H
ere I am with the reveal of our black kitchen walls! Back in the day this was our kitchen inspiration, and here was the result (holy moly, those pictures are awful!). We set out to make our kitchen black and white with a bit of a vintage twist because we kept the original Cubex cabinets, and it turned out “okay” but I never really “felt” the room because it doesn’t get much sunlight and the white walls made the space feel quite drab.Another factor was that it never felt really finished. The sides of the cabinets were left open by our carpenter and the handles weren’t installed, our stove wasn’t integrated etc… Plus our appliances are SOOOO UGLY. We’d bought the cheapest stove and fridge when we just moved in together and planned to upgrade asap, but behold, life happened and there was never any money left to spend on a new fridge or stove.
I’d been planning to upgrade the kitchen for a while but was so bummed out by the fact that I didn’t have the budget to tackle the project “properly”. During the Christmas break I had a real hard look at the space and decided to prioritize: while I couldn’t buy a new fancy black fridge, I could take a chance and spray paint my old one (more on that later). I could make shelving for the microwave, elevate our stove to the level of our countertops and make skirting. I could ask for matching bins for Christmas and buy a hanger to get things out of the way. I could get a budget friendly lamp. And last but not least: my favorite way to transform a space: I could change the color on the walls. Since I tend to go for either white walls, or a color with dramatic impact, I decided to choose the deepest, darkest colour my favorite paint brand Farrow & Ball has to offer: Pitch Black.
Ever since I painted the closet last year with Farrow & Ball I’ve become a huge fan, and even I was taken by surprise how easy this paint job was. Because we’re dealing with black here I’d thought I was going to have to put three coats on the walls and woodwork, but much to my surprise the surfaces looked quite covered after one coat and perfect after the second. The result has been an amazing transformation. For the first time since we live here I feel like we have a real kitchen that is well thought out and actually designed and I LOVE it.
We chose not to paint the entire space, but the coat of black on the walls and shelves adds the right amount of drama. I couldn’t be happier. It’s still quite difficult to photograph though, and I’m planning to make a DIY kitchen island and I really want an induction stove, but all in good time! Have a look at the before, progress and after shots…Let me know what you think in the comments!











Farrow & Ball Pitch Black Modern Emulsion (7%sheen) & Estate Eggshell (20% sheen)for the wood // Molnigt Exhaust Hood, Djomsö sink, Edsvik faucet & knife holder from Ikea // Brabantia New Icon Bins // Budget friendly Art Deco lamp from Giso via Fonq
More about the kitchen?
February 14, 2017
Maar enfin, HOE GOED is dat gelukt? Super!
February 15, 2017
Tof he! Het overtrof mijn eigen verwachtingen!
February 14, 2017
Supermooi resultaat, Patricia! Ik kies altijd witte muren boven zwarte, maar nu breng je me toch aan het twijfelen. 😉
(En ik herken uw afgrijzen om foto’s in oude blogposts zo hard, maar dat herinnert er ons maar aan hoe ver we gekomen zijn op het vlak van fotografie he 😉 )
February 15, 2017
Dank je Hannelore! Oh echt, oude foto’s zijn zo erg, en deze vond ik al niet mooi toen ik ze nam! Dus extra cringe :p
February 14, 2017
Ik ben het eens met Laura! 🙂
February 15, 2017
hihi 🙂
February 15, 2017
Super super super mooi! Hoe zalig is dat? Heel knap resultaat! Heb jij dat allemaal zelf gedaan? Ik wil u wel is bezig zien 🙂 🙂 🙂
February 15, 2017
WEL! Daar is uiteraard fotobewijs van dat ik liever niet deel op de blog :D. Mijn outfit of choice is namelijk meestal een trainingsvest uit de 90’s van Reebok, een shortje en witte sportkousen omdat ik dan kan zien als er verf aan mijn voeten hangt haha! Als ik aan ‘t zagen en boren ben doe ik wel schoenen aan 😉 Maar Dieter vind dat dan heel plezant om mij uit te lachen natuurlijk, ha!
February 15, 2017
Bold choice! Ik zou zelf nooit voor zwart gaan, maar het ziet er absoluut fantastisch uit! x
February 15, 2017
Dank je! 🙂
February 16, 2017
Wat een statement! Echt wel super goed gelukt 🙂 Een tijdje geleden las ik een blogpost over het kleuren van een oven/fornuis. Misschien wel handig om te overwegen als budgetoplossing? Hier vind je alvast de link http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2016/09/how-i-recolored-my-kitchen-appliances.html 😉
February 16, 2017
Moooi! En chapeau dat je dat allemaal zelf zo goed kan 🙂
February 19, 2017
It’s so beautiful! That little shelf vignette especially (is that plant a hoya??). I absolutely love it! You’ve clearly done a ton of work and the result is beautiful. I have a list ten thousand items long of how to do a project “properly” and it can really be hard to let go of that perfect vision, but you’ve done an incredible job and remember, all those details you still want to take care of aren’t visible to anyone else! 🙂