After: full kitchen view from the island, with stainless appliances and black cabinets

Longview Kitchen Remodel

Longview, WA

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Project Overview

This Longview kitchen had its original oak cabinets, laminate counters and an L-shaped peninsula that boxed the room in.

On a tight budget, we replaced every cabinet with black shaker cabinetry, swapped the peninsula for a center island, and added white quartz countertops, a marble mosaic backsplash and new wood-look plank flooring, while keeping the homeowners' existing appliances, in about 150 square feet.

The Challenge

The kitchen worked, but it hadn't changed in decades: honey oak cabinets, gray laminate counters, a bare painted wall where a backsplash should be, white tile floors, and an L-shaped peninsula with bar seating that cut the kitchen off from the dining area and turned the walkway into a bottleneck.

The homeowners wanted a kitchen that looked modern and felt open, without a big-budget remodel. That meant keeping the plumbing and appliances where they were and putting the money where it shows: cabinets, counters, backsplash and the layout of the room itself.

Before: Longview kitchen with original oak cabinets, laminate counters and an L-shaped peninsula with bar stools — Before

The Solution

After: sink wall with a marble mosaic backsplash, black shaker cabinets and white quartz

After: range wall with tall black pantry cabinets, a mosaic backsplash and new wood-look plank flooring

After: new center island with a white quartz top and black shaker cabinets

After: range wall with tall black pantry cabinets, a mosaic backsplash and a window

We removed the oak cabinets and the peninsula, then installed black shaker cabinets on every wall, run up to the soffit for more storage, including tall pantry cabinets beside the range.

In place of the peninsula, a freestanding center island with drawers and cabinet storage gives the homeowners prep space and seating without closing the kitchen off from the rest of the house.

White quartz now covers the counters and the island. Behind it, a marble mosaic backsplash in a geometric circle pattern runs from the counters to the cabinets and wraps around the window. The old white tile floor came out, replaced by gray wood-look luxury vinyl plank that's warm underfoot and stands up to kitchen spills. Brushed-nickel bar pulls tie the cabinets together, and the homeowners' existing stainless appliances went back in to keep the budget where they wanted it.