Before & After
Before & After: You Won’t Believe These Dramatic Kitchen Transformations
Published on March 26, 2026
House & Home has featured some great kitchen transformations over the years. When it comes to renovating, the kitchen is often the jumping off point for a home’s overall design palette. In recent years, designers have been called upon to refresh dated 1980s and ’90s houses and builder-basic condos — and we’ve been lucky enough to showcase the results in our annual Makeover Issues and online.
Looking to take your kitchen from bland to beautiful? Get inspired by these 10+ dramatic kitchen transformations.
The owners of this Toronto home wanted to turn their kitchen into a Muskoka-inspired hub. “The goal was to emulate that cottage feeling in their city home,” says designer Erica Gelman, who was hired for the reno.
To satisfy the owners dual requests for light and dark woods, Erica developed a two-tone palette: the uppers and island would be finished in light oak, and the lower perimeter cabinets in a black veneer. Both would have a visible, organic texture that would nod to their lakehouse. To add city edge, Erica created a showstopping stone treatment on the vent hood using stripes of Cristallo Silver quartzite (also used on the full-height backsplash and island waterfall accent) and Nero Assoluto granite (also used for the main island counter).
Designer Cori Halpern brought this 1920s Toronto home into the 21st century with an eye to the past in just six months.
After removing an oddly placed window and relocating the sink in the kitchen, the new layout better accommodates Miele appliances and display shelves. Cori incorporated a two-tone colour scheme with the client’s favourite colour, aubergine, keeping the uppers neutral and light and the lowers more bold.
In eight-plus months, designer Alana Dick of Ivory Design Co. transformed this oceanfront, builder-basic house on Vancouver Island with dated style into a boho, beachy retreat brimming with charm. Keep scrolling to see the transformation!
The renovation began by replacing the old kitchen with a more functional layout. The peninsula was squared off and the upper bank of cabinets were removed to create a focal wall anchored by a curvy plaster vent hood. Window mouldings were removed and replaced with marble tile for a cleaner, low-profile look. The makeover was finished with quartz countertops, new plumbing fixtures, appliances, a marble mosaic backsplash, updated hardware and accessories, and fresh hardwood floors throughout.
Designer Emilia Wisniewski of Studio 1Nine1 carried out a top-to-tail renovation on this home in Toronto’s Little Italy, transforming a cold and ho-hum space into one packed with personality. The renovation took four months.
Emilia refreshed the kitchen by refacing the cabinet fronts and replacing the mosaic backsplash with a rich green tile. Darker quartz counters on the perimeter add depth, while a sleek vent hood insert and a new island faucet complete the look.
When it came to designing this North Toronto home, the biggest sore spot for designer Delia Mamann was the kitchen. “When I first walked in, my first question was: Why are there so many rows of lights? It drove me crazy.” The original kitchen featured a ’90s-style island and corner sink that was calling for an upgrade.
The new symmetrical kitchen is striking yet calming. Delia swapped the landing strips of pot lights with a bronze chandelier by Kelly Wearstler. By eliminating the bulkhead, the off-white cabinets soar to the ceiling, maximizing storage and height. “Composite Sintered stone in a silk finish reads like honed marble and gives the kitchen a luxurious look,” says Delia.
When H&H Deputy Editor Emma Reddington bought her suburban house in North Vancouver, she was far from inspired. Still, she rose to the design challenge, partnering with Darcy Hanna and Emma Sims of Vancouver design firm &Daughters to bring the home’s dated elements into the present day. In the kitchen, honey wood cabinets and white-tiled floor were stuck in the 1980s.
The newly designed mid-century modern-inspired kitchen wows with quarry floor tile, soapstone counters, warm cedar panelling and a vent hood clad in clean-lined drywall. “Quarry tile has a humble, earthy quality,” says Emma of the new floors.
Designer Shannon Cooper wanted to transition the rooms in this Toronto home to better fit the family’s vibe. “Viviana and Sean are amazing hosts, so the space needed to be impressive, inviting and highly functional,” she says. The previous kitchen had blue-grey kitchen cabinets and a subway tile backsplash.
