Do you remember way back in January 2012 when I posted about our galley kitchen makeover? No, you don’t? Maybe you saw it on pinterest because it continues to get lots of looks and pins. But don’t fret if you didn’t, I will show you where we came from and where we are today.

We started with 80s laminate everything in this room.  Cabinets, counters, floors, backsplash.  Everything was laminate except the appliances and ceiling.  I love the 80s but that’s just too much laminate for my taste!  So in 2012, we resurfaced the laminate cabinets with paint and the laminate wall got resurfaced with a pallet wood backsplash.

Those updates got us through but it gets even better with the long-awaited addition of hardware. Think of it as jewelry. Yes, even better!  Jewelry.

I suppose it isn’t really a makeover but more like make-up. She needed foundation and some accessories.

Check out those bin pulls for the drawer fronts! This is my favorite new addition adding just a dose of industrial charm.

We added simple brushed nickel knobs for the cabinet doors. I scored the hardware on ebay. The knobs were only $1 each!  And I’ll tell you a secret that will have my husband rolling his eyes, I’d change out these knobs in a heartbeat if I could find just the right vintage jadeite knobs.  Always, a work in progress, my friends.

You might notice some other updates as well. The dishwasher got upgraded out of necessity. I actually found the old appliances charming unlike all of the laminate surfaces.  Not charming.

We opted for a stainless dishwasher to go with the stainless refrigerator that the previous owners had already put in. Do you know you can pretty much only find standard appliances in black, white & stainless these days without going the custom route. An almond dishwasher to replace the last one was impossible to find.

I still love the almond colored stove and it’s now vintage charm. Isn’t she cute?

I don’t even mind that the appliances are mismatched in this room for some reason. Let’s call it eclectic.

You’ll be happy to know that the faucet got an upgrade as well. That needed to be done in my opinion.

But let’s talk about functionality of the finishes in here, shall we? I’ve had tons of questions and comments about the paint and pallet since the first post back in 2012. The paint (over laminate) has held up impressively well with a few minor chips around the drawers. That was one of the influencing factors for finally putting on pulls. Plus they look good!

As a reminder the paint was water based latex (BM Woodmont Cream) over water based primer although the recommended application is oil based primer. Still, this isn’t so bad, is it? You can read more about the paint application here. Ahh, the power of paint!

Now for the pallets…either you love ’em or hate ’em. We love ’em and haven’t had a single issue since we glued these suckers up. More about that here.

Do you like the addition of the copper lid that turned a pleasant shade of green? I do!  I’m smitten with it and have been looking for just the right place for it for years.

There’s still more to do to round out this industrial inspired kitchen but I love how it is coming along.  Next project …the counters. The laminate wood tone needs to go!

Slowly but surely…resurfacing laminate one surface at a time.

UPDATE: Check out the 2014 update here.