We’ve had some requests for more pictures of our homes, so we’ve dedicated this week to giving our nests a little more limelight. I am really excited for the excuse to show a little project that my husband and I have just wrapped up (or, I should say, our contractor just wrapped up). We’ve done minor reno projects before – from replacing bathroom plumbing fixtures to installing hardwood floors, but this is the first time that we’ve taken a room down to the studs and floor boards and started from scratch. Meet our old kitchen:
It actually doesn’t look as bad in these pictures as it was in real life. We were down to one working burner on our stove and the refrigerator door fell apart if you opened or closed it with too much gusto. Aside from quirky appliances, the plaster walls were in bad shape and the floor sloped up significantly in the middle of the room (perfect for my daughter to ride her big wheel over – but not exactly the look I was going for). The bottom line was that our kitchen was looking (and functioning) pretty rough, so, in February, we broke ground, err linoleum.
It was a long process, 11 weeks to be exact, and I had no idea how much of a mess it was going to create. But now that it’s done, we couldn’t be any happier with the results.
We replaced the linoleum with hardwood floors that match the rest of our house, and after lots of anxiety about stains and etching, we decided to go ahead with the marble countertops that I was pulling for.
We mounted the upper cabinets close the the ceiling and left room underneath for an open shelf – an idea inspired by a favorite kitchen of mine from Cottage Living. This is one of my favorite features, and it actually saved money because the shorter cabinets and the shelf were less expensive than cabinets that spanned the whole space. One thing to keep in mind with this approach is that the underside of the cabinetry needs to be finished off nicely. This isn’t always the case, since for the most part, the bottom of a cabinet isn’t visible. We did not take this into account, and our contractor had to get creative with trim to cover some unfinished areas and gaps under the cabinets.
My other favorite feature is the sliding barn door that hides our utility/laundry room. It is a great space saving solution, because we didn’t have to worry about being able to maneuver around our peninsula when the door is open. And I just love the way it looks.
The change that made the biggest impact was raising the ceiling in the back half of the room and adding this window. I painted the sashes the same color as the barn door and carried this color to the legs of these stools from Ikea.
We have been enjoying the new kitchen and are looking forward to making some big meals for the generous friends and neighbors who fed us when we didn’t have a kitchen!
Tags: kitchen, renovation
Rachel, I just discovered your blog yesterday, and I am in love with your barn door idea!
Installing pocket doors seems to be a pricy way to avoid an open-and-close door, and I’ve heard that pocket doors also can have lots of quirks and problems. I’m thinking the sliding barn door style could be called “modern Shaker”; so magazine-worthy, yet practical!
I adore your new kitchen. The subway tile, the marble, the barn door, everything. Gorgeous. I’d like to know how your marble countertops hold up over time, too.
I will keep you posted on the countertops! We’ve had a few scratches and etches already, but no stains yet. I’m expecting some imperfections over time but have decided to embrace them… We’ll see how that goes
!
OH MY – that is utterly gorgeous!!!
Love, love, LOVE your style! You guys did such an awesome job on your kitchen. It’s gorgeous! Could you share how you did the sliding barn door?
I saw your redesign over on “This Young House” and wanted to stop by and say how GREAT I think it is. Well done.
Followed the link from This Young House. What a fabulous kitchen! I love moving the cabinets up and adding the open shelf, and I love the tile. And the marble. All with the wood floors! Textural and clean.
I’m stunned. It’s jaw-droppingly stunning. A timeless kitchen yet modern in its own right. Beautiful work rachel!
Lovin’ your kitchen! I love the look of the marble–good choice! I’m dying to know did this remodel break the bank or was it budget friendly? ~Tracy
Your kitchen is amazing! I have been looking for a barn door mechanism for about 6 months to cover a pantry my husband built. Can you tell me where you found your hardware? Thanks Kimberly
You did an amazing job on your kitchen! Love the subway tile backsplash, its a keeper, never goes out of style.
I love this, and I know exactly which home you modeled it after b/c that’s what my husband and I will do when we purchase our home. I love the open shelving and subway tile. are yours white or cream?? and is the shelf in between the tiles or did you cut the tiles down?
great job!!
Rachel – your transformation is stunning! I love the subway tile and the counter top you chose. The light fixtures accent your kitchen beautifully! And I just love the character of your shelving and the personality of the awesome sliding barn door! Amazing job! I love it!
