Before and After Kitchen Makeover with IKEA SEKTION

Back in March, I blogged about a kitchen remodel project that I designed for a family using IKEA’s SEKTION cabinet line. The layout of the kitchen was awkward mostly due to a doorway that led into a little used dining room. The cabinets were not in the best of shape, and they lacked storage and countertop space.

I suggested closing the opening to the dining room to create a u-shaped kitchen with an island. Closing that door enabled shifting the range to the center of the main wall with a generous amount of countertop on either side. Due to some architectural constraints, the refrigerator had to remain in place, but I suggested removing the built-in pantry in favor of IKEA’s large pantry cabinets with drawers and pull-outs.

This was the floor plan before:

And, this was my design:

The builder of this development really did some goofy things architecturally. During construction, we found that the little wing wall next to the sink was actually load bearing, so it had to stay. Other than that small glitch, everything went perfectly smoothly.

This is the shot of the range wall before.

And this was the rendering that I provided to the client:

And, this is how it turned out (forgive my iPhone photos):

One worry my client had was if she would be losing storage, especially in the pantry area. She said that she has much more storage now than she had before and couldn’t believe how much those pantry cabinets hold. I love how the two cabinets look like one big wardrobe piece with the drawers on the bottom. You can’t see it in this photo, but the panels go all the way to the ground on both sides to make it look like it has feet.

I really like the combination of white cabinets with gray countertops and gray marble subway tile. They blend together for a soft low contrast feel that makes the room feel larger.

This is a view of the sink before:

My rendering of the design:

And, this is the after:

Because of the issue with that wall by the sink, the client had to go back to IKEA and get a 12″ cabinet to go to the left of the dishwasher instead of the 15″ drawer base. They also decided to move their trash and recycling from under the sink to the island. They opted to purchase the simple deco strip for the top of the cabinets instead of painting a cove molding to match. I think it turned out great with the simpler design.

They are really happy with the increased functionality of the kitchen. I couldn’t believe how much lighter and brighter their house felt without the dark red paint and oak cabinets.

If you are interested in a kitchen remodel, I would love to help. And, if you live in Des Moines and are looking to use IKEA for your kitchen, I would definitely recommend the contractor who installed this job. His work was impeccable, and he is just a really great guy. You can get in touch to get his information via my contact page.