Small Apartments: Tomiko’s Before Kitchen

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As you can see in the photo of the before kitchen above, this is a small space. It has an area of only 40 square feet. There is room for one person to cook, which is unfortunate because both Donatello and I like to cook, preferably together. Since it is in a rental apartment, not much work or love had gone into the before kitchen in previous years.

Before we moved into our apartment, the kitchen walls were an awful shade of light yellow that just looked like an old stained white paint. The counter top was chipped and the vinyl floor tiles had brown flowers that were cracked in multiple places. The lighting was also terrible, making the space a dark little cave.

We were on a tight construction budget so we had to choose only a few features to update. Donatello did the majority of the work, including painting the cabinets, removing a layer of tiles from the floor, and then scrubbing off all the glue underneath those tiles. The big investment was a new counter-top which made a dramatic difference to the warmth and beauty of the space. We made a few cosmetic changes too, updating the knobs and creating a statement wall.

Check back soon to see the after photos!