An amazing transformation!! We tried to do a barn door on our laundry room but it wouldn’t work because of how our electric box and baseboard heat is installed. I love how yours turned out!
i LOVE this kitchen! wonderful job!! would it be to much trouble to give a list of all the materials and stores you purchased them at
i’d love more detail and info on this beautiful makeover!
Here from “This Young House.” What a great job you did! I am in love with your kitchen!
Looks lovely. I am a bit obsessed with barn doors, and yours is the first one I have seen that looks attainable [I can do it in my house!] and not too industrial or fussy. Any details, hints, advice or sources?
Congrats again!
Beautiful! I am also visiting from This Young House.
Would you be open to posting your sources? Your kitchen looks almost exactly what I imagine my hopefully to be remodeled in the next year kitchen will look like. I have design paralysis and can’t pick from all the choices. Sooo many choices! I want what you have
Thanks for considering it!
Looks fabulous. Great job.
Found you via This Young House. Your kitchen is fabulous. Love it and want to have it. One question (maybe there will be more later after I study it some more!): how did you attach the shelves under the upper cabinets…I don’t see any brackets?
Love it!
Beautiful job! You have created a stunning kitchen with wonderful details such as the below cabinet shelving, barn door and subway tile that created such a wonderful texture in a white on white kitchen.
Congrats!
Thanks for such a great response to our new kitchen! It’s been so fun to share this project, and I’m happy to provide our sources:
cabinets and shelves: white Concord cabinetry from Norcraft Cabinetry (http://www.norcraftcabinetry.com)
cabinet hardware: nickel Grafton knobs and nickel Duluth pulls from Restoration Hardware
appliances: GE Cafe (range, hood, dishwasher) and GE Profile (refrigerator)
countertops: honed carrara marble from Marva Marble (http://www.marvamarble.com/)
backsplash: Essenze subway tiles in bianco craquelle from Best Tile(http://www.besttile.com/index.php?mact=Products,cntnt01,details,0&cntnt01productid=210&cntnt01returnid=16)
faucet: nickel Swing C from Hansgrohe (http://www.hansgrohe-usa.com/us_en/26183_31353832355F32375F3438393736.htm)
pendant lights: nickel Brightwood pendants from Rejuvenation (http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC162/templates/selection.phtml)
barn door hardware: unfinished Leatherneck flat track hardware from ADH Doors (http://www.adhdoors.com/gallery/?gallery=6#19)
I did a good bit of research on the barn door hardware and got several quotes – ADH had the lowest price, and I was very happy with their customer service. As for the shelves below the cabinets, our contractor installed “L” brackets in the studs before the drywalling was complete. The entire space is tiled and the shelves sit in front of the tile attached to the L brackets.
Feel free to ask more questions!
Looks amazing. I love the stainless pendants – where are they from?
also here via ‘this young house’….could you please post a reference for your appliances and cabinets? really a stellar job, quite lovely!
Holy Moly. EVERYTHING about this kitchen is just gorgeous. Love the floors, cabinets w/shelves, backsplash and the barn door!!!
Very cool how you matched the window sashes and stool legs to the barn door too.
WONDERFUL job!!
LOVE your kitchen reno!!! Pls tell me where you got your sliding door!? (and hardware) And I love the color too! Nice work. Have added your blog to my favorites.
Same thoughts as some above: job well done all around; BUT, at what price, please? Mainly, because we desperately need to demolish everything in our kitchen and redo from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. We like a lot of the features in your kitchen, but before we even start shopping for product and contractors, we would appreciate prices and availability of features, fixtures, materials, and labor. Thank you for any help offered.
Found this post from This Young House. I love this redesign! It’s so clean, crisp and beautiful. Can you share where you got your gorgeous stainless pendant lights? Love ‘em!
gorgeous kitchen ! would you mind telling where did you get the barn door ? and the hardware ? my bath room does not have a door and no space for it so I’m desperate to put a sliding door. !!!!!!!!!!!
thanks it looks awesome
I wish I knew where the barn door itself came from… We purchased it through our contractor, and it’s a fairly standard door – I’ll see if I can track down a source!
As for the budget, ours was significantly impacted by some structural issues with the kitchen that we had to address to make the reno worth while. As the structural costs went up, we made cost saving choices in other areas, like our cabinets (they were on the lower-end of what our contractor provided). I recommend getting estimates from several contractors (we interviewed 4). We made sure our contractor was willing to get creative with our budget and worked with providers who had budget friendly material options.
What a great makeover! I love the unique door and your attention to detail.
Rachel, this is absolutely gorgeous. Your color choices are lovely together. I hope you enjoy the new space!
