An Economical Kitchen Refresh

I’m working on a project in a nice suburb of Chicago. The previous owners remodeled their small kitchen in the 1990s. The new owners moved into the house a few years ago, but they felt that the kitchen’s appointments were too overwhelming and busy for such a small space. Yet, the quality of the cabinets were good. They were looking for an economical solution. The answer came in modernizing some of the cabinets and replacing a few others. In the end they will have a modernized kitchen with cabinets that look appropriate for the space.

See photos below:

This hutch had a wainscot backboard along with columns and a grape motif valance. It was overpowering and in a mishmash style.
The cabinet was disassembled and unbolted from the wall.
Then we separated the pieces and removed the center section as well as the grape and vines valance.
Removing the back.
The new more modernized piece is now remounted. A tile backsplash will be added to unify the two pieces. Note the removal of the grape and vines valance.
The center island was also embellished with a grapes and vines motif.
I carefully removed it.
Already looking better!
Another area had a mirror backsplash, the owner wanted it removed.
I found this interesting artwork when I removed the backsplash.