White And Gray Kitchen in the City


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Last month, I showed you guys the before pictures and mood board for my mom’s kitchen. While she didn’t do a complete gut of the space, she did hire a contractor to work on the room and give it lots of cosmetic upgrades…including painted cabinets, new countertops, a backsplash, new sink, new faucet…lots of changes in this small kitchen!With just a few cosmetic upgrades, this gray kitchen is now light, bright, and ready for entertaining.

I’m thrilled to reveal her new white and gray kitchen, so let’s not waste any time and get right to all of the gorgeous “after” photos!

Jan’s New White & Gray KitchenLove the gray cabinets and white subway tile in this kitchen space. White backsplash with gray kitchen cabinets. Use a painted hutch to store dishes in your small kitchen

Isn’t this space absolutely dreamy?! We are so happy with the results because now it really flows so much better with the rest of her home (her bedroom, entryway, and built-ins). My mom is slowly transforming each space in her new condo to put her own mark on it and this kitchen fits in nicely with her other gorgeous rooms!

I don’t want to skimp on any details, so here’s all of the scoopย about her new gray kitchen.

Painting the Kitchen CabinetsIf you don't love your kitchen cabinets, you can always paint them like we did in this gray kitchen.

Instead of ripping everything out and installing new cabinets, my mom kept her old configuration and cabinets because they were in pretty good shape. She hired a carpenter to paint them a gorgeous gray color, Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray. Her guest room is actually painted this color (that room coming to the blog soon!), and we loved it so much in there that we figured it would work well on her cabinets.ย Brass accessories and hardware warm up this kitchen space.

Because the rest of her space is so light, it was nice to have the dark gray to bring in some color. The darker color also makes the brass hardware pop!Brass hardware on gray kitchen cabinets.

Speaking of which, we ended up going with this brass hardware on all of the gray cabinets and they look amazing. Sleek, contemporary, and a really nice brass color. Highly recommend them!

New Sink & FaucetThis quartz sink from Elkay works perfectly in this new kitchen.

Jan’s old sink and faucet had seen much better days and she was thrilled to receive a new sink and faucet from Elkay. If I ever have the chance to redo a kitchen, I’m definitely going with a white sink. The Elkay Quartz Luxe is absolutely stunning and instead of the sink being a dark hole for dirt, the white is so bright and clean!A quartz double-sink in the color Ricotta.

We ended up going with this quartz sink in the color “Ricotta”. I like that there are 2 sides of the sink and it’s so deep and spacious. Lots of room for doing dishes (which is key since Jan is big on entertaining!).Spray handle on a faucet from Elkay.

And if you’re doing a new sink, a new faucet is the icing on the cake. We went with the Avado faucetย from Elkay in “Lustrous Steel.” It has 2 spray modes and the pull-down feature is incredibly convenient.ย Love the double spray settings on this faucet from ElkayArranging flowers in a vase in a new kitchen.

I think Bridget enjoyed using the nice faucet and sink when prepping the flowers for the photo shoot. She is making herself right at home!

Backsplash & Countertops

A vintage runner adds color and life to this gray kitchen. We said “bye bye” to the blue backsplash and the dark granite countertops and brightened everything up!ย Add eucalyptus to a white vase for kitchen decor.

The countertops are a white quartz that have a similar look to marble. It has a nice subtle gray veining, so it isn’t too busy of a pattern.
Open shelving in the kitchen on white backsplash. My mom then went with this subway tile backsplash in “Bright White Ice.” It is matte, instead of shiny, which ended up looking really gorgeous. A simple and elegant look. We also decided to go all the way up to the top of the windowsill, which was a great call. It makes the ceilings look even taller and gave the open shelving a nice backdrop. Which brings us to…

Open Shelving in the Gray Kitchen

White countertops and gray cabinets.

The space between the window and the patio door offered a small spot for some cute open shelves. We were dead set on finding a nice light wood tone for these and I’m so happy we found these ones. This isn’t the longest wall, so I needed to find shelves under 20″. This turned out to be quite the feat since most shelves are at least 2 feet long. Luckily, we scooped these up and they worked out perfectly!2 open shelves with kitchen accessories.

Because they’re not super long, they’re not the most functional shelves in the world. Instead, we opted to display stylish items instead.ย Use frames and plants to accessorize open shelving in the kitchen. Up top, we have a framed photo from our famous cookie day, along with a little plant for greenery.ย Hand painted salt and pepper shakers

The most special pieces on the bottom are these adorable salt and pepper shakers that were hand painted by my great-grandmother. She was so talented and we each have a few pieces of her handiwork in our homes. I love that these have such a prominent place in my mom’s new kitchen.

Brass Kitchen Pendants

These brass pendants from Rejuvenation are the perfect size for this kitchen

We replaced the lighting over the island with these beauties from Rejuvenation.ย Brass pendants from Rejuvenation over the kitchen island

Again, this was another tough find! It was hard to find a good brass fixture that wasn’t overwhelmingly large. These ended up working out beautifully.

New Kitchen Furniture

A gray hutch to store kitchen dishes

Because there isn’t a ton of cabinet space in the kitchen, my mom stores a lot of her dishes in this hutch we found at Megmade here in Chicago (the same store where I found my white campaign nightstands). We loved the shape of this vintage piece and had them paint it the color “Raccoon Fur.”Store your dishes in a hutch off your kitchen

It holds so much and fits on that wall nicely.ย Wood stools from World Market warm up this gray kitchen

While I liked my mom’s old kitchen stools, the gray blended into the painted island. So at the last-minute we found these wood stools from World Market. Such a great price and they add so much warmth to the room.

Bringing it All Together

This soap and lotion set from Williams Sonoma is stylish and functional in this kitchen

Buying kitchen accessories is actually so.much.fun! We loved finding little items to display in her new kitchen like this soap & lotion set (the grapefruit scent is the BEST!).ย Use a wooden bowl as a fruit bowl in your kitchenThis wooden bowl from HomeGoods.ย A pink and blue vintage turkish runner

And this vintage runner. Oh wait, that’s actually Bridget’s runner that we borrowed for the pics (more about this gorgeous piece here).

We have our eyes peeled for something similar for Jan, but as Bridget shared in her post, the hunt can take a while! But we did love how this one looked in her kitchen, it added so much color and life. So now we know that it’s a must to really complete the look in here. If we can’t find vintage, this one is a great runner-up!Love the color and life in this bright kitchen space

I’m head over heels in love with how this turned out. This is the first kitchen makeover we’ve been a part of and Bridget and I had so much fun helping Jan pick everything out for this gray kitchen.

Before & After

But before we go…let’s take a look back at some of the before and after photos…

Simple upgrades to a city kitchenUpgrade your kitchen with painted cabinets and new countertops

Gray Kitchen Source List

Gray kitchen cabinets with brass hardware

Wall Paint Color “Balboa Mist” // Cabinet Paint Color “Chelsea Gray” // Tile // Faucet // Sink // Shelves // Soap Setย A city kitchen with lots of storage and style

Stools // Hutch – Megmade // Brass Pendants // Brass Hardware // Runner – Vintage // Accessories (Mostly HomeGoods)

The more rooms we finish in my mom’s condo, the more and more I want to move in. It feels like a model home every time I walk in there and I never want to leave! I’m afraid when we finish the entire space I’ll be a 30-year-old ready to move back in with her mom #sorryFinn

Casey

More of Jan’s Condo


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.