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reno_fan

French Country Yellow and Blue facelift: DONE

reno_fan
15 years ago

For those who don't know me already, I've done 3 kitchens in 3 years; my first house kitchen remodel, which brought me to GWeb, a flip house kitchen, and my current kitchen, which we've now both remodeled and "facelifted" twice in 2 years. (Yes, I'm looking for a 12 step program!)

When we bought our current house, we changed a few things in the kitchen, and in a rush, decided to just repaint everything white. While I love white kitchens, my very rustic saltillo tiles always seemed to clash with the very crisp white cabinetry. I'd wanted yellow cabinets for a while, and after living with the white kitchen for almost 2 years, we finally took the plunge and painted the cabinets, electing to do the island in a French blue.

My kitchen went from one that was okay, to one that I absolutely adore.

Here is a progressive view of what we did, and what we ended up with:

When we bought the house:

Here was the result of the initial remodel. Lovely, but it just never felt like home, and the glaring contrast of the white cabinet and rustic floors always bothered me:

And this is what we've settled on:

Cooktop area before:

And after:

Fridge area before:

And after:

Sink area:

What we did:

Moved refrigerator location to allow stove hood to take center stage.

Had hutch built in place of old refrigerator location.

Had hood built.

Added gas.

Cut out cabinets under cooktop to allow for a stove instead of downdraft cooktop.

Added proper ventilation.

Added arch over window.

Modified cabinets to hold farm sink.

New counters and backsplash.

New appliances. (Waiting for old compactor and DW to die so I can replace!)

Added mini chandeliers over island.

Painted and glazed cabinets.

This kitchen wasn't a total gut/redo, and I wanted to post it for people who may have a good layout (like we did), but just feel that the space needs to be brought up to today's standards.

Comments (33)

  • lululemon
    15 years ago

    I LOVE this kitchen!! What paint colours did you use for the cabinets?

  • marthavila
    15 years ago

    That is an absolutely stunning transformation! I recall when you posted "stage 2" . Although I thought it to be very pretty, I did not choose to comment at that time. But, this time around, I have to really give you a shout out. Great job! Great use of color! IMHO, you can stop at this one (but don't forget to enroll in the TKO 12-step program, LOL!) /cause now you've gone and done great!

  • robin32
    15 years ago

    It's neat that you reused as much as possiible in this transformation and made such a big change as well. Love the French Blue too!

  • mcraney
    15 years ago

    reno fan, your kitchen went from "nice" to STUNNING! I tried other adjectives since marthavila used stunning but nothing else conveyed the beauty of your kitchen.

    I love the arch over your sink. Please give us the details.

    Julie

  • danielle00
    15 years ago

    way to nix the tile on the countertops! good call! your island is the same color as the one we ordered last month-- it looks great. big improvement. you also must be so much happier with gas. we're doing that too!

  • tinycastles
    15 years ago

    Tell us about your sink. I cannot tell from the photo, but is it copper or some other metal?

  • plllog
    15 years ago

    Oooh! La la!

  • acountryfarm
    15 years ago

    Beautiful !! Each & every detail is wonderful. I bet you are loving working in your new space.
    Good Job !!

  • tetrazzini
    15 years ago

    I saw the new color scheme somewhere recently, and it's so wonderful! The first set of changes was already miraculous, considering you did relatively little. But I agree that the colors weren't right. Now they are, and they're perfect with the tile floor. You've got a really good feel for design! I also love the arches over the window and range hood.

    A couple of questions if you don't mind: How wide is the range hood cover? And how many inches above the range top/counter is it?

    Thanks Reno

  • elizpiz
    15 years ago

    WOW! Love it. Yellow kitchens are my absolute fav. I love all the details you've brought in to tie everything together without it being *precious *. Has to be repeated - it's stunning!

    Eliz

  • reno_fan
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks all. Hopefully this will be of help to someone else who maybe doesn't need to gut their kitchen.

    lululemon, the island is Ben Moore Gibraltar Cliffs with a gel stain glaze.

    The yellow cabinets were a custom-mix paint I had in the garage (mixed in Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint in Semi gloss). They are glazed in Sherwin Williams' Van Dyke Brown glaze.

    mcraney, the arch over the sink (as well as all of the other added cabinetry items) were built on site by my super-carpenter.

    tinycastles, the sink is a chiseled-front granite sink. It's one of the best decisions we made in the kitchen, and it was sheerly coincidental. I ran across these farm sinks at a local builder's supply place, and the price was really good (around $375 if I recall correctly). That sink is a WORK HORSE. Never looks dirty, doesn't scratch, big single bowl, etc. Love that sink.

    Eggandart, the range hood is approximately 66 inches wide, and at the highest point is approx 32 inches.

    HTH!

    Thanks again all. I know yellow and blue cabinets aren't everyone's thing, but I really think it's at home and appropriate in this kitchen.

