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Emma and Zack Shay refreshed the kitchen in their 100-year-old, Craftsman-inspired bungalow for about $600, replacing a gray palette with sage-green cabinets, white walls, patterned peel-and-stick flooring and vintage-inspired hardware. The Apartment Therapy report describes the work as a cosmetic makeover that kept the existing cabinets; the couple’s countertops remain a future project.
Emma and Zack Shay spent about $600 refreshing the kitchen in their 100-year-old, Craftsman-inspired bungalow, replacing a blue-gray scheme with sage cabinets, white walls and vintage-style details. Apartment Therapy reported that the couple kept their existing cabinets and used lower-cost updates, offering a specific example of how paint, flooring and hardware can change a kitchen without replacing its cabinetry.
The Shays wanted the kitchen to feel more at home in their older bungalow. Emma told Apartment Therapy that previous owners had changed the room to fit a gray trend, leaving blue-gray cabinets, gray flooring and gray walls that did not suit the couple’s taste or the home’s original wood floors and wide trim. She described the space as “a bit uninspired and not our style.”
The makeover included replacing gray peel-and-stick flooring with a black-and-white, vintage tile-look version, widening the trim and floorboards, and adding beadboard. The couple painted the walls and beadboard Benjamin Moore’s Simply White and used a color matched to Farrow & Ball’s Lichen sage green on the cabinets. Brushed nickel bin pulls and glass knobs completed the period-inspired look, which Emma said was intended to suggest hardware that might have suited the house in 1924.
Rather than buy new cabinetry, the couple painted what was already there. Emma acknowledged that two cabinet doors do not close properly but said she accepted that trade-off to avoid spending several thousand dollars on replacements. The work was not quick: she told Apartment Therapy that the hardest part was living with the kitchen in disarray for two months. The reported total was about $600; the supplied article does not provide an itemized budget.
A Lower-Cost Alternative to New Cabinets
The project highlights a practical choice for homeowners who dislike a kitchen’s appearance but do not want, or cannot afford, a full remodel. By keeping the cabinets and changing the paint, floor covering, trim and hardware, the Shays altered the room’s look without paying for new cabinetry. The reported cost of about $600 is specific to this project, not a general estimate for similar renovations; the source gives no detailed breakdown of labor, supplies or other expenses.
The makeover also shows how a renovation can respond to a home’s age and the owners’ preferences at the same time. Emma said she took cues from the bungalow’s Craftsman character while adding vintage and cottage details. Her account of feeling more excited to cook, bake and host reflects the couple’s own response, rather than a measured effect on resale value or property value.
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Keeping the Bungalow’s Existing Cabinets
Emma described the house as a 100-year-old Craftsman-inspired bungalow with original wood floors and wide trim. In her account to Apartment Therapy, the kitchen’s previous gray finishes felt out of step with those features. The project was a style update, not a full restoration: the Shays chose temporary-looking peel-and-stick flooring while saying they would eventually like to replace it with linoleum sheet flooring.
They also encountered work beyond painting. Emma said they repaired the plaster as best they could before covering it again with beadboard and trim. The source does not specify the exact project dates or provide measurements, product quantities or a full materials list. It reports the couple’s description of the work and their roughly $600 cost.
“The blue-gray cabinets, gray flooring, and gray walls were a bit uninspired and not our style.”
— Emma Shay, speaking to Apartment Therapy
The Budget and Countertops Remain Unclear
The reported $600 total is not accompanied by an itemized list, so it is unclear which materials, tools or other costs it includes. The source also does not say whether the couple completed the work entirely themselves or paid for any labor. The figure should be understood as the cost reported for this household’s project, not a standard price for a kitchen makeover.
The countertops are unfinished. Emma told Apartment Therapy that they are tan tile painted white by previous owners, chip easily and need repainting. She said the couple planned to make them work for a few more years, but the report does not specify when that work will happen or what product they will use. Their longer-term plan to replace the peel-and-stick flooring with linoleum is also not dated.
Countertop Repairs Are the Next Project
Emma said the couple’s next task is to repaint the countertops, which she expects will make the chipped, painted tile manageable for another couple of years. That work remains a plan in the Apartment Therapy report, not a completed update. The Shays have also said they would like to replace the peel-and-stick floor with linoleum in the future, but they gave no timetable for either project.
For now, the reported makeover is complete apart from those planned updates. The article does not announce a follow-up date or provide further details about the final countertop treatment, flooring replacement or any additional kitchen work.
Key Questions
What did the Shay kitchen makeover cost?
Emma and Zack Shay reported spending about $600. Apartment Therapy’s account does not include an itemized budget, so the figure cannot be broken down into specific materials or labor costs.
What changes did they make to the kitchen?
They installed black-and-white vintage tile-look peel-and-stick flooring, widened the trim and floorboards, added beadboard, painted the walls and beadboard white, painted the cabinets sage green, and installed brushed nickel bin pulls and glass knobs.
Did the couple replace the cabinets?
No. They painted the existing cabinets rather than buying replacements. Emma said two doors do not close properly, a compromise she accepted to avoid spending several thousand dollars on new cabinets.
What work is still planned?
Emma said she still needs to repaint the painted-tile countertops. The couple would also like to replace the peel-and-stick flooring with linoleum eventually, but no dates were given for either project.
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