The new kitchen is packed with storage and has great flow. “I felt passionately about having a rich, dark green kitchen. This was going to be the hub of the home, so I wanted something with impact,” says Shannon.
“The previous owners were using a beautiful vintage hutch in place of cabinets and, the day we moved in, I put a plate in the cabinet and when I shut the door, the glass shattered,” says the homeowner.
The vintage hutch was carefully reassembled in dining room. In the new striking green kitchen, a brass finish on the pendants echoes the hardware.
“Sometimes, the instinct is to rip everything out,” says designer Mazen El-Abdallah of Mazen Studio. “But it was nice to take a moment and question whether it was necessary, even from an environmental perspective. We entirely transformed the condo kitchen, and it has no lesser of an impact than if we had started fresh.”
They kept the layout but reclad and extended the cabinets, and bought new appliances. They also added a longer island with a Paonazzo marble top and improved the lighting. “I like to have a guiding principle for projects,” says Mazen (right), “but then I focus on the experience of the space, and on the moments that make a home feel special.”
In designer Brooke Butler’s circa-1986 bungalow in Calgary, the original kitchen had popcorn ceilings, an octagonal kitchen island and dated wood cabinets.
“My taste tends to gravitate towards warm, natural tones and textures,” says Brooke of the reimagined space. The cabinets are white oak and custom lacquered to complement the floors, and color-matched to the stretcher brick backsplash and range hood. “It was important to still see the wood-grain through the low-sheen colored lacquer. We kept it modern with an oversized island countertop from Caesarstone and ample seating.”
The galley kitchen in this Bowen Island cabin was heavy on 1970s-era hallmarks—a compact galley design, low sunshine ceilings and a psychedelic color—but it lacked functionality due to its pint-sized footprint.
To channel the ocean outside, designer Jocelyn Ross chose Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy for the lower cabinets and drawers. “I didn’t want the kitchen to feel too dark, so we added a floating shelf in cedar and layered in sparkly features like rose-gold hardware that echoes the hue of the Tom Dixon Melt sconces,” she says. Thee dramatic molten-glass lights channel a 1970s hippy vibe, which was a way to honor the kitchen’s original roots.
In a Calgary home designed by Nyla Free, the original layout lacked flow between rooms, including the kitchen and dining room.
By removing a wall, the open-concept space allows the homeowners to entertain with ease. The kitchen island features quartzite counters, a prep sink and a large stove that lets the homeowner mingle with guests while entertaining.
“We decided to keep the main sink where it was in the kitchen since the home is west-facing; the owners get beautiful sunlight from the windows,” says Nyla.
“We splurged on the Home Refinements by Julien SmartStation sink to fill the large space in the kitchen’s bay window,” adds Nyla.
When this homeowner was tired of staring at the same four walls and working out of her dull kitchen condo that lacked style and storage, she turned to Toronto-based designer Adriana Pietropaolo with her wish list: maximized storage, new full-size appliances, increased prep space and a dedicated dining and work area.
Adriana swapped out the condo-sized fridge for a full-sized one and installed a panel-ready dishwasher which helped make the small kitchen feel larger. “A dual-height island offers my client new prep space, a dining area and loads of storage that the space didn’t have before,” she says.
Designer Ben Leavitt had his work cut out for him when it came to reimagining this century-old Craftsman home in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood. “The pale blue wall paint gave the dated kitchen a washed out look,” he says.
White walls, blond wood millwork and light counters create an airy kitchen that marries modern and traditional styles. “I love working with modern elements in a historical home because of the juxtaposition,” says Ben.
An old L-shape kitchen presented a lot of challenges in this home makeover by Collective Studio. “By flipping the room and moving the range and fridge to the largest wall, it gave us more real estate to squeeze in everything we needed” says designer Alana Firestone of Collective Studio.
The new kitchen is a very modern, high contrast space which is the style that Collective Studio’s clients love. “We tend to do a lot of mixing which is one of our signature looks. This island is a beautiful oak stained black, the range hood is a patinated metal, the white cabinets are painted MDF and the pantry is wood veneer. By not sticking to one color or material, we add a lot of interest and depth to our spaces,” says designer Jordy Fagan.