Kitchen from 80's dated to Amazing!

Yeah, yeah, yeah — we all know the kitchen is the heart of the home or whatever they say. My favorite part, however, is the Cinderella moment! You know the one — where she’s looking real busted, I mean, just a hot mess — and the Fairy Godmother takes one look at her and handles it all with a wave of her magic wand. Well, I’m no Fairy Godmother with a magic wand, and I can’t just wave said wand and turn a dated kitchen into a princess... I need a few weeks, tons of design hours, and a crew to build the dream. But man, can we turn a space in desperate need of some magic into something that would give Cinderella — and that Godmother of hers — a run for their money!

This project was really special to me — mainly because it was for one of my BFFs, and she’d been waiting to remodel her kitchen for years. Literal, years! So I was super excited to finally take it on and turn her dated kitchen into the space she’d been dreaming about. It was also special because she and her husband have very different design styles, and finding a cohesive look that spoke to both of them was a real challenge — but one I think we totally nailed. Keep reading to see the amazing transformation this kitchen went through!

Before: Sink, Stove + Fridge view.

Look at that massive light fixture they had! When we tore it down, we realized we were going to have to reframe the entire ceiling where the light was — the entire ceiling, y’all! We also tore down all the soffits because I despise soffits. Like, full-fledged hatred. Whoever invented them must have truly hated for a space to feel open and airy… which, in my eyes, makes them a monster. Just kidding — but not really.

Space planning was crucial for this kitchen because the layout was tight and the work triangle basically didn’t exist. If you’re not familiar, the work triangle is an imaginary triangle between the three main kitchen zones: the sink, the stove, and the fridge. The total distance traveled between those three points should be no more than 26 feet, with each leg of the triangle measuring no less than 4 feet and no more than 9 feet. The image below should help make sense of it.

They don’t have to be perfectly spaced, but they do need to fall within those distance guidelines. And trust me — it’s way harder than it looks to make that triangle work in smaller or awkwardly shaped kitchens. That’s why I always say: if you’ve got a tricky space, hire someone who’s exceptional at space planning. They are worth every freakin’ penny.

kitchen work triangle

The existing layout was way off. Two of the three high-use items were literally right next to each other, which made that side of the kitchen super crowded — especially if more than one person was trying to use it at the same time. When I started working on the space plan, the first thing I did was move the fridge to the opposite wall, which was just...bare. Why was it bare, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. The 80s were wild, y’all — in every way!

Next, we knew we had to open the space up, which meant tearing down the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Game changer. Here’s the final floor plan we landed on: you can see we relocated the fridge, moved the dishwasher, centered the sink, and took down that wall to create one open, functional space.

Before: Wall between the kitchen + dining room view.

All wood kitchen before picture

We basically moved all the cabinets from this wall over to the wall opposite the stove — which, again, was just sitting bare. That one change opened up the kitchen sooo much! Totally worth every penny — and even the loss of a couple of cabinets.

New stove, sink + microwave layout.

Gray and white kitchen

That work triangle is now working double time! Putting the fridge on the opposite wall just makes sense.

Here’s the view with the wall torn down... I mean, what a difference! Am I right?

We decided to keep the center light and simply replaced the fixture. It was functioning just fine, and it gave us a great opportunity to break up all the recessed lighting with something a little more stylish. Pro tip: You don’t have to get rid of everything when you remodel — if something works with the design, it’s totally okay to keep it!

The last thing we have left to do is swap out the window and add a nice roller shade — but custom windows are 16 weeks out! So, we’ll have to wait on that one… but I’ll update this blog with new photos once it’s done so you can see the sexy roller shade we picked out. 😏

I swear, comments like that are 100% why I’m single. Who else finds roller shades sexy? Anyone? No?

Just me? Cool.

Hope you enjoyed all the gory details of what it really takes to turn a dated kitchen into a dream.

Much love,

Jac.