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Kitchen Decorating Details

ByJennifer
44 Comments
Now that our cabinets are painted, it’s all in the kitchen decorating details. You had lots of questions about how we redid our kitchen on a tight budget, so I wanted to answer them here.*Edit. Some of this post has been updated to reflect the more current time. In fact, our kitchen has gone through some big changes!
Jennifer Rizzo Kitchen White painted Cabinets
 

So. Where’s your microwave?
Microwave on the kitchen counter with a coffee maker and wood countertop
In what I call the “ugly” area next to the coffee maker. Even though we’ve had the kitchen re-do, we still have our mish-mosh of appliances and I thought it was better to have all of those things grouped together. Does your chandelier give you enough light?
Vintage kitchen decor with hutch and vintage chandelier
   It actually gives off so much light I feel guilty because I couldn’t find CFL bulbs to go in there! I had it rewired to take 25 watt bulbs so times 8 that’s a lot of watts.
White painted kitchen cabinets and white kitchen island with vintage chandlier

 

Where did you get your countertops? How do they hold up? Are they a lot of work?
Mint inside of a white pitcher on a butcher block countertop
   I love them! The only work is to oil (from Ikea) them every few weeks. It completely repels water and beads up fine. I just use vinegar and water to disinfect. I will say we’ve never directly prepped or cut on our countertops anyway. I’m not a germ-a-phobe as much as a chem-a-phobe. If you read more about wood countertops you’ll find they actually are naturally anti-microbial, more so than plastic which holds bacteria. We bought them at Ikea which is a great deal, but they come in slabs, so if you want more than a straight cut then you have to have someone fabricate them for you. You can see how they are holding up 6 years later!
What is your hutch color?
Kitchen hutch and apron
That’s kind of a hard one; because I mixed it myself  it has about 6 shades on it. The closest straight color I could find was Antique Jade number 465 by Benjamin Moore. I think BM needs to call me for my own color line.  🙂   The funny thing is, the kitchen hutch has been moved around several times and now my grandmother’s buffet is there!
Painted dark green buffet with marbel top
Where did you get your handles?
hutch and kitchen handles
I found them at the Great Indoors. Talk about a hidden expense. Prepare to take out a small loan to replace all of your knobs and pulls. I don’t have the bags any more but I think they are by Amerirock. And we just primed and painted over our hinges isntead of the expense of new ones.
 
 What are your paint colors? 
White kitchen with beige walls and a blue hutch
The Walls are BM Bennington Grey which I love. It’s  a taupe-y, warm grey and it really changes color depending on the light. The cabinets are Linen White which is a warm white. As you can see in current pictures, there is now a hand-painted wallpaper in that area!
Hand-painted wallpaper in a kitchen
Why did you decide to not paint your cabinets a color instead of white?
Apples and pine on a plate
 Originally I was going to put Bennington Grey on my cabinets. Then, I tried a couple of green shades. I even sent away for a $13 dollar sample of Mouse’s Back from Farrow and Ball. Because to be honest, I didn’t want  a white kitchen, I never thought I could love  a white kitchen. However (never say never), once the floors and the countertops were in, I just couldn’t take away from the wood. I was just so pretty. Though I finally did get some green cabinets!
Thanks for all of your questions! You can see how our kitchen looks today here.
Jen
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*This was posted Via Jennifer Rizzo. com

44 Comments

  2. It looks so GREAT! Thanks for sharing. I have butcher block too, and if you’re ever looking for another product to place on them “The Good Stuff” is awesome

  4. Congratulations on your fabulous new kitchen.It looks just great.I agree with you on the hidden cost of the knobs, we did our kitchen a couple years ago and I still don’t have knobs, no budget for it right now.

  6. It looks great, the colors remind me of Cottage 8’s kitchen. An over the counter microwave is such a nuisance huh. Kinda like the pink elephant in the room but this case “the makeover”. I know it’d be pricey with wiring (or maybe not that much)but a small “stainles steel” microwave would look perfect inside the island cabinet. Keep up the great work!

  12. beautiful details jenn….did you ever think of having your contractor install a dimmer switch for your chandelier 😉

    we have that, for the cans, and I love that option

  16. Jen, Your kitchen looks beautiful. I am sure you must feel like you are in heaven whenever you walk into it. I have similar colors in mine; redid mine a few yrs back. I need new light fixtures and Gramma’s chandelier is a great idea…I will be on the lookout for something like it. Thanks for sharing your makeover. Very inspiring. And the Horton pics were excellent, too.

