This Clinton Hill Kitchen Is Now as Warm as It Is Modern

An outdated, clunky space gets ready for guests in this Clinton Hill kitchen renovation

Originally posted 2/24/16

Project: Renovation of a Clinton Hill kitchen for entertaining and storage

Before: A kitchen renovation was some time in the making for Sarah, who works in finance, and Becky, who works for a media company. Sarah had been living in the one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in the Clinton Hill Co-ops since 2010 (with Becky joining her in 2013) and had her sights set on overhauling the kitchen from the get-go. A previous renovation had tiled-off the kitchen, chopping up the open living space and giving guests a clunky raised border to trip over. White appliances and heavy cabinetry were outdated, and the kitchen’s generous square footage wasn’t all that functional for hosting or entertaining. After seeing successful Sweeten rehabs featured on Apartment Therapy, Sarah posted her renovation project to Sweeten. “It seemed like an easy solution for such a risky kind of decision,” she said. The couple was matched with a Sweeten general contractor.

After: At the start of the project, Sarah envisioned limiting cabinet installation to one wall and contemplated adding an island, but after a design consultation, she decided to rework the game plan. Thankfully, their contractor was up for anything. “He’s really a nice guy, super trustworthy and very patient,” Sarah said. “He was willing to wait throughout that time while I was redesigning things.” The new plan was worth the hold-up: they would tear out the L-line of cabinetry and use multiple variations on open and closed storage on each of the walls and in a central island. Plus, they geared up to create a new entry connecting the kitchen to the hallway, improving the flow around the apartment.

Becky and Sarah found inspiration from a previous project for the striking white-on-wood contrast that now unites the new space. “I had redone my radiator covers and my windowsills with white slabs and I thought it would look nice to match that,” Sarah said. Her original vision paired the white stone composite with gray cabinets, but after looking through Ikea photo pairings, a warmer, walnut-inspired wood started to feel like a better match.

To give the Ikea base cabinetry some added oomph, Sarah chose custom doors from Semihandmade. Semihandmade also provided coordinating custom paneling for the new island—a gorgeous detail with the stark white waterfall countertop. The island’s added storage freed Becky and Sarah to be more adventurous with other cabinetry choices. They skipped an upper line of cabinets on the most visible wall and went with slim open shelving made from recycled wood. White globe pendants and sconces are anchored on an intricate porcelain backsplash tile; the tile’s folded paper-style pattern adds another level of visual detail in barely-there-beige.

The finished product looks amazing, and Sarah now has some hard-earned wisdom to share. “I probably could have timed the delivery of everything better,” she admits. The summer-long process paused when the cabinets beat the doors’ arrival by a few weeks, and delivery of a few additional custom pieces dragged until January. Her advice to future renovators: temper your eagerness to get started, knowing that your patience will pay off with a more reasonable timeline (and with all of your packages in place).

While Sarah and Becky didn’t love hiding out in their bedroom for a good part of the summer, the new cohesive kitchen was worth it. The couple didn’t just survive they process—they thrived: Sarah and Becky recently got engaged! “It could have torn us apart but in the end it bonded us together,” said Sarah with a laugh.

Thanks, Sarah and Becky, for sharing your Clinton Hill kitchen renovation with us!

Bonus: The kitchen floor now matches the rest of the apartment’s original tongue and groove parquet—thanks to the contractor’s painstaking work to cut and stain new flooring to match the original (and no longer available) planks.

Style finds: Cabinets: Ikea. Cabinet doors: Semihandmade. Open shelving: Barnwood Design. Caesarstone Blizzard White countertops: Galactic Tiles. Cabinet hardware and lighting: Schoolhouse. Barstool: homenature. Dishwasher and refrigerator: Blomberg. Oven and hood: Bertazzoni. Faucet: Grohe. Mutina Folded backsplash tile: Stone Source.

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.