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Apartment Therapy featured Nate Klass’s kitchen makeover, which replaces the room’s early-2000s look with purple-gray paint, new backsplash tile and a disco ball. Klass kept the existing layout and focused on cosmetic changes; he says painting the cabinets, walls and ceiling gave the small kitchen the color he wanted.
Apartment Therapy has featured a kitchen makeover by Nate Klass, who refreshed an early-2000s kitchen with purple-gray paint, replacement backsplash tile and a disco ball. Rather than change a layout he already liked, Klass concentrated on cosmetic updates, including painting the cabinets, walls and ceiling in Farrow & Ball’s Brassica shade.
Klass described the original room as having dark IKEA wood cabinets, a pink marble floor and a white subway-tile backsplash. “It was never bad — it just wasn’t that interesting,” he told Apartment Therapy. He initially considered adding colorful cabinet hardware, but decided he wanted a more substantial change in color.
He painted the cabinets Brassica, which the report describes as a purple-gray. He then used the same color on the walls and ceiling, choosing a flat finish for the walls and a high-gloss finish for the ceiling. The existing kitchen layout remained in place, and the report does not give a project budget.
Klass also covered the dishwasher with contact paper and painted it to match the cabinets. He plans to apply a similar treatment to the refrigerator and stainless-steel parts of the range, according to the report. He replaced the backsplash tile, a job that proved more involved than expected because it required drywall patching and cuts around notches.
Klass said he rented a tile saw after struggling to make the needed cuts with his snippers. Although he had been frightened by the idea of using one, he said it “turned out to be pretty easy to use.” The finished room’s lighting and reflective surfaces drew attention to the hanging disco ball: “The light bounces so nicely across the room and, at certain times in the afternoon, even lights up the new disco ball hanging from the ceiling,” he said.
Color Changed the Kitchen’s Character
The makeover shows how paint and targeted surface changes can alter a kitchen’s appearance without replacing its layout or undertaking a full renovation. That distinction matters for readers considering a smaller-scale update: Klass kept the room’s functional arrangement and focused his effort on cabinetry, walls, ceiling, appliances and tile.
The project also illustrates the practical limits of a cosmetic redo. Painting an appliance with contact paper and paint is a personal design choice described by Klass, not evidence of a manufacturer-approved finish or a tested long-term solution. The backsplash work also involved drywall repairs and specialized cutting, demonstrating that even a project framed as an aesthetic refresh can include demanding tasks.
The disco ball is a visible finishing detail, but the report attributes the room’s overall effect chiefly to the coordinated color and the way light reflects around the space. It does not provide cost figures, product durability data or an independent evaluation of the work.
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From Dark Cabinets to Brassica
Apartment Therapy’s before-and-after report presents the original kitchen as a room with a layout Klass considered ideal, but a style he found uninteresting. The renovation was therefore not described as a response to a functional problem. Instead, he wanted the small room’s aesthetics to feel more distinctive.
The outlet identifies Brassica as the paint color used on the cabinets, walls and ceiling. The source describes the project as a 1970s-inspired makeover, linking the disco ball to a design detail associated with that era. It does not state that the kitchen was restored to a historically accurate period style; the description is of Klass’s chosen aesthetic.
The report gives no completion date, itemized cost or measurements for the kitchen. It also does not say whether the floor was changed; its description identifies pink marble flooring in the original room, while the listed makeover work centers on paint, appliances and backsplash tile.
Costs and Durability Not Reported
Apartment Therapy does not list the project’s total cost, timeline or product quantities, so the makeover’s budget and scale cannot be independently assessed from the report. No information is provided about how well the painted appliance surfaces hold up over time, or whether the contact-paper-and-paint method was recommended for those appliances by their manufacturers.
The report says Klass intends to treat the refrigerator and parts of the range next, but it does not establish when that work will happen. It also does not specify whether every tile was replaced, how much drywall needed patching or whether the flooring was altered.
More Appliance Updates Planned
Klass’s next stated project is to use a similar approach on the refrigerator and stainless-steel range parts. The report provides no schedule for those updates. For now, the featured makeover is presented as complete, with the painted cabinetry, coordinated walls and ceiling, new backsplash and disco ball defining the finished look.
Apartment Therapy also points readers to a fuller tour of Klass’s home, including a dining room with patterned wallpaper. That tour offers more of the design context around the kitchen, but it does not add information about the renovation’s budget or the durability of its finishes.
Key Questions
What changed in Nate Klass’s kitchen?
Klass painted the cabinets, walls and ceiling in Farrow & Ball’s Brassica, replaced the backsplash tile, covered and painted the dishwasher, and added a disco ball. He kept the existing layout.
What did the kitchen look like before the makeover?
Klass described it as an early-2000s kitchen with dark IKEA wood cabinets, pink marble flooring and a white subway-tile backsplash.
How did Klass make the dishwasher match the cabinets?
According to Apartment Therapy, he applied contact paper to the dishwasher and painted it in the same Brassica shade. The report does not provide durability testing or manufacturer guidance for this method.
What part of the project was most difficult?
Klass called replacing the backsplash tile “a journey.” He said the work required drywall patching and notched cuts that his snippers could not make; he rented a tile saw for the cuts.
What does Klass plan to update next?
He plans to use a similar approach on the refrigerator and stainless-steel parts of the range. The report does not give a timeline for those projects.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com
