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angryredhead Impressive!

eridani99 Wow, that is lovely!

Vanessa Giannamore thanks!

Dytecture Nice update without adding more square footage.

Reico Kitchen & Bath Well done! Enjoy!

Paradise Restored Landscaping & Exterior Design You two work well together! You've done a remarkable job!

kimberlya Very nice!

hanksnow did you hand strip the cabinets or just paint over in cream and antique it or what was the method used thanks

mmers It's wonderful - you two did a great job.

GARY FINLEY, ASID looks great

Rustica Hardware Nice!

Vanessa Giannamore I lightly sanded all the cabinets, the old varnished and the new unfinished cabinets, then put a base coat of off white primer on all of them. Normally I would have just painted on the Annie Sloan chalk paint, but because we were using the few original cabinets with the newly purchased ones, I wanted to start with the same base. Annie Sloan chalk paint does not require priming or sanding to work, it is GREAT stuff. I have redone many furniture pieces with it and the overall effect is wonderful, especially if you like the french country/shabby chic feel.

Vanessa Giannamore Thanks for all the positive feedback! :)

caricampbell Beautiful transformation! Nice work!

janetherrick What is the grid above fridge? It looks like a sub zero but its not a built in, right?

christol WOW, that's amazing! Great job!

amgussen It's a great improvement for sure with all the upgrade style applicances and counter tops. I just wish you had chosen more contemporary cabinet doors to go better with the rest of the contemporary style.

Vanessa Giannamore The fridge and freezer are Frigidaire Professional series and the grid above is a trim/finishing kit you can buy. It gives the look of a sub zero but is much less costly.

mmers To amgussen - obviously these people picked what THEY like - it might not be your style or my style, but it's THEIR style and that's all that counts.

caricampbell I agree with mmers...while I prefer sleek and modern for my kitchen, I can appreciate that they did a great remodel and they very well could have been going for a contemporary cottage look, or something like that. Plus, she refinished existing cabinetry. I think it's a nice blend of two styles.

Vanessa Giannamore Thank you all so much. And yes I was going for a more contemporary country look, I definitely prefer antiques and the whole french country , lived in look. Plus it works well with the 3 children, dogs and cats! This house needed a total makeover, it had been vacant for over a year and was very dated: paneling on walls, stained carpets and dirty tile floors, missing kitchen. We were on a definite budget when it came to the kitchen because we have to do bathrooms and living areas as well, we definitely could not spend our whole budget on cabinetry. Luckily both my husband and I are handy, so we could save a lot of money and do almost all of the work ourselves. Everything we bought we got a screaming deal on, including the floors, which are bamboo. We ended up getting it from Home Depot as a closeout for $1.80 a square foot! Believe it or not Cadaveria, I only used two quarts of Annie Sloan paint and one can of clear wax. Less than a quarter of a can of the dark wax, so it cost me around $110. I think I will try to get some better pictures at some point and post because I think maybe the whole feeling is not coming through. I have been told that the pictures don't do it justice. And there is a peninsula next to the fridge which isn't showing. The kitchen is open to our family room, which I am working on now.

kroze Good for you Vanessa. Excellent job!!!
You're my kind of decorator..... scratching and digging for the best deals out there!
Way to go. Can't wait to see the next room when finished.

connielippowitsch I think the kitchen is lovely! You did a great job!

amgussen My sincere apologies for my previous comment. Reading it again makes me realize that it can be read as a quite arrogant statement. This was certainly not my intention, I was simply too spontaneous when commenting as per own preferences. Of course anyone gets to chbose their own style and taste - that's what inspires others when we accomplish something creative like this! Way to go, I think you did a great job following your instincts and the best confirmation of all is when you feel happy with the results. I always refer to how I would do things when I see some things that inspire my tbhoughts. Maybe shouldn't have written it that way? But hey, we're all different right?

mlcastro I wish i could do the same with my kitchen!

kroze Look at it this way micastro. You have a lot of time to formulate ideas and make plans for the "one day" kitchen of your dreams. Anticipation and planning is half the fun! So, begin now! Start daydreaming about the possibilities in your kitchen.

mll75836 Wow! Just WOW!!

eclairerw That's nice!

revss Planning a K remodel myself; admire your skill at finding deals and getting the look you wanted. Will check out the Frig. and bamboo flooring. How do you (and others) like the SS apps.??? Has anyone used CORK flooring in a K.?

Lilly nunes Congratulation, it's beautiful

Vanessa Giannamore I'll be honest revss, the stainless steel is a pain to keep clean, but we love the look. The same goes for the dark bamboo flooring. And I couldn't imagine black or white appliances, I just don't think they would have worked at all. A lot of the country kitchens I've seen on this site as well as others used stainless, so I went with it. One thing I have to recommend, shop around. We ended up ordering all of our appliances on-line through one site, so we got a discount on top of a good deal. If we had purchased the same from Lowes, Home Depot or Sears it would have cost us about $1500 more.

colleenluvja Awesome Vanessa. I'm in the process pf purchasing a fixer upper. I'm making similar comparisons on the appliances. Where did you go yo get the appliances?

lauriaj Beautiful!!!

duchess52 You did an amazing job. I love the the interesting variation of cabinet heights providing display for accessories. Yes, you could have gained some additional storage but the wow factor was worth it! I also love the mullioned doors above the microwave with recessed lighting. Great attention to detail! Please share your redos of other rooms.

Vanessa Giannamore Colleenluvja, we bought all our appliances from Goedekers. They were great and even with shipping it was quite a savings. And thank you!
Good luck on your renovation.

JWinteriors Love how you staggered your uppers and added glass doors to keep things light. Great lighting, too. Nothings worse than making a beautiful room and lighting it with florescent lights!

montgomery4224 What online site did you order your appliances? Fabulous!

Vanessa Giannamore We bought all the appliances online from Goedekers. :-)

Studio S Squared Architecture, Inc. Thanks for sharing this, what a labor of love. I am curious how much time it took you to "antique" the cabinets?

Vanessa Giannamore Thanks Studio S, it probably took me around 15 hours total work time to refinish all the cabinets. That is from start to finish, the actual antique patina(distressing with sandpaper and metal brush, then mixture of light and dark waxes) probably took around 6-7 hours.

Sandie Segura Wesolowski Beautiful kitchen!!

Olde Wood Ltd. Very nice work!

Vanessa Giannamore Thanks everyone! Its been over a month and the chalk paint has held up wonderfully, even with all the kids and resulting messes. My only complaint is my dark bamboo floors, which are impossible to keep looking clean, but I still love the look.

Sunny Giannamore Nice work! Perfect!

tarasocorro Wow! Impressive!!!!