  19. Hi Jen!

    I love how your kitchen turned out. It looks like it should be on the cover of a decor magazine, and yet very homey and warm. My husband and I have been using CFL since they first came out, and I think they really do save a bunch on energy, and since they cost less now than a decade ago, we use them everywhere. I recently found some 3-way bulbs and dimmable ones too which are great to have! They were quite reasonable in price so I purchased several. Unfortunately, our store stopped carrying this particular brand, but I found the info online for you. The candle lights for the chandelier replace the 25 watts normal bulbs and are dimmable too! Here is where I found them online:

    Anyway, great job on the new kitchen, enjoy! –Leslie

  21. Hi Jen- How am I just now finding you??!!! Your kitchen re-do is absolutely incredible!! I hope you don’t mind if I share this with my readers…I am in awe.
    Happy holidays.
    T

  23. I love your kitchen and have used it for my inspiration in my own remodel. I am not finished yet, but it feels good to get rid of my oak cave. The differance is like someone finally turned the lights on. Thanks!

  24. I just found your blog through Pinterest today – your kitchen is bit bigger than mine, but I wish I had seen your reno before I did my own!! I would have used the same layout.

    Gorgeous job!!

    I’m STILL struggling with mine 🙁

  25. Wow! I am slowly redoing my kitchen and I can’t believe how great yours turned out! I am embarrassed to say that I laughed hard when you said that you replaced the “boob” lamp. (What am I, 8 yrs old?) I share your chem a phone as opposed to germ a phobe. I just painted my cabinets white. And decided to replace the hinges. Didn’t know that I needed to take out a loan for that one. I hope mine turns out half as nicely as your Jennifer. thx

    Michele

  26. Hi Jennifer,
    I hope you’re still reading comments because I can’t find your email!! 🙂 I wanted to see about your hinges. We’re doing a remodel to a white kitchen and I had purchased ORB hardware. Well I saw a photo of a kitchen with ORB hinges and I hated how busy it looks. I came over here from Holly’s website and see that your hinges are white. Did you have them spray painted? The white hinges I had in a box downstairs are SCARY white so I wondered how you dealt with that issue. Thanks much!! Your kitchen is lovely!

    1. Renae: Did you ever get a response to your question? I’m curious about the white hinges as well. I redid all my 30 cabinet knobs/pulls in ORB as well as the hinges in my 1960’s house. I think it looks rather busy as well. Plus, the hinges are just slighter thicker than the old ones and it took A LOT of finagling to get the doors to fit properly. Some still don’t. I’m thinking about digging around the garage for my old hinges (I hope I saved them) and just spray painting them. Robyn

      1. I just painted over them after priming them. They have held up pretty well, it’s been almost 4 years.

  27. hey there! Just found your lovely kitchen on pinterest. We are thinking about putting in wood countertops. thanks for the great info. Has the wood help up well? I noticed it has bee a little while since you orginally posted this. Everything looks amazing!

  29. I viewed your kitchen remodel over at The Lettered Cottage today. You did such a fantastic job. What a lovely room this is! I particularly love the hutch you painted (what a great addition) and the butcher block countertops. Nothing looks better with white cabinets in my opinion!

  30. Your kitchen is my dream kitchen – I absolutely love it. It is so cheerful.

    BM Linen White is my favorite. I’ve been using it since the early 90’s. All the trim, doors and cabinets in our house are painted this shade of white and are going to stay that way!

  31. Gorgeous kitchen! Love the colors, and especially the wood countertops! I also love how you hung the chandy so it is over the island. Gives me ideas! Gorgeous!!

  32. Hi- I thought I saw your blog name on Marty’s A Stroll Thru Life and had to check this out. Very cute kitchen!
    Love the tray! I was inspired by her post and included a link to her blog and yours on a new post I’m doing.

  36. I went from white cabinets to dark and I hate them. Besides changing them, do you have any ideas to brighten the room? I love your colors with the white.

  37. your kitchen is just beautiful, just beautiful!! And so attainable, thanks for the inspiration!! I came over from The Yellow Cape Cod, so glad I did!!

  38. I LOOOOVE your new kitchen!!! Can you PLEASE tell me how you went from handles to knobs on your cupboards without replacing the doors??? We are going to redo our kitchen and I want knobs, but currently have handles and thought I was stuck with them! Any suggestions??? Thanks! Darcy 🙂
    darcyrv@hotmail.com

  40. This is a beautiful work of art – your kitchen! I know about crying over water/mold damage! Those tears are now tears of joy!!!! That space is amazing and lovely and artsy and if I ever came over for coffee I would bring a wonderful pineapple and orange cake to share with you!!!

    xo
    ~Kolein

  42. I am so excited to find your kitchen! I actually found it via a link to Favorite Paint Colors on Pinterest. I have been thinking of painting my oak kitchen cabinets for a long time. We have BM Linen White trim throughout the house, but I’ve worried that it would be too yellow and not bright enough for the kitchen cabinets. I am so happy to see that it looks GREAT in your kitchen! I am thinking of using the BM Advance paint. I also have been thinking about the wood countertops from IKEA. Did you use the beech or the oak? I think yours look like oak, but I’m not sure. 🙂 Anyway, it looks terrific, and I’m very inspired! Thanks!

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