The colorful kitchen returns - all your questions answered and mmmmore photos!
Hello! I decided to make this post because the last one, honestly, blew up way more than I ever expected. I wasn’t physically able to respond to everyone in the last thread, but want to address some commonly brought up topics and answer some questions. There are also new and better quality pictures which, hopefully, will give some more context and perspective - I know the single picture was a bit confusing, especially when it comes to the ‚mmm’ light fixture placement.
Today OP delivers, so here we go!
Q: Why do it?
A: We bought this apartment and we will very likely stay here for a long time. We never had a space that was made for us, with our ideas, so this was our only shot in the foreseeable future. Why do it like that? We wanted a space that feels like ours. The previous kitchen was functional, but very neutral, and it looked a bit depressing when it was gray outside. We intentionally went for color and contrast to make the space feel brighter and more alive year-round. There’s way too many gray days in Poland during autumn/winter to also have a gray interior. This new kitchen is great to look at when it’s cloudy and dark outside and really brightens our mornings then (well, it does so at all times, but also then). And when it’s sunny, the colors just pop and look amazing.
The waves pattern that you see in the kitchen (handles, light fixture) is repeated in other places in our home (I'm showing the dining table today, and you’ll see the rest one day, too). The color palette (green, pink, blue accents) also repeats outside of the kitchen to varying degrees.
You can hate the colors, but we love them, and as multiple people pointed out, that’s what matters at the end of the day.
Q: Did you design this all by yourself?
A: It hasn’t been asked by anyone, but I have to give credit where credit is due - the design is the result of our collaboration with a Polish design studio called Faro (if you like this kitchen, you might want to check out their instagram profile). With the last post, I woke up to a million views and hundreds of comments, so it was too late to give a proper shoutout - I want to do it now, because it’s well deserved.
The story is that we had an idea for a colorful kitchen with a playful twist, strong blue accents, an island and the Oblure light fixture (‚mmm’), and hired Faro to consolidate these ideas - they came up with lot of options for us to choose from and prepared something really unique in the end. We were so happy with them, in fact, that we contracted them to design our bedroom, too. And it also turned out awesome - I will post it soon, as it nears completion.
Q: Why is the sink so small? None of my cookware would fit!
A: This was the #1 criticism, however - it’s not too small for us, and our largest dutch oven easily fit inside this sink with room to spare: https://imgur.com/a/ucSuw0o
We are used to a sink of that size, there is a big and efficient dishwasher in the kitchen that we use a lot, and in our case, having a larger sink would only be an invitation to have it filled with dirty dishes. I understand that many of you are used to huge sinks, but we seriously don’t need one. I know this is unusual for some, especially when compared to some of your sinks that I saw pictures of, but it works really well for our habits. The kitchen is not that big, too, so it also gives us more countertop space.
If we wanted a larger sink, we would need to get a much thicker countertop, which was very expensive. I did get criticized for having an expensive light fixture rather than a thicker countertop, however, for us, a larger sink was simply unnecessary.
What’s more, we have a flexible tap, so there’s no need to put pots inside the sink - the water can go where it’s needed instead. I will say, though, that most of my friends and family do have larger (sometimes much larger) sinks than this one.
Q: mmmm, boing boing boing?
A: mmmm, boing boing boing!
Q: Where is … from?
Light fixture: Oblure Arch
Outlets: Katy Paty
Handles: Desiva Cloud / Desiva Frill
Cabinets: custom
Appliances: Electrolux/SMEG and a Siemens dishwasher. The hob is an induction one. (plugged into a dedicated 400V, 3 phase outlet, boils a pot of water in a breeze!)
Sink: Franke (not that anyone asked lol)
Q: Color palette? What is ... made out of?
A: Upper cabinets: NCS S 1030-R10B
Lower cabinets: NCS S 5020-G70Y
Countertop: quartz
Cabinet doors: lacquered MDF
Oven stack: engineered wood
Q: Why did you devalue your property?
A: Short answer: I'm not optimizing for resale, but for enjoying my home.
Long answer: We did not even consider or discuss this topic during the renovation - not once. This is a space to live in and enjoy. We are living in our home, not in the home of some future potential buyer of this place. We want to feel good here and we would not feel good in a gray kitchen. It’s worth the money for us. I am quite surprised this topic came out so often, considering this is a house decorating subreddit, not a house flipping one.
Q: Why did you ruin natural wood?
A: None of what you saw in the original kitchen was made out of wood. It was laminated chipboard and lacquered MDF.
Q: Environmental concerns, why did you trash a perfectly good kitchen?
A: I can assure you that almost nothing went to trash. Someone we know needed a new kitchen, so everything that no longer of use to us was disassembled and donated to them, including the appliances. The missing cabinets were rebuilt to match the doors.
I honestly would feel quite bad if the old kitchen went to the landfill, I admit, and I’m glad it didn’t.
Q: Why not simply repaint the cabinets?
A: That’s what we wanted to do at first, but it quickly turned out unfeasible. The doors were lacquered MDF, chipped in many places, too. The countertop and backsplash were glued to everything. The hood was terribly loud and very old, and it could not be replaced without replacing the upper cabinets. We also hated the white brick and wanted it gone. So it quickly turned out that the best thing to do will be to tear almost the whole thing down. We only reused a few lower cabinets and the dishwasher, which was almost new. Here's a picture of the disassembled kitchen: https://imgur.com/a/50lC8sv
Q: How do you not bang your head on the huge light fixture?
A: I hope it’s clear from the new images - it’s above an island.
Q: How much did it cost?
A: Recalculated to USD, it would be 15-17k, including contractors and appliances. Mind you, I am in Poland, so take that into account. Also, a lot of people assumed the new kitchen is made out of wood, which is not the case, and is quite unusual in Poland. It would probably cost twice as much or more if it was wooden.
Q: What is wrong with the power cord of the light fixture? Why is it not straight?
A: It’s supposed to be like that. The mounting point of this power cord is offset from the top of the „wave”, and if you look at the Oblure website, nearly all implementations they show feature a wavy power cord. It also fits the „wave” theme of the home - it was a deliberate decision to leave it like that.
Q: Is the rest of the house like this?
A: More or less, yes. Other spaces are also being transformed from gray to colorful/playful. I hope to post some more in the upcoming months, but it’s still work in progress.
A special thank you to all the people who appreciated the space or the design choices, even if they didn’t like it. And, of course, to all the ones who have similar taste to ours and shared so many kind words about the new kitchen. Again, I could not reply to everyone, but I have read almost all of the comments, and it was really, really nice.
I knew this design wouldn’t be for everyone, but I’m really happy it sparked so many reactions and discussions.