Striking Purple Cabinets Transform a "Very Early 2000s" Kitchen

Sarah Everett
·3 min read
3
Before kitchen, dark wood cabinets, black countertops
Purple cabinets in renovated kitchen with disco ball on ceiling
Purple cabinets in renovated kitchen with disco ball on ceiling
Cord pendant lamps hung in living room.

ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER

PROJECT TYPE: Kitchen

STYLE: Colorful

SKILL LEVEL: DIY

RENTAL FRIENDLY: No

One of the ’70s design staples that’s (unexpectedly) carried through to the 2020s? A disco ball, of course! And why not add one to your kitchen, like Nate Klass (@natedotklass) did when he transformed his kitchen into a 1970s-inspired oasis after the original didn’t fit the aesthetic he was going for.

“The kitchen before was very early 2000s — dark wood IKEA cabinets, pink marble floor, and white subway tile backsplash,” Nate says. “It was never bad — it just wasn’t that interesting.”

Before kitchen, dark wood cabinets, black countertops
Purple cabinets in renovated kitchen with disco ball on ceiling

Paint is the star of the show.

And “interesting” is precisely what Nate wanted in the kitchen. He went back and forth on the level of makeover he’d be doing, as the room was small and the layout was already ideal. “Just the aesthetics needed a boost,” as he puts it. He landed on a solution where paint made the biggest difference.

At first, Nate thought new colorful hardware would make the original cabinets pop, but in the end, he realized he wanted more color. “I just bit the bullet and painted the cabinets in Farrow & Ball’s Brassica — a purple-gray color,” he says.

The luxurious cabinet color added so much intrigue to the kitchen that Nate painted the walls and ceiling the same color but with different finishes. (The ceiling is high-gloss, while the walls are flat.)

Purple cabinets in renovated kitchen with disco ball on ceiling

The dishwasher got a makeover to match the purple paint.

And if you’re wondering how Nate got his appliances to match the very specific lavender shade, the answer is contact paper. He applied contact paper to the dishwasher and painted it in Farrow & Ball’s Brassica, too.

Next on Nate’s to-DIY list? He plans to do the same with the fridge and the stainless steel parts on his range!

Cord pendant lamps hung in living room.

The tiled backsplash was the hardest part of the redo.

Even though he opted for smaller cosmetic changes in his kitchen (rather than a complete overhaul), he still met a few design challenges and tackled one mid-level DIY project. He calls replacing the backsplash tiles “a journey.”

When replacing the backsplash, he was surprised to learn that he’d also have to patch a lot of drywall. Plus, his snippers weren’t strong enough to cut the specific notches in the new tile, but the thought of a tile saw “terrified” Nate. Still, he did what he had to do it and rented one, noting it “turned out to be pretty easy to use.”

All together, the paint and tiles look striking — shimmering, even. “The light bounces so nicely across the room and, at certain times in the afternoon, even lights up the new disco ball hanging from the ceiling,” Nate says. If this retro-inspired kitchen intrigues you, you’ll want to explore more of Nate’s gorgeous home, especially the dining room with funky wallpaper, which you’ll get a better look at via the full home tour on Apartment Therapy.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: Before & After: Striking Purple Cabinets and a “Groovy” Backsplash Add Drama to an Early 2000s Kitchen