A brighter kitchen, on budget

This kitchen had good bones and dated oak. The owners wanted it to feel modern without paying to replace things that still worked.

So we put the money where it shows. New full-height upper cabinets take the storage to the ceiling. The existing lower cabinet boxes were solid, so we re-skinned them to match instead of tearing them out — and kept the countertop to save on the budget. A new subway tile backsplash and a built-in wine rack finish it off.

Same footprint, same counters, completely different room.