Our IKEA Kitchen : The Reveal You’ve Been Waiting For

Happy New Year! And holy cow, how is it 2025? This year blew by, as did the last. Why does time do that, seemingly become shorter and shorter? But I digress… 2024 was an interesting year for projects over here because over half of the year was consumed with one single project. The kitchen.

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The project that was seven months in the making – sparked by a broken smoking dishwasher three days before my third baby was born and six months with three kids including a newborn and no dishwasher – is finally done. In truth, it’s been done for quite some time but working on the same project day in and day out for seven straight months left me a little burned out, so I’m just now getting around to writing about it!

Before

This kitchen just wasn’t doing it for me. It was honestly before we painted the walls white because while they were still brown, at least there was some contrast. The rustic chips on the paint (because I’m 99% sure they’re intentional) are not my style and the varied cabinet heights left so much unused vertical space. Plus the brown granite counters. Give me something that I can actually see the mess on so I know when it’s dirty, you know?

Find more before photos and the original vision here.

After

The Renovation Process

We gutted the kitchen at the end of March, which was terrifying. We hired a crew, which we almost never do, because I needed it to be quick and for the old contents to be gone. Violet was 6 months old and I did not want to deal with that myself!

Then we built and installed a ton of IKEA cabinets, focusing on the bottom first so that we could get our countertops templated and installed. I looked at way too many samples before landing on this one – Ethereal Gold Quartz. This happened mid-May, so we spent about a month and a half without a kitchen. It was brutal, I won’t lie. It was also worth it for my dream kitchen! In that month and a half, I patched the floors and built and installed the cabinets, end panels, and toe kicks.

With the counters in, I was able to do the tower cabinet and finally install the doors, which I still am so happy with! It took me a lot longer than expected to get the doors on – why? I have no clue. But my mid-June the cabinets looked great and even had hardware.

I finished the cabinets off with crown moulding to the ceiling (goodbye skyline cabinets!) and added what very well might be my favorite feature: the backsplash! I need to make an entire post dedicated to the backsplash because it is stunning. I also built out the hood vent, another thing I once only ever dreamed of and added a few floating shelves to warm things up.

Then a few finishing touches (like a custom pullout spice rack – also needs its own post!) and all of a sudden it was Halloween. We demo-ed on March 27 and I finished on October 28, so it was 7 months almost to the day. It was long and grueling and truthfully, I was entirely bored of it by the end, which is likely why it took me so long. But I am left with a kitchen that I love and a project that I am so completely proud of.

The Details

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Cabinets : IKEA | Nieu Cabinet Doors in Brightly Beige

Countertops : Ethereal Glow Quartz

Backsplash : Azula Floret

Hood Vent : Firmolux Venetian Plaster

Appliances : I had to include this for laughs. One day (hopefully soon) I’ll be getting my new stove, especially since I broke the legs on the existing one. Whoops! The fridge and dishwasher are staying though. No need to replace what is working great!

Shelves : Urbandi solid walnut

Sink : Black Single Basin

Faucet : Pull Down Faucet

Lighting : LUSA recessed warm dim feature | Pendant light

Hardware : Rejuvenation

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As much as I love this kitchen, I’m also so relieved this project is behind me. Onto more this year – I’m so excited for what I have planned and as always, am looking forward to bringing you along! Thank you for your support.

With love,
Mercedes 🖤