Wow … STUNNING!!!! That’s the only thing I keep thinking. Beautiful, classic, timeless … GORGEOUS! You guys did an absolutely wonderful job on your kitchen. I am in LOVE!!! Hope you get years and years of enjoyment out of it!!!
[...] love, LOVE this kitchen renovation over at Urban Nest. Honestly, this is pretty close to my idea of the perfect kitchen. Gorgeous! I found Urban Nest [...]
Thanks so much for sharing the sources.
I do have two other questions – the lovely color on the barn door is what? And the floors?
Thanks again.
This reno is unbelievable! Everything looks so simple and chic, not overdone, and the sliding barn door is genius. I’m now sitting here trying to think of a place in my house we could use one! Gorgeous and great job. Thanks for sharing:)
Unfreakingbelievable! Every detail is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like it should be/is in a magazine. Although it’s all so white, I’m not sure how you’re going to eat anything in it. Great job!
Hi Elizabeth,
The barn door color is Light Grey from Farrow and Ball – I ordered their free swatch book (I love their tried and true color options) and then had the swatch matched at my local paint store.
I believe the floors are oak Bellawood floors… Our contractor sourced these to match our existing oak floors.
Hope this helps!
Rachel
I discovered your blog via This Young House, and I’m so happy that I did! This is an absolutely amazing transformation! I’ve always loved white cabinets, though I have learned the hard way that it can be tough to keep bright and clean. The floors are beautiful, and I LOVE the open shelf under the cabinets. It’s a great idea that makes this look like a gourmet kitchen. Awesome job!
great job! i love love love the barn door!
“I believe the floors are oak Bellawood floors… Our contractor sourced these to match our existing oak floors.
Hope this helps!
Rachel”
…It does. I have some Bellawood samples right now to replace our 20 (!) year old carpet and have had a hard time choosing. Thanks!!
Rachel,
Thank you for responding to our requests for sources and such–very kind and generous of you.
Sigari,
It was my pleasure. Best of luck with your kitchen adventures!
Rachel
[...] called me this past Saturday to ask if I’d seen my kitchen renovation on This Young House. I immediately fired up the laptop to see for myself. I sent Sherry and John [...]
So happy I just came across your blog! What a stunning makeover, wow.
Are your cabinets thermafoil? We were going to use satin, white thermafoil cabinets in our new build and have heard negative things about them. Advice, comments??
Beautiful. Wondering if you painted the legs on your stools. If so, what color. Is that pad just white?
I just showed your under cabinet shelf to my contractor and we’re wondering how you mounted those shelves. If you could spare a second to let me know I would be forever grateful!!!
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at our kitchen! I’m happy to answer your questions, so here goes:
The cabinets are painted wood, not thermafoil. We were on the fence about this one, because the cabinets were lower on our list of budget priorities. We cut a few other corners (like using the shelf instead of the extra tall cabinets – that saved $$) so that we could go with painted wood cabinets. I felt like this kept our options open – if we ever grow tired of a white kitchen, we can just paint the cabinets another color.
I painted the legs on the stools with Farrow and Ball’s Light Grey. I ordered their free color card (www.farrow-ball.com) and had the color matched at my local paint store. I love their color card, it has chips of their tried and true colors! The slip covers for the stool are the gobo white covers from Ikea. I’m hoping to replace them some day with a fun fabric, but no time yet
. The stool legs were already finished when I bought them, so it took a little sanding and priming before I could paint them.
Now on to the installation of the under cabinet shelf. Our contractor installed heavy duty “L” brackets in the studs prior to hanging the drywall. The drywall and tile went over the brackets filing the entire space (the tile is continuous behind the shelves). The shelves have a channel carved out on the underside that partially conceals the “L” bracket and the bracket is screwed to the shelf. We also painted the brackets to match the shelves.
Best of luck with your projects!
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
I was hoping you could give me a ball park figure for how much barn door tracks go for? The track I found a couple of months ago was $1200 and that is why we have not put a door infront of our pantry. I just LOVE the concept and can’t wait to finally have it in my house!
Thank you so much for your help,
Kimberly
[...] {This Young House} – I can’t get enough of this gorgeous kitchen from Rachel of blog Urban Nest (another fun [...]
So beautiful! One more question: did you work with a kitchen designer or did you do the design yourself? Congratulations on a job well done!
Hi Monica,
We did the design ourselves, but then turned over all construction to our contractor!
Hi Kimberly,
I got quotes from 3 different suppliers of barn door hardware. For our space, the prices ranged from $400 – $700. ADH Doors (http://www.adhdoors.com) had the best price, and I was very happy with their customer service.
Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel
[...] 8, 2009 Check out this awesome kitchen renovation. I don’t think want to take our kitchen down to the studs, but I like their [...]
Me again
We decided to go with your barn door idea for our pantry as well and I sent my designer your specs. He quoted me $400 for the hardware and $125 for the door. I just wanted to make sure this was in line with what you paid? I know you said your quotes on the barn door hardware were 400-700 but I wasn’t sure if that included the door or not. does $525 for the whole shebang sound reasonable to you?
Hi Jen,
The quotes for the barn door hardware did not include the door itself, so the quote from your designer sounds about right to me. I’d love to see pictures when its done!!
Rachel
ABsolutely! We are actually going to wall off the pantry in the kitchen to give us more room in there, I just posted our artist drawings of the kitchen on my blog today:
http://jencaputo.typepad.com/jen_caputo/2009/07/meet-my-new-kitchen.html
We are moving the opening of the pantry to my craft room and in order to not disrupt my current layout, we wanted a door that could slide behind my EXPEDIT’s.
See my craft room here:
http://jencaputo.typepad.com/jen_caputo/craft-room/
(If you scroll to the second post you should be able to see those Expedits that will have to get pushed all the way to one wall and then the barn door will slide behind them!)
I’m so thrilled to have seen that idea from you because otherwise we would have been stuck re-arranging my room (The contractors said they couldn’t do a pocket door there).
Thanks again for the fab ideas, I’ll definitely be back with the after shots when it’s all done!
[...] i loveeee this kitchen update found on urbannest.com [...]
[...] been enjoying our new kitchen for a couple of months now and have really settled in. Our marble countertops are holding up [...]
Hi, Rachel, this is Sam Morgan’s wife – Jacci
Your kitchen is gorgeous! I can definitely see why anyone would be very, very pleased with how it turned out.
Funny story – Several weeks ago I was putzing around on Etsy and found Lorcum Lane. I immediately recognized the name and knew that it was you and Juliet. So, today I was emailing back and forth a little with Sherry Petersik and I mentioned your business and that you all live in Richmond. Later on in the day, I visited this blog for the first time after googling Lorcum Lane. I cracked up when I realized that this was YOUR kitchen featured on YHL *after* I was just chatting with Sherry about your Etsy business!
Small, small world. Who knew Sherry and John were featuring kitchens from Accenture DC alumni? Crazy.
Anyway – your kitchen looks fabulous. Sam and I are knee deep in redoing a 1983 eye sore. It *will* be lovely someday
Hope you all are doing really well! I’ll check back in again soon!
XO,
Jacci
I wanted to let you know that my kitchen is now complete and you will notice 2 things inspired by yours!
The barn door and the under cabinet shelf! That shelf is probably my favorite thing in the whole kitchen!!!
You can see it here:
http://jencaputo.typepad.com/jen_caputo/2009/11/kitchen-renovation-final-reveal-before-afters.html
Thanks so much for answering my questions and for the inspiration!!
Hi Rachel,
the Cottage Living kitchen by Anne Turner Carroll is a favorite of mine as well! We are raising the cabinets in our kitchen up to ceiling height and installing an under cabinet shelf – wondering where you picked up your shelves and how they’ve done with the weight of dishes and the heat of the kitchen? Any issues so far.
I need to go to a kitchen and bath reno store and see what’s available, but recommendations from tried and true bloggers makes everything easier! thanks in advance
Niki
.-= Niki R´s last blog ..Maps as Decor =-.
ah! nevermind, found your source list in an earlier comment. Beautiful job, congrats again
.-= Niki R´s last blog ..Maps as Decor =-.
Niki,
We haven’t had any problems with our shelves, and we have them loaded with dishes and glasses. The heavy duty L brackets in the studs did the trick! Best of luck with your kitchen!
Rachel
It sure is good to get a bit of extra expertise when doing renovations (or thinking about it). If you are looking for some really good tips, I also recommend checking out Masterrenovator.com, the site is full of awesome information for things you don’t usually think about.
had to come back and take a look at your gray. It’s gorgeous!
.-= paula´s last blog ..Simply Stunning =-.
beautifully done and I’m borrowing some of your fantastic ideas for the kitchen remodel I’m doing for a friend right now. absolutely LOVELY and very well done.
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[...] core, six panel doors. So I took my inspiration from the photo below which is the kitchen at Urban Nest Blog. Exactly what I wanted! As with everything I do, I must draw a picture first to understand the [...]