! Bravo!

Wow!

Great job!

My kitchen looks like the before picture right now. How was is getting the top of the cabinets off and adding crown molding?? Easy? Hard? What did you do?

It looks great! So nice that you were able to re-use the original cabinetry.

What a transformation! A much warmer and inviting place to be now--great job!

Would love to know how you got the range in there -- basically, what you did with the corner to the right...

What a change!

I like the original better. All you needed to do is change the lighting and you would have had a charming kitchen that wasn't like everyone else.

Awesome job for a budget! Doesn't look like you were on a budget at all!

Amazing job

Looks fantastic! Nice job!

I much prefer the vintage look of the original kitchen. You may have more storage but the old kitchen had character… Much more, I’m afraid.

Looks amazing! great choice of counter-tops, really adds character.

This is impressive! You really stretched $15k quite a ways!

Wow - nicely done!

You spent a ton of money destroying a beautiful vintage kitchen. Your updated kitchen looks dated already.

I like the original better. All you needed to do is change the lighting and you would have had a charming kitchen that wasn't like everyone else.

I much prefer the vintage look of the original kitchen.

Not everybody likes the vintage look. Not all opinions have to be given.

It looks beautiful, great job!

It looks fantastic ! I love the butcher block ....

I stay in vintage MCM boutique hotels in the Palm Springs area several times a year. As much as I appreciate the “vintage” decor & bathrooms, I don’t want it for my full time residence, vacations yes, but not everyday. I understand the desire for a transformation here. Great job, I love it.

Beautiful. Don't let the nay-sayers trouble you. They can have an authentic vintage kitchen if they want. What's important is if you like it! You kept perfectly good quality cabinets instead of wasting money on cheap replacements. Cudos!!

Nice job and I love that you kept the cabinets and painted them. I'm getting quotes for new cabinets for a rental. The quotes for ready-made medium quality for two upper cabinets, a sink base cabinet and three 15" wide base cabinets are running $3,000 to $4,600. This is for a tiny kitchen, so imagine the cost for a full-sized kitchen. Quotes for RTA (ready-to-assemble) are slightly less at $2,000-$3,000. Cabinets are very expensive for decent quality.

Awesome Job- this is the kitchen I want!

Awesome transformation!

This looks great - nice choices and vast improvement to feel of space!

Hello - This looks great. We have similar style 1950s kitchen that we are looking to remodel ourselves, but keep our cabinets too. We have the H style offset set, colonial style hinges and want to replace with interior hinges but have been unsuccessful in finding there or how to do it. Did you replace yours or did you replace the entire doors on the cabinets?

Looks great!

Looks great! I did a good job with the budget you had!

The vintage kitchen cabinets were beautiful birch wood. Don't know where you would find that again. The wrong modifications were made.

I doubt the OP will see this..to each his own on cabinet color..would love to hear how your DIY paint job is holding up, however. I took a look to see how your decisions 7 years ago are holding up and from my view point you chose well!!

I am working on similar cabinets. What kind of hinges did you use to replace the original ones? I'd love to be able to use some that aren't visible but I don't see how with inset doors.

​Looks great! Love that you made wine storage out of those window shelves.

Yes you should should preserve vintage features in a house when you can but you have to have an updated kitchen!!!!

Great job! Look like you spent a lot more then you did. How is the paint on cupboards holding up?
Why steps for prep and painting did you do? Thanks

*what

Wow what a transformation! Great job!