Seeing purple! Kitchen before & after

The challenge: update a tired kitchen without breaking the bank.


The solution: paint - rather than replace - the cabinetry and enliven the space with a bold countertop.


Let's hear it for Formica Microdot! It has a tiny pattern of dots that gives the material a contemporary, almost tech-y feel. This is #6903 Cassis.

I've found that countertops generally fall into two price groups: there's laminate and butcherblock at the low end of the scale (around $40/sf), and then there's everything else - granite Caesarstone, Silestone - at double the price. Lucky for me I didn't have to talk the client into Formica; she's as much a fan as I am.

My client also knew that replacing her cabinets would be prohibitively expensive - and even though they were old, they were in great shape. So we painted them Benjamin Moore's AF-405 Thicket in a semi-gloss finish - that's from their new Affinity Series, which I've been using more and more.

To make the small space feel larger, we used a similar, lighter shade on the walls and ceiling: Benjamin Moore's HC-99 Abington Putty.

We wanted to use Marmoleum on the floor, but for some reason we had a devil of a time finding it in the color we wanted. In the end, we went with regular vinyl tile.

Because my client was ready to buy new appliances, we had an issue over the refrigerator. The new one was taller than the old, so the cabinet had to come out. I've encountered this problem before...my solution is to have the contractor build in some deep, open shelves for platters and low dishes. They're painted the same color as the cabinetry.


In my old condo, we did the same thing when we jammed the fridge into the closet where the washer and dryer used to be. It was really handy, actually.


The client's happy, I'm happy...the kitchen seems pretty happy, too.