Angela’s DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover

If you loved Angela’s laundry room, you’re going to adore her kitchen!
I’ve mentioned to you before that Angela and Kevin are huge diyer’s.  They have proven to me that they are fearless and will tackle things that would send me scurrying away.
Here’s their kitchen before they made any changes.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makevoer - BEFORE
Oak cabinets, wallpaper, teal laminate counters, white vinyl flooring with teal flowers…you get the picture.  All these elements were in place when they purchased the house.
Although this photo is a bit washed out, take a look at the after!
1a
They kept the original cabinets since they are structurally sound.  Crown molding was added to the top of the cabinets and then everything was primed, painted and glazed.
The cabinets were first painted with a creamy white, semi-gloss paint.  To glaze them, Angela mixed chocolate brown paint with glaze {one part paint to three parts glaze}.  The glaze was brushed on, then wiped off using an old cloth.  Angela then used a horsehair brush to swipe over everything to give it a weathered French country look.
 DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: formula for painting and glazing existing oak cabinets
Prior to painting, Angela added appliques in a couple of areas.  One was on the faux drawer fronts under the sink.  To better show the detail, Angela didn’t wipe as much of the glaze off in those areas.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: appliques added to faux drawer fronts
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: appliques were added to faux drawer fronts under the sink
One of the challenges they had to deal with was to somehow get a light above the kitchen sink.  The problem was that there wasn’t a place to put one because of the open concept of the their family room/kitchen area.  I think their solution is ingenious!
Kevin built a box out of builder grade pine, added crown molding that matches the rest of the kitchen, then proceeded to prime, paint and glaze the whole thing.  How did a light fixture get there, you ask?  They drilled through the bottom of a cabinet and ran the wiring around the inside of the cabinets and up into the box.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: solution to no place for a light above the kitchen sink
During the process, Kevin added lights below the cabinets too.  The wires are hidden by the apron moulding that they added below the cabinets prior to painting.

 

They only need to press the one round button you see to turn the under cabinet lighting on in the entire kitchen.  If I remember correctly, this button also allows them to dim the lighting.
VDIY Kitchen Makevoer: hidden lighting added below the cabinets
The wiring for the light above the sink and the under cabinet lights is invisible until you open the cabinet where Kevin neatly tucked all of the wires.
DIY Kitchen Makeover: hiding the wires for the added under cabinet lighting
They added the pretty tumbled marble backsplash themselves too.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makevoer
More cabinets and the stove are located to the left of the sink.  Thinking ahead, they ran the backsplash all the way down behind the stove’s control panel and top part of the stove in anticipation of a new stove they plan to purchase in the future.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover
Rope lighting was added along the top of the cabinets to highlight the architectural details.  They were able to accomplish this by drilling a hole through the top of the cabinets to access the power where the microwave is plugged in.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: Rope lighting added above the cabinets by drilling through the top of the cabinets to access the electric outlet for the microwave
 
The free standing island received the same paint treatment as the cabinets.  A new granite top was added to it when the granite was added to the rest of the kitchen.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: free standing island painted and glazed with a new granite top
A new kitchen table and chairs is in the corner opposite from the sink.  I love that the woods don’t match. It keeps the area from looking too matchy matchy.  Angela made a wise choice when she purchased stools with round backs so that they mimic the shape of the round table.
DIY French Country Kitchen Makeover: breakfast area
The new flooring is gorgeous.  I about fell over when Angela told me that it is peel and stick linoleum.  Even standing right on top of it, I couldn’t believe it.  It looks so much like real hardwood that I had to reach down and feel the floor.
I sure do hope you enjoyed touring Angela and Kevin’s awesome kitchen!  It just goes to show what can be done with a little ingenuity and sweat equity.

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46 Comments

  1. They surely did a beautiful job on this kitchen.
    Every detail is perfect.
    thanks for sharing it with us.

  2. It is beautiful! This was so inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

  3. WOW. Wonderful job Angela (and Kevin)! Love the decorative crown and cabinet molding and especially the pendant shelf! I would love to do these type “projects”. Unfortunately My engineer has no decorating imagination or patience for projects….so no handy man at my house! ….but he’s still a keeper : ). Thanks Suzy for sharing!

