Before and After: Grandma’s New Vermont Cottage Kitchen

Who doesn’t love a good before and after reveal??? We teamed up with Lily Ann Cabinets to do this awesome project for my mother’s forever home and I’m super happy with how it turned out. We used their RTA Cabinets, Lily Ann’s Grey Shaker Elite (and you’re going to love them!).

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.

The kitchen turned out beautifully and the carpenter was super impressed by the quality of the RTA cabinets. That helps a LOT when the carpenter happens to be your brother AND he’s a meticulous and dyed-in-the-wool wood snob.

Quick story:

My family has been playing musical houses for almost my whole life (I’m an army brat). So, when my mom finally decided to pick a house and stay in it, my sister reached out to me to help with the kitchen design (they were really busy renovating the whole rest of the house). The place had great bones, but was really ugly. One little problem: I am in North Carolina and they are in Vermont. To any lesser team this would’ve been a problem (working with family and from a different state… what could go wrong???).

I sent my initial design which was nixed by my incredible carpenter brother who wanted to knock down walls and move stairs (who am I to argue with that?). So, I worked up a moodboard and completely new design and sent it to my sister and brother.

 

Then there was the issue of finding a cabinet company that wasn’t going to break the bank. I looked and looked, but everything I liked was super expensive! And since I had added a huge island, the cabinet total had about doubled. Then I stumbled across RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets. I found them on sale (even though they were already significantly cheaper than the other cabinets I had found before the sale), and I sent the company my design. My brother said, “that’s fine, but you guys are putting those cabinets together.”

Almost ALL of this was carried out without me physically at the property because suddenly there was a pandemic. Yup. Perfect timing. I corresponded with a Lily Ann kitchen designer in Michigan that was working from home and had the details and 3d renderings in just a few weeks. A skeleton warehouse crew got our order out and it was delivered about a month and a half after we first contacted them.

Back to the house: imagine my delight when my brother (who had said NO WAY was he assembling RTA cabinets) called me to say he had assembled and installed them and the quality was amazing. Oh, and they went together super fast. I was in shock.  I will save the rest of that story for another post. This is a simple before and after, remember?

If you love this look, you can find these cabinets from Lily Ann Cabinets.  My readers can get a 5% discount by using the offer code: SDIY2018 at checkout!

Grandma got to see her almost finished kitchen on her birthday in July and I think you’ll appreciate the video (it still makes me cry every time):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYK1UD7tQXY&w=560&h=315]

 

All that was left (after the first reveal) for install when we arrived in Vermont (two months later and on re-scheduled trip number three) was hardware, the backsplash, the shelves, and crown molding. Still, five full days of install while trying to persuade my six year old to do her virtual school independently was a bit challenging. And, to be perfectly honest, my brother had told me the quality was good, but the cabinets were even better in person. The finish was beautiful and I quickly realized there was nothing “discount” about these cabinets other than the price.

The after photos were all taken by @loganbspring on Instagram, so give him a follow! I think you’ll love his work as much as we do!

Drumroll please!!!!

This is looking through the front door at the door that went down to the basement:

 

Here is the front door now:

 

This is looking from the corner of the kitchen back at the front door:

 

We couldn’t REALLY get this “before” shot because of the wall, but you can see where the new front door is now (the wall started roughly where the island begins):

 

This is standing by the front door, looking at the kitchen.

 

And here is the after:

 

This is a shot of the space after the walls came down, but before the staircase was moved:

And after:

 

And just for fun, here are some more detailed shots of the kitchen we took during staging:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was quite the journey, but it was all worth it to see how happy my mom was at the end. What do you think of our design and renovation? What is your favorite part? Please let us know in the comments below!

Once again: If you love this look, and want to pay less for awesome cabinets, you can find these cabinets from Lily Ann Cabinets.  My readers can get a 5% discount by using the offer code: SDIY2018 at checkout!

Special thanks to my brother and sister for all of the hard work and making it so easy for us to look good!

Thanks for joining us on our adventures! Cheers!

 

*Legal stuff:

I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it.  I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.

Slavetodiy.com is a paid affiliate for Lily Ann Cabinets and received discounted products to provide this review. As always, our opinions are honest and we promote only quality products that we use ourselves. 

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