What's Cooking, Good Looking?

My friend, Kel, recently sent me photos of her PHENOMENAL new kitchen (after I begged and pleaded and promised her my first-born for photos - the usual) and I had to share. First, this is what it looked like before (with the previous owner's stuff):

Linoleum, old appliances, clutter, and curtains that reminded Kel of her grandmother's tablecloths ;)
Kel & the Boyfriend decided to keep the unique blue-grey cabinets and just wait until you see how they were transformed....

TA DA!

I'll let Kel take it away from here:

When we moved in, we liked the blue-grey of the cabinets and decided to keep them. The previous owners had them custom built and they are really great quality. That's where the love affair ended - everything else had to go. Here's what we changed:

• I took down the window treatments and hardware
• We gave everything a fresh coat of paint (trim, ceiling, walls). The walls are Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee. It's a mellow "builder's beige" that the Boyfriend would use on everything if I let him.
• We installed a new backsplash (from Home Depot on sale!)
• We replaced all appliances - they were over 30 years old and the inside of the oven was disintegrating. We shopped around for the best prices and ended up getting them from Home Depot and Lowe's when they had sales on
• We replaced the floor, or rather put a new one on top of it. They are adhesive laminate tiles that you peel and stick (from Rona)!
• The sink and faucet are new (both from Home Depot)
• We replaced all the cabinet hardware (again, Home Depot came to the rescue)
• We replaced the ceiling lights from an ugly, dated hanging fixture to halogen track lighting. Now I can see when I cook!
• Although the existing counter was in decent shape, the colour wasn't super and we figured we'd go all-in and replace that as well. We had it custom cut from a countertop company in the area because it is oddly configured and made up of weird shapes.

We absolutely could have done all the work ourselves. The Boyfriend is quite handy and has renovated places before. However, due to time constraints and work schedules, we threw some money at the problem and hired our contractor friend to do the work for us. It was the right decision for us at the time and it was fun to come home from work everyday and see the transformations. Because we kept the existing cabinets, everything came together really quickly. We made sure to order the counters early and once they arrived we kicked it into high gear. My only regret is the fridge. She's a looker but she's not magnetic. As a long-time magnet addict, this was a devastating discovery. I'll recover eventually.

And there you have it! Can you believe the change? Of course, I shouldn't be even remotely surprised - Kel has style for days. Her kitchen looks so fresh and sophisticated now. I'm dying over that backsplash - love the mix of stone and glass tile. What do you think?