  4. They’ve done some amazing things! The kitchen is gorgeous, & the laundry room is wonderful.
    CAS

  5. ✿ⒹⒺⒺ✿@ A Lapin Life says:

    Amazing before and after. The kitchen turned out beautiful.

    Dee

  6. Beautiful Kitchens. Love the decorative crown and the touches.

  7. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says:

    Suzy…thank you so much for featuring their kitchen…I loved their laundry room and their kitchen is fantastic. What a great job they did…a wonderful transformation..Very talented!!

  8. Excellent renovation. They did a fabulousjob. Didn’t leave out a single detail. Thanks for sharing.

  9. Angela Gordon says:

    Thanks everyone! I so enjoyed Suzy coming and visiting, while doing this blog! Kevin really didn’t know what he was getting into when he married me! 🙂 But he’s really starting to enjoy the projects now, hate that we’re almost done with the remodel though…what to do next? 🙂

  10. This is an amazing transformation! I love every inch! I really love the decorative crown molding and accents on the drawers! Thanks for sharing such great ideas! I’m now following on Linky Follower and GFC. I look forward to more inspiring posts!

  11. wow what a transformation, love it!

  12. Pat@Back Porch Musings says:

    Gorgeous kitchen makeover!!

  13. A beautiful job….I am in the processing now of re-modeling a kitchen…
    wow…stress!
    Have a Blessed day.

  14. What a difference some paint and molding makes. Great job and they saved lots of money. We have some friends that have oak cabinets. I wish she would look at these inspiring photos and go for it. Thanks for sharing a great space.

  15. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says:

    Wow, it looks great! I love there sink area from the faucet, the countertop, the sinks themselves and the appliques on the front of the drawer fronts! Just gorgeous. I’ll be saving this one to show my daughter for her kitchen.

  16. I am almost speechless at how gorgeous it all is! My kitchen looks alot like the BEFORE pic, now I want to paint my cabinets. I have wanted granite for YEARS! PEEL AND STICK???????????? I sure would never believe that either. They look fabulous and much easier to maintain than wood. I have wood and don’t like it. Thanks so much for sharing this. XO, Pinky

  17. Amazing DIY kitchen such creativity and handmanship, I have to congratulate your friend and thank you for sharing it with us! We did ours almost 2 yrs. ago and love it…not DIY everything, though, lol.
    FABBY

  18. I’m saving this picture for my hubby to look at. I just love your kitchen and what you did. Amazing. Looks so good. You should be proud, it turned out amazing.
    Blessings,
    Debbie

  19. WOW…such a gorgeous kitchen makeover! I can’t beleive she hot glued the picture molding onto the dishwasher….I would have never thought of that!!!! Just amazing :o)
    ~Des

    PS. I am now following you on Google…hope you
    will follow me back :o)

  20. What an incredible kitchen transformation!!! It is absolutely gorgeous and I need to go back up and take another look at it! 🙂
    Vanessa

  21. This is just so gorgeous. Such a warm inviting look. Did you do the draperies? Love them too. Thanks for linking this up to Motivated Monday.
    pam

  22. They did a wonderful job with the kitchen…beautiful! Thank you for sharing this amazing transformation at the Open House party.
    Hugs, Sherry

  23. I LOVE IT! great job! I had to pin it for some lovely ideas with the woodwork! <3

  24. chateau chic says:

    Beautiful transformation. Everything is just lovely!!
    Mary Alice

  25. Maria Elena says:

    So pretty! What a difference! Gorgeous new kitchen!

  26. Amazing transformation! Thank you for sharing this fabulous project at Potpourri Friday!

  27. It’s hard to believe what it looked like before. It looks so amazing after!

  28. Suzy, it does indeed look awesome! Hope you will follow me on Linky if you haven’t already. Hoping to stay connected, Helen

  29. Holly Lefevre says:

    What a great redo…so pretty. We did our kitchen last year (kept the cabinets, etc.) and it made a huge difference, but I see some idea that i can add! Featuring on Tickled Pink!

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  32.  you really did a beautiful job! I love how bright & fresh everything looks. What an improvement.  Congrats!