Sneak peek: Kristen’s kitchen renovation using Wilsonart ‘Daisy’ laminate in ‘Envy’

2015 was a great year for new laminate patterns — both retro inspired and retro revivals — and we’ve been so excited to see these colorful, cheery prints popping up in readers’kitchens. First we saw Wilsonart’s new retro style ‘Betty’ laminate in Nancy’s kitchen and Patti and Darin’s Yabba Dabba DIY kitchen and now — we are green with yes, here it comes — Envy — seeing Wilsonart’s ‘Envy Daisy’ — a recreation by Wilsonart of one of their 1970s designs — in reader Kristen’s retro kitchen remodel in progress. 

Kristen writes:

My husband, Michael, and I moved into our house 6 1/2 years ago, and it was not kept up. We lived in the upstairs half story while we (with the help of family and professionals) did extensive work on the main level. Major job changes, unfortunate discoveries as we peeled back the layers of the house, exhaustion, and my passion for restoring and doing it right put us at tackling the kitchen four years into owning the house.

There were a few critters living in it when we bought it, and unfortunately the original kitchen cabinets were destroyed by them. Among many other later discoveries, we found the roof had severe leaks complicated by the way two small additions were put on the house and complex ice dam issues.

We salvaged the cabinets out of two other 1950/60s homes in the area and refinished them ourselves. We had their dimensions modified to fit in a couple cases. We also salvaged over 500 sq. ft. of 1 1/2″ oak flooring from another house in the area that was sadly going to be town down. I learned about these opportunities through Craigslist. The flooring throughout the main level now all matches, although I’d like to install linoleum or the small pebble looking sheet vinyl I’ve seen featured on RR in the immediate kitchen area.

The refrigerator and stove are placeholders right now, because our super nice neighbors gave them to us when they switched to stainless steel. Can’t beat that price! The oven hood also isn’t installed yet, as well as half of the electrical work.

I started my own business teaching kids and adults sewing, See Kitty Sew, this past fall, and the upstairs half story needed electrical work to be a sewing studio so that jumped ahead of the kitchen for resource allocation. See Kitty Sew is thriving, so now I feel ready to approach the kitchen after the holidays. I know it’s desperately in need of some cohesiveness with the mix I’ve got going on currently.

My plan has always been to do a 1960s green and blue kitchen, but then 1950s/early 60s cabinets became available and other than a solid, the only print I could find at the time was the Wilsonart “Daisy” laminate (1970s). Of course after installation I read about the Jonathan Adler laminate options but no looking back! I loooooooove the counters. In fact my cabinet maker that did the counters suspects I’m one of the first to get the pattern based on his interaction with the company. It took awhile for a sample to even be available when I first spotted them on their website. I picked the print in October and the cabinet maker didn’t receive the laminate until the first week of January.

I’m considering wallpaper (I looooooooove wallpaper) and adding shelves to the side of the tall cabinet that is next to the sink. Or??? I’m open to any ideas! Of course trim and electrical work are needed…and light fixtures that I’ve been hunting for.

It’s difficult to tell this story without feeling like I’m rambling. But then it feels like I’m jumping around a lot — well, because it has felt like a whirlwind in real life. I’m sure you and RR readers understand much more than when I try to tell my friends ha!

I can’t say enough how much I love RR. I am always spreading the word about how much fun it is to embrace your house, reuse materials, and do things the hard way!

Wowl Kristen, we absolutely love how your kitchen is shaping up — especially since you are using reclaimed materials and doing things “The Hard Way.” Those cabinets! The flooring! The countertops!!! Yours is a great story! Please keep us in the loop as everyhing comes together  — we are breathless to see what you do with the walls! Thanks so much for sharing your progress!

Read more about Wilsonart ‘Daisy’ laminate and see all the color ways in our story.