12 Inspiring Real-Life Vintage Kitchens

We lived in our home for 12 years until we remodeled our kitchen. For 12 years we’d first 1941 closets, stained Formica counters plus a set of the cheapest white appliances available. Basically, a variant of what many renters and homeowners live with.

So, what to do when all you can really afford are a couple of cans of paint and maybe a few dishes? Embrace classic and strut your unique style.

These 12 kitchens embrace and boost their classic style. A number of them are much nicer compared to our old kitchen, but they’re not decor-mag stylish. They aren’t new and slick and perfect. They are actual, lived in and adorable as all get-out.

Kelly and Abramson Architecture

If you’ve got ugly cabinet doors, then eliminate them and proceed with open shelving. Paint everything thing white (a accent color on the inside rear wall also looks fantastic) and feature your stacks of dishes, cookbooks or spice jars.

See more of this kitchen

CapeRace Cultural Adventures

White makes everything seem clean and fresh. And mismatched chairs, dishes and fabric say, “That is all intentional.”

Keep Smiling Home

Many older kitchens sorely lack of counter and storage space. Utilize furniture intended that will help out you. This wooden dresser works flawlessly as kitchen drawers, also it adds eclectic charm. Also, in case you’ve got a refrigerator that’s seen better times, why don’t you insure it with chalkboard paint?

See more about this DIY house makeover

Julie Ranee Photography

Draw the eye away from less-than-adorable appliances using bright splashes of color. These reddish accessories seem less like a cover-up and much more like an intentional design feature.

This really is a remodeled kitchen that is new, but the pleasure embrace of the chaotic is a wonderful lesson for older kitchens also. The opposite of moving all uncluttered and white would be to let it all hang out. You just know the person who cooks here’s fun to be around.

Here is another side of the same kitchen, demonstrating that mismatched can be very stylish indeed.

See more of this quirky Texas kitchen

The oldest trick in the book: Paint the cabinets a classic color and replace the hardware. The rustic island makes it all seem blatantly shabby chic. Very adorable.

CapeRace Cultural Adventures

Going monochromatic in a fun, classic color has a similar result to moving all white: It makes everything seem fresh and bright.

Mahoney Architects and Interiors

Embrace the era. That is obviously a remodel, but it does show what improving things like outdated tile counters by matching accessories and colors may perform to an older kitchen.

Gypsy girl

Nothing about this kitchen is sleek, new or fancy. But what about it is adorably stylish. Replace yucky lower cabinet doors using a curtain in a cute classic fabric. Paint your backsplash an enjoyable color. Embrace wild, mismatched, eclectic style.

Debbie Dusenberry, aka CuriousSofa.com

Go simple, spare and tasteful. Vintage pieces like this chandelier and island table are rustic and chic, but not slick or new. The muted colors keep it calm.

Vintage Renewal

This open kitchen contrasts by being completely eclectic and “matching” the decor around it. Quirkiness and color go a ways toward disguising less-than-perect bones.

Display your classic collections, hide your unattractive stuff in attractive vessels and maintain your visual madness in a single, clean place.

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