My brother recently moved into a new house, and the kitchen was severely lacking in many things, and the latest styling was one of them. .. it felt very dated, brown, and like the 1990s. I wanted it to be up to date and feel very masculine. He’s not ready for the full bowel of the kitchen, so I wanted a makeover on a budget. After looking at several options for the design of the , we ended up doing a lot of cosmetic work with paint for an upgraded look after knowing that we had to work with what we had. I came up with a design that included wood and black kitchen cabinets. Adds elegance and when you open the kitchen the kitchen looks bigger and trendier instead of the black painted cabinet fronts, the dark holes that already seemed to be with the veneer wrapped boxes . Backsplash painted to resemble slate tile. Aside from the floor he replaced throughout the first level, this is a sub $500 kitchen remodel, mostly done in paint. There are also fun videos to do.
If you look at the original kitchen, you can see that the small kitchen that really needs updating is a brown mess. The cabinets and drawers were painted a strange shade of brown, and the wall tiles were a sea of brown and beige glass tiles. The white floor tiles were bumped together and looked dirty all the time. Since I hadn’t changed the kitchen layout, I decided to keep the neutral countertops for now and replace them later to update the cabinets and tile. So updating the backsplash for that tile was a priority.
White kitchens have reigned supreme for almost a decade, but are slowly being replaced by newer, fresher looks such as black and wood cabinets.
I searched for black kitchen cabinet ideas and found some photos of inspiration.! A few months ago I painted a vintage dresser black and added some bare wood drawers. I fell in love with the vibe because the contrast between the waxed wood and the classic black paint added so much warmth. In my brother’s kitchen redesign, I wanted to take some of that trend and make it feel fresh and more modern.
After adding new laminate light wood flooring and painting the soffit area, I worked on the top and bottom cabinets. To bring the cabinets up to date without repainting, I decided to paint the fronts of the cabinets and drawers a matte black Benjamin Moore. universal black, and add modern hardware with black sleek handles. I was working on it. As you can see below, it made a huge difference once it was done!
With the doors back on, the kitchen really started to come together. Once the door was installed and the handle added, the home he became a stretch.
He also primed by cleaning the tile backsplash white and starting with a good primer. Then Multi-Surface he applied paint and sealer. I stopped in and used dry brush paint and a damp paper towel to apply the treatment to make it look like slate tile and seal it again. You can tell him what needs to be done and he will do it…lol. In fact, he did a really great job completing all the tasks he DIYs. The veneer-wrapped cabinets and painted backsplash look great! He deserves a big pat on the back!
The change in this kitchen is amazing!
There are still a few small items on the punchlist. The outlet cover will be replaced with a paintable one. The stainless steel sink faucet is brand new, so you can leave it as is for the time being. If he replaces it in the future, a brass or classic black matte would look great and add sophistication to the sink area.
I love the black classic look of the cabinets, and the wood contrast makes a bold statement. It looks so fresh and modern. It’s so neutral that almost any color can be used as an accent.
Decided I needed to leave the ceiling white and paint the soffit to raise and extend the height of the black cabinets to lift the ceiling. This also increases the visual height of the ceiling. Here’s a before and after side by side showing how paint can make a huge difference.
I know we are both thrilled with the results. He put a lot of grease on his elbows and he deserves to be proud of how it turned out!
Love a kitchen makeover? See how we added wood cabinetry to this mod. Also, check out this post for how to remove cabinets in this kitchen remodel.
