My Houzz: Friends Help With the DIY Redo of a San Antonio Kitchen
A Texas homeowner and her pals transform the room with green painted cabinets, open shelving and shiplap walls
Before Angela Aadahl moved to San Antonio from Austin, she undertook an eight-month-long search for an affordable home in the center of town. When she saw her current home for the first time, she was in London, viewing it through a friend’s iPhone over FaceTime. She knew this was the one, so before she arrived back in the U.S., she had placed an offer on the house and had a vision of the changes she would make to it, starting with the kitchen.
BEFORE: One of Aadahl’s main objectives in her kitchen remodel was to open it up, which meant removing kitchen cabinets (seen here with the previous owner, left, and Aadahl’s real estate agent, Bill Defrees) as well as taking down two walls. Aadahl was hoping to hire only as many professionals as were necessary to keep costs down, but the prospect of doing it herself was daunting. “I called one friend to see if he knew of any contractors in town,” she says. “When I told him what I was up to, which was taking down two walls, he responded without hesitation, ‘Oh, we can do that.’”
AFTER: Keeping half of the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen allowed Aadahl to keep the same configuration of the lower cabinets and stove without cutting off the space from the rest of the house.
Aadahl painted the existing white cabinets green and loves the way they contrast with the new gold hardware. “Green is my favorite color, and a good friend talked me into it, as I swayed back and forth between what I have and navy,” she says.
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Aadahl painted the existing white cabinets green and loves the way they contrast with the new gold hardware. “Green is my favorite color, and a good friend talked me into it, as I swayed back and forth between what I have and navy,” she says.
Seeing Green: Some Kitchens Ditch White for Mother Nature’s Neutral
Removing part of the wall also helped open up the floor plan and encourage a natural flow between the kitchen and dining room. Painting the half wall green helped tie it to the cabinets.
BEFORE: “I’m glad for the process. I’m glad for 10-hour project Saturdays when I’m covered in sawdust. I think it’s cool that I not only know different types of saws, I also know how to use them. I never expected that for myself,” Aadahl says.
“Mostly, I’m thankful for those who helped me. Now it’s their house too, and their fingerprints are all over it.”
Pictured here is Aadahl’s friend Loriann Ryan beginning to expose the shiplap in the ceiling.
“Mostly, I’m thankful for those who helped me. Now it’s their house too, and their fingerprints are all over it.”
Pictured here is Aadahl’s friend Loriann Ryan beginning to expose the shiplap in the ceiling.
Painting the shiplap walls white brightened up the space without taking away the texture.
Dining room light: Metal Pipe Pendant (spray painted gold), Urban Outfitters
Dining room light: Metal Pipe Pendant (spray painted gold), Urban Outfitters
BEFORE: One of the most rewarding moments for Aadahl was installing the open shelves around the window. It was a turning point in the project, as it was the first part to be put back together instead of getting torn apart.
Aadahl says it gave her much-needed energy to keep going with the project.
Aadahl says it gave her much-needed energy to keep going with the project.
Aadahl worked with a wet saw for the first time to cut tile for the subway tile backsplash, which she says was the most intimidating part of the renovation. After watching videos online, she recruited a friend and got to work. “Quick tip,” Aadahl says with a laugh. “The less you scream, the straighter the cut. Who knew?”
BEFORE: Aadahl removed the existing laminate counters and then covered them with Ardex to mimic the look of concrete. She was able to make a big impact without great expense by repurposing the existing materials.
As soon as the kitchen remodel was complete, Aadahl had some friends move in temporarily. “It was fun to have the house filled with people so quickly, especially when one of them cooks,” she says.
The homeowner says that watching her friends gather in this space and cook in her kitchen made the months of living in a construction zone worth it.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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The homeowner says that watching her friends gather in this space and cook in her kitchen made the months of living in a construction zone worth it.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Angela Aadahl and her dog, Mae
Location: Keystone Park neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas
Size: About 120 square feet (11 square meters)
The new kitchen came together with the help of friends and Aadahl’s own skills. “I didn’t have to hire anything out, which I still cannot believe,” she says. “I have amazing friends.”
Aadahl moved into her house in March 2016 and immediately tore the kitchen apart. She lived in a construction zone until the end of June. “Looking back, it would have been smart to just take a week off work and get a bunch done. I’ll do that next time,” she says.
Wall paint, Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams; cabinet paint, Privilege Green, Sherwin-Williams; hardware paint, Rust-Oleum; wine glasses: Annie Hanks Ceramics