5 Times Recycled Kitchen Cabinets Looked Fantastic
Redoing your kitchen? Be inspired to reuse what you already have to create a gorgeous new look
Not only could redeploying your old kitchen cabinets when renovating be good for the environment, it could also save you money. Reconfiguring existing units can involve a bit more work for your contractor and both they and your designer will need to be on board, so choose your professional carefully: initial conversations should cover your desire to reuse and your reasons why.
The right team will also be able to help you find the best way to make use of what you have, whether that’s reusing existing carcasses and adding new fronts, respraying the doors, or reconfiguring the layout and matching old units with new. See how these designers on Houzz made the idea work beautifully.
The right team will also be able to help you find the best way to make use of what you have, whether that’s reusing existing carcasses and adding new fronts, respraying the doors, or reconfiguring the layout and matching old units with new. See how these designers on Houzz made the idea work beautifully.
2. Add to the original
After living with their new kitchen extension for eight years, the owners of this Victorian property in London decided to build a second, larger addition at the back of their house – adding 30 sq m to the space.
As they were happy with the bespoke tulipwood and maple veneer kitchen they’d chosen the first time round, they were keen to keep it, while adding improved zones for preparation, cooking and storage.
“As the first kitchen had been made by us just eight years before, this made it much easier to reuse the cabinets, as the techniques and materials were all familiar for us to work with following our usual methods,” George Robinson of George Robinson Kitchens says. The company is always keen to reuse old materials, but this was the first time it had redesigned using all the old units.
So what were the key changes he made? The original kitchen was repainted and the larder cupboard reused, but extended to maximise food storage with the addition of bespoke baskets and a slate cold shelf.
“The old island was retained, but flipped around to face the other way,” George says, “and we added a breakfast bar and curved cabinets on each end to extend the area.”
Tour the rest of this recycled kitchen.
Ready to revamp your kitchen? Find a reviewed interior designer or kitchen designer on Houzz today.
After living with their new kitchen extension for eight years, the owners of this Victorian property in London decided to build a second, larger addition at the back of their house – adding 30 sq m to the space.
As they were happy with the bespoke tulipwood and maple veneer kitchen they’d chosen the first time round, they were keen to keep it, while adding improved zones for preparation, cooking and storage.
“As the first kitchen had been made by us just eight years before, this made it much easier to reuse the cabinets, as the techniques and materials were all familiar for us to work with following our usual methods,” George Robinson of George Robinson Kitchens says. The company is always keen to reuse old materials, but this was the first time it had redesigned using all the old units.
So what were the key changes he made? The original kitchen was repainted and the larder cupboard reused, but extended to maximise food storage with the addition of bespoke baskets and a slate cold shelf.
“The old island was retained, but flipped around to face the other way,” George says, “and we added a breakfast bar and curved cabinets on each end to extend the area.”
Tour the rest of this recycled kitchen.
Ready to revamp your kitchen? Find a reviewed interior designer or kitchen designer on Houzz today.
3. Change the worktops
This kitchen in an Edwardian house in north-west London was in good shape, but its owners wanted a space that worked better for them,” designer Jo Kaur Llogarajah of Studio JKL says, adding that the owners found her on Houzz.
The existing cabinets were all simply repainted and fitted with new handles to give them a fresh look. The small yet significant key change was the orientation of the island breakfast bar. As the old worktop was worn, Jo replaced it (making use of it in the utility room), which allowed her to switch the island overhang to the long side, rather than it being on the end.
This created a clear zone for a living space adjacent to the kitchen and made space for more seating at the island, totally transforming the open-plan room along the way.
Jo says the renovation process was helped by the use of Houzz software, which she used to create the initial proposal and a full quotation. “What I like is that, for the furniture, the owners could go in and tick off what they did and didn’t want,” she says. “It was really helpful to be able to do it that way, with them doing it in their own time just with a tick. I could then go back to certain things that weren’t ticked if I wanted to discuss them further.”
And how do the clients feel about their new home? “They were really thankful for my involvement,” Jo says, “especially for me managing the project. They also loved all the help with ideas – and what they got in the end.”
Check out the whole kitchen.
This kitchen in an Edwardian house in north-west London was in good shape, but its owners wanted a space that worked better for them,” designer Jo Kaur Llogarajah of Studio JKL says, adding that the owners found her on Houzz.
The existing cabinets were all simply repainted and fitted with new handles to give them a fresh look. The small yet significant key change was the orientation of the island breakfast bar. As the old worktop was worn, Jo replaced it (making use of it in the utility room), which allowed her to switch the island overhang to the long side, rather than it being on the end.
This created a clear zone for a living space adjacent to the kitchen and made space for more seating at the island, totally transforming the open-plan room along the way.
Jo says the renovation process was helped by the use of Houzz software, which she used to create the initial proposal and a full quotation. “What I like is that, for the furniture, the owners could go in and tick off what they did and didn’t want,” she says. “It was really helpful to be able to do it that way, with them doing it in their own time just with a tick. I could then go back to certain things that weren’t ticked if I wanted to discuss them further.”
And how do the clients feel about their new home? “They were really thankful for my involvement,” Jo says, “especially for me managing the project. They also loved all the help with ideas – and what they got in the end.”
