Decorating & Design
Before & After: DIY Pro Angela Rose’s Kitchen Makeover
Updated on August 31, 2021
“When you create something with your own hands, the satisfaction is irreplaceable,” says Angela Rose. The design blogger’s labor of love, Angela Rose Home, has earned her a career in sharing DIY creations online to an audience of more than one million. Her greatest advice: the best renovation is one that you can actually afford. That’s why her work focuses on making dream homes less of a dream and more of a reality. Recently she shared the renovation of her Las Vegas home’s kitchen — debuting her new line of affordable custom cabinet designs and colors with Canadian bespoke cabinet company Nieu Cabinet Doors. Scroll down to see how her do-it-yourself attitude brought this outdated kitchen back to life!
The kitchen was once dark, ornate and far from Angela’s signature style of clean, simple and bright spaces. “It had been remodelled in 2007, but the style was far from my taste,” she says. “I knew the second we moved in that I would renovate it.”
Sharing the home with her husband Mike and three kids, it was important for Angela to reshape the 182-square-foot kitchen into a space they can share and spend time together in. “We’re a real family with a real life, which means we use our kitchen all the time and for practically everything,” she says. “Meals, art projects, homework, watching sports, making Play-Doh — all of it.” She notes that refacing (and replacing only your door and drawer fronts), means getting a designer look for a fraction of the cost of replacing the whole cabinet.
A panel-ready refrigerator and freezer establishes a clean and tidy look. Meanwhile symmetrical Fett pendants by Tech Lighting add an elevated focal point above the marble waterfall island.
“A great way to transform your kitchen is to use the cabinets you have, but completely change the look by refacing them,” says Angela. “This basically means getting new cabinet doors in a new style and color. Changing the fronts of your cabinets will completely revamp the look of your kitchen, it’s affordable and creates a big impact.”
Adorned in hardware Angela found on Etsy, the slimmed-down Shaker Cabinets are painted in Dream Dusk from Nieu Cabinet Doors’ Angela Rose Home Collection. The Shaker profile and cool moody hue completely updates the formerly fussy raised-panel cabinet doors. “My best tip is to look at color samples in your space against your countertop and flooring, at different times of the day and lighting,” she says. “You’ll be surprised how much a color can change during the day.”
Floating shelves are beautiful, but if you crave storage behind doors, or have limited space for floating shelves, countertop hutches are one of 2021’s most stylish trends. “Using upper cabinets, I created a stack of cabinetry that sits on my countertop for functional and beautiful storage,” says Angela. “I opted for glass ready doors to make this hutch feel decorative, but if you worry about keeping things tidy – pick a solid door and create a beautiful focal point!”
Christina Jacobs
Angela Rose