Before & After: A Colorful & Cheery Mid-Century Kitchen Renovation

A project more than a year in the making, it felt indecently good to marvel at the successful culmination of a lot of hard work. We took it on bit-by-bit, first painting the walls and replacing the light fixtures. It started before we officially moved in when I painted the walls a nearly day-glow shade of green called “Spritz of Lime” which just seemed an appropriate if not nauseating color choice for a kitchen. This project is/was the most time and energy intensive DIY renovation we’ve sunk our teeth into, but it has also been the most gratifying. From there, I spent months flipping through tons of magazines, Pinterest boards and blog posts to figure out what would fit our space and our budget. Then my husband Heath spent his Christmas vacation sanding down and restaining the original knotty pine cabinets and adding new hardware, and we worked together the following spring break to remove the wood wall paneling and add more shelving and storage.