The challenge
1. To re do a kitchen in a rented apartment without harming the natural setting or whatever it came with.
2. To re do a kitchen which has bright peach as its wall color and weird fish motif tiles in peach and white for backsplash
3. To re do a kitchen that has no window and is practically an aisle
When I saw the house first, we didnot even bother to look at the kitchen because the guys who were staying in here were beyond my words. I would not really call it lack of aesthetics but complete absence of the sense of hygiene. The moment we walked in, we saw heaps of food wrappers, butter paper, food litter and I just refused to step inside the kitchen fearing it might just make me sick. To top, we had to narrow on one house and I was particularly crazy about the view. Hence, you can understand why I walked out and told yes. But after a thorough disinfection and cleaning, the real challenge  showed itself up. Take a look at what I found it as!
(Eeek! The initial days of living)
Anyway, after days of RnD and a whole lot of sketches, finally this is what our dear kitchen looks like!
Kitchen after!!! Hurrah!
And to achieve that, this is what I followed
1. Declutter- the first step. Throw away anything that’s unnecessary. yes throw.
2. Open shelving- In a small kitchen enclosed spaces intensify its weakness. Break free. Keep it open and at a stretch. This gives it a longer and cleaner look.
3.Brighter lights- Compulsory. No matter how beautiful your kitchen is, lighting will play a major role in making it look good or ugly. Hence, if you have a kitchen that’s small, dowse it with bright lights. Trust me, it’ll be worth. For my peach kitchen, I chose a light that casts a retro glow.
4. Color toning- In my case it was peach! PEACH. Oh my god. Ideally, change the color to something softer and mute that makes a space look bigger but if you are in a position like me where you must work with the colors available, match the tones of the stuff you use at kitchen. With peach, I used neutral browns, cream, off-whites and peach.
In my next post, I’ll show you how I cornered the shelf!
Let me know your thoughts or suggestion guys! I’ll be very happy to know what you all think.
Love
Roy!
Oh my, that sounds like it was quite the challenge. I think your idea of open shelving was a perfect one. I would throw in lots of white too 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Tricia and also for your suggestion! I was torn between more warm browns or whites but now I think I’ll go with your suggestion. More whites it is! 🙂
cool stuff girl 🙂
Gracias amigo! This will be of use to you, now that you are getting married- to which Im earnestly looking forward to!
Well, i actually quite like the fishy tiles you got there, very uncommon, the ones in my kitchen make me feel like I’m lost in a stampede of zebras!
Lovely shelving tho! 🙂
Thanks Ree!
Honestly, stampede of zebras aren’t half as cool as choosing your own fish for dinner! I agree. But peach? Maybe this is how the sea looks from the “dark side of the moon” 🙂 Quite an owner I got there! What is he trippin on?
totally get why you were in the pitts about peach, but this is a unique very cool space you’ve created! i don’t know…’tawny orange’ or ‘blanched coral?’ there’s always a creative way around PEACH, right? keep sharing your lovely re-dos, kitchen queen. so much fun to join the journey!
michele
Michele! Its so good to have you here 🙂 ! You are an angel.
About the color, you see, its more like Tawny peach, if you know what I mean. Its more like an orangy peach, which was really tricky to corner. I thought of using green first and it was a disaster!! Surprisingly Off-whites and browns are seeming to do the trick 🙂
Although its not finished yet but I do think its coming along alright 🙂 Fingers crossed!
Amazing work…i simply love it..i have seen your kitchen before and whoa….the new look is so good and pro….i am surely gonna take ur help to do up my home 🙂
What an honor! Thank you so much! Im so glad you liked it…and yes, since you have seen it before, you’re welcome to see the after! Just mail me the orders 🙂
I’ll be more than happy to help you with your new home….Infact, count me in as an uninvited advisory!
You’ve given me a great idea for a friend’s kitchen that is small and dark. Gee, your before and after is amazing.
Tammy!!!!! I just hovered around your blog and wondered where you are!
Thank you so much…Im so happy I inspired you. You know, playing with a great kitchen is fun, but playing with a bad kitchen to make it something great is pure adrenaline rush. Of course, its not complete yet, but I do think its getting my nod of satisfaction!
If you could send me a picture of your friends kitchen, I would love to give you an idea or two! Lets make all kitchens beautiful 🙂
I will try. I am going to visit her in October.
Lovely space to work with and you did it so beautifully…such a great blog you have I am off to look some more at it, thanks for dropping by mine new *friend*
How sweet of you drop by 🙂 Thank you so much.
Adding you on my blogroll.
Great transformation. You did a great job and the open cabinets make the space bigger. Thanks for linking up at Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.
Thanks for stopping by Sarah. You always thank each one who share at yours. I really appreciate that. You are so kind.
Ah, now it looks much more like Your kitchen! Very nice. 🙂
Hell yeah! You won’t believe the way i found it….I mean how can someone stay like that? I think I’ve atleast used a kilo of disinfectant!