"It Just Needed a Facelift and a little creativity."

Cindy's kitchen, built in the early 90s, wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't making her happy either, she recalls. The formica countertop was chipping. The appliances were plain vanilla white and boring. The lighting wasn't flattering or functional for a serious kitchen.

"The open kitchen is in the middle of our house, but it wasn't exactly a centerpiece we could be proud of," Cindy says. "We couldn't afford to gut it and start over," so I thought I could fix some things and contract the work myself." That idea didn't last long when Cindy realized how complicated and time consuming it would be.

Cindy asked New Spaces to create a plan that specifically addressed her most pressing needs without doing a complete tear out. "I really appreciated Nicole, their designer, who helped me bring my ideas to life," Hardman says.

Cindy's kitchen "facelift," as she calls it, brought her kitchen up to the standards of the rest of her home for an affordable price:

• Granite countertops are Cindy's favorite feature because of the high quality look and reflective surfaces.
• New stainless steel appliances immediately bring the kitchen into the 21st century.
• Pendant lighting adds style and ambiance that radiate throughout the first floor.
• A new tile design mixes neutral tiles with glass tile inserts to create a and elegant backsplash that's still easy to clean.
• Crown molding at the tops of the cabinets are relatively inexpensive but add rich detail. To tie the kitchen in to the rest of the home, the same crown molding was also added to the fireplace area of the living room.
• The island was bowed out to accommodate seating and give it more a more contemporary feel.