Check out the whole kitchen.
4. Choose fresh, custom-made fronts
The owner of this petite galley in a Victorian terrace in Essex had spotted another small kitchen designed by Natasha Burton of NB Interiors on Houzz and got in touch.
“[The owner] had lived there for around 10 years and had inherited the kitchen, so it looked quite tired,” Natasha says. But, at just 4m x 2m, the room didn’t give her a lot of space to play with. There was no point altering the layout, and the 10-year-old units were in good shape, so Natasha opted to keep the carcasses, but upgrade the tired fronts.
The owner was keen to stick with white for the walls and worktops. “But I suggested painting just the base units and we picked this pink,” she says. New flooring and worktops, added textures, and some strategic storage-pimping with hooks, shelves and a clever boiler cupboard complete the transformation.
Because it was such a small space, only one trade could work in it at a time, which meant it wasn’t as speedy as a larger kitchen renovation might have been.
To help move things along, the owner moved out during works, but Natasha could keep in touch via the shared Houzz Scheduler. “That was really helpful, so she could stay up to speed on where we were on the project and which trades were in when,” Natasha says. She also drew up the project in 3D using the Houzz Pro tool to help the owner visualise how the new space would look.
Discover all the clever tweaks that transformed this little kitchen.
More: How to Reduce Waste, Reuse and Recycle During your Renovation
The owner of this petite galley in a Victorian terrace in Essex had spotted another small kitchen designed by Natasha Burton of NB Interiors on Houzz and got in touch.
“[The owner] had lived there for around 10 years and had inherited the kitchen, so it looked quite tired,” Natasha says. But, at just 4m x 2m, the room didn’t give her a lot of space to play with. There was no point altering the layout, and the 10-year-old units were in good shape, so Natasha opted to keep the carcasses, but upgrade the tired fronts.
The owner was keen to stick with white for the walls and worktops. “But I suggested painting just the base units and we picked this pink,” she says. New flooring and worktops, added textures, and some strategic storage-pimping with hooks, shelves and a clever boiler cupboard complete the transformation.
Because it was such a small space, only one trade could work in it at a time, which meant it wasn’t as speedy as a larger kitchen renovation might have been.
To help move things along, the owner moved out during works, but Natasha could keep in touch via the shared Houzz Scheduler. “That was really helpful, so she could stay up to speed on where we were on the project and which trades were in when,” Natasha says. She also drew up the project in 3D using the Houzz Pro tool to help the owner visualise how the new space would look.
Discover all the clever tweaks that transformed this little kitchen.
More: How to Reduce Waste, Reuse and Recycle During your Renovation
5. Blend old with new
Megan Paulson of 22 Design House ditched a block of suspended units over the peninsula in this Californian kitchen, but preserved many of the other cabinets, which were original to the 1969-built house.
The ceiling-mounted cabinets had been separating the kitchen from the breakfast area on the other side and made both spaces feel smaller. She also replaced or adapted more high-up cupboards, as well as adding the drawer storage and microwave surround seen here where there had previously been a double oven housing.
Elsewhere, though, Megan retained the vintage units, transforming them with an in-keeping cornice detail and this luscious green paint. The insides got an update, too. “We sprayed the [units] we kept in warm white inside to give them a fresh look and to match the interiors of the new cabinets,” she says.
See the before photos of this brilliantly transformed kitchen.
Tell us…
Could this inspire you to rethink rather than replace your old kitchen cabinets when renovating? Let us know in the Comments.
Megan Paulson of 22 Design House ditched a block of suspended units over the peninsula in this Californian kitchen, but preserved many of the other cabinets, which were original to the 1969-built house.
The ceiling-mounted cabinets had been separating the kitchen from the breakfast area on the other side and made both spaces feel smaller. She also replaced or adapted more high-up cupboards, as well as adding the drawer storage and microwave surround seen here where there had previously been a double oven housing.
Elsewhere, though, Megan retained the vintage units, transforming them with an in-keeping cornice detail and this luscious green paint. The insides got an update, too. “We sprayed the [units] we kept in warm white inside to give them a fresh look and to match the interiors of the new cabinets,” she says.
See the before photos of this brilliantly transformed kitchen.
Tell us…
Could this inspire you to rethink rather than replace your old kitchen cabinets when renovating? Let us know in the Comments.
Sponsored
The owner of this North Yorkshire home had already picked the new kitchen of her dreams when the budget was sucked up by work elsewhere on the property. So she called on Karen Knox of Making Spaces to instead revamp what was already there – a very traditional, country-style kitchen.
Karen went through the owner’s wishlist from that original design and managed to pull off this ingenious, thrifty and environmentally kinder version. It worked partly because the floor tiles ran under the cabinets, so the units could be moved around on top.
“The client wanted her kitchen to have more of an edge than she felt her old one had,” Karen says. A key change was the layout – a peninsula had previously cut across the room, only leaving space for a small dining table. So Karen reconfigured the cupboards, then painted them this strong, dark green.
Wall cupboards also went, making way for the statement wallpaper, which is clad in heat-resistant toughened glass behind the hob for a wipe-clean finish.
See the rest of this kitchen revamp.