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The pantry area of Joanne Condon's kitchen Joanne Condon
good enough to eat
Before and after: How three Insta-perfect kitchens were transformed from drab to dazzling
Simple, inspiring kitchen transformations from real Irish homes.
WITH THE ADVENT of Instagram and Pinterest, the landscape of interior design changed considerably.
Thanks to careful editing and cropping, we’re bombarded with Insta-perfect images of other people’s spaces – often with little context or explanation of how they became so swoon-worthy.
To help remedy that, and give you some insight into the changes that are worthy making, I spoke to three Irish interior experts. I picked their brains on their own kitchen transformations.
And luckily, they’ve got some ideas that are easy to implement. Here’s how they brought three kitchen areas from dated to dazzling.
Kitchen transformation by Ciara Eloise of Ciara Eloise Interiors
A recent project I completed was a kitchen makeover in Delgany, Co Wicklow. This once dark and dated kitchen had a complete facelift in a matter of days.
To add character and texture, we replaced the old tile flooring with grey-hued wood. We also painted the units, which automatically freshened up the space.
The black granite was replaced with white, veined quartz, and the hardware and appliances were updated. A bespoke window dressing was made and functional feature lighting installed.
The kitchen now works well for a young family and has added light, function and value to their home.
Pantry transformation by Joanne Condon of Kyle Lane
I had a walk-in pantry in my kitchen that was just too chaotic to function well. Plus, let’s be honest, I saw it as an opportunity to inject some colour into a new space!
The old shelving was too deep, and things were getting lost and out of reach. So I removed it and replaced it with inexpensive shelving I got from Woodies.
I then gathered up every vintage style jar I could find, and got out my spray paint and retro label maker. I spray painted the jar lids, and some storage baskets in my favourite candy colours: coral, yellow, mint.
For bulky food, I wanted something to fit beneath the shelving but couldn’t find anything that would fit, so I made them myself!
I added wheels, and of course painted them, and now they’re really handy for food and cookware. Finally, I revamped the existing tiled floors by using a floor stencil and some turquoise tile paint.
Kitchen transformation by Debbie Rooney of Poolbeg Designs
Most clients I visit these days are painting their kitchen cabinets. In my own case, I transformed my kitchen by removing top presses and replacing with scaffold open shelves.
I had bespoke handles and brackets for shelves made by a fabricator in Meath, MC Fabrication. The carpenter (James Billings Carpentry) replaced my old Formica worktop with a wooden worktop. James made me sliding barn doors for my kitchen door and, voila!
The transformation was inexpensive but completely changed the kitchen.
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