  • cleo07
    15 years ago

    renofan
    It looks great! Although I thought it was really pretty before, I have always loved warmer cabinets with the terracotta (my original floor choice until I priced it out) and now it all fits together like it was always there. You did a phenomenal job!

  • annes_arbor
    15 years ago

    This is absolutely lovely! You've made such good decisions--the arch above the window, getting rid of that horrid tile, etc. I agree that the new color scheme works much better with the floor. Wow!

  • vicnsb
    15 years ago

    A wonderful and warm change! Congrats, your new colors
    work well with the great flooring. Beautiful job!
    vic

  • amysrq
    15 years ago

    I've been watching this kitchen all along, but it is really fun to see all the pictures all in one post. Thanks!

  • jejvtr
    15 years ago

    Reno

    ALWAYS a pleasure seeing what you are up to. It has been great fun watching 2 transformations in your space - Your visceral reaction was right all along - Can't believe you got dh to go along with it - I just don't think mine would have been there - maybe for someone else to do the labor!

    enjoy that lovely space you created

  • redroze
    15 years ago

    I've always loved your kitchen from the first time I saw it. Loved it in white, love it even more in yellow and blue. I'm sure that you are so happy that you changed it to the colours you wanted. The chandeliers look so perfect in your space, and I like all the detailing in the cabinets. Beautiful.

  • rosie
    15 years ago

    Nothing new to say, your kitchen is beautiful! always been one of my favorites! yadayadayda! :) But it's true. I loved it before, and I'm a real sucker for yellow too. It is especially nice, though, to see someone bravely tweak a fine kitchen as you did to bring it to your dream, and also super nice to see that it worked. It's possible! (How about 12-stepping yourself to design school? You have a talent!)

  • morton5
    15 years ago

    Wow, that you have taken la cuisine from blah to belle. Your carpenter is a genius. And your energy to keep going with this (as well as all the other reno-stuff you do) is inspiring/humbling. Congrats on a warm and beautiful space.

  • joann23456
    15 years ago

    Your kitchen positively *glows*! It's wonderful.

  • pickles_ca
    15 years ago

    I love what you have done too! BRAVO!!!

  • krissd
    15 years ago

    This is one of my favorites - I loved it before you redid the cabinets. It's stunning! Congrats! kris

  • gr82bgrammy
    15 years ago

    That looks incredible!!! I love the arches above the stove, sink and fridge. The backsplash and counters are great too! Just beautiful! Makes me rethink my just painted white cabinets!!! DH would absolutely loose it though if I mentioned a word about that!!!
    Terry

  • napagirl
    14 years ago

    Love the new Blue and Yellow facelift ... especially the pic of the stove and mantle ... Very Beautiful !

  • amykath
    14 years ago

    Reno!

    As always your amazing. I LOVE it!!!! You did a wonderful job. It is so gorgeous and has a super warm and cozy yet very elegant feel to it.

    Amy

  • nhbaskets
    14 years ago

    Absolutely beautiful! I can understand why you adore your final result.

  • karena_2009
    14 years ago

    I totally love your aesthetic and how you warmed up this kitchen with the paint choices. Also, the mixture of textures with the backsplash, counter top, and saltillo floor tiles. A couple of recent posts asked about incorporating a copper farmhouse sink with stainless steel and stainless/black combinations. You did it so successfully in your setting.

    Do you mind me asking where the farmhouse sink and how big it is?

    Congratulations! The yellow and blue is a great color combination.

  • southernstitcher
    14 years ago

    I'm drooling over your kitchen! I told my DH (who forbids painting even white) "I will too find a kitchen with beautiful yellow cabinets that is stunning!". Well, I have. I would like red accents but the blue and yellow is divine, and so much more sophisticated. Oh, if only I could convince him.....

  • desertpalm
    14 years ago

    Hello. The kitchen looks beautiful! Excellent job! I'm currently building a home and I've chosen a yellow-butter kitchen with a black island and brownish/terra-cotta colored floor. My backsplash is similar to yours. I'm really having trouble with the wall color though. My wall color is called "nonchalant white" from Sherwin Williams, but it just doesn't work. It looks really dull. What is your wall color? I'd love anyone's advice.

  • vre_toupstairs_com
    13 years ago

    Very nicely done! I really like the traditional aspect and detail that you put in your french country kitchen.

    Here is a link that might be useful: french country kitchen

  • Tracy Cunningham
    7 years ago

    Any way to get the pics back? I would love to see this kitchen but photos are unavailable.

  • Lavender Lass
    7 years ago

    I thought the same thing! : )

  • Rudebekia
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    renofan hasn't posted in some years and no doubt removed the photos herself from her photo storage. However her kitchen appeared in This Old House. Here's a link to the thread that links to This Old House.

    http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2575558/renofans-kitchen-is-on-toh-best-list