Our Kitchen: Part 2

Matt and I set out to update our kitchen on a budget. I shared a few “in between shots” and demo details here. A few things for you to keep in mind (which we kept in mind while we planned!)

This isn’t our dream home/kitchen/etc. So, while we definitely wanted to like our kitchen, we also needed to reign in the wish list to keep this reno very friendly on the budget while adding to the ascetic and function of the space. While I am certainly not a reno expert, here are a few things that will help keep the costs down:

• don’t move appliances/sinks etc. This adds to your overall costs…
• in keeping with the above theme, use a similar layout… unless you can make some changes without adding a lot of costs
• use ready made cabinetry, not custom (though I would love to have a custom kitchen some day!)
• adding a few bells and whistles, like soft close drawers/doors, under cabinet lighting, valance/crown and a bit of glass make it feel a little more custom
• framing in your fridge is a small expense in the end, but really adds a more built in/finished look
• be handy! (no but seriosuly… it helps to try some things!)
• If possible reuse things like faucets, fixtures, or knobs/handles. (I didn’t mind the look of our old ones so we repurposed them)

We were kind of lucky, because our kitchen reno did not overly upset our lives. You see… while most people would have no kitchen, we just used our downstairs kitchen… so that was really handy.

Once our cabinets were in, level, and such… it was time to put in drawers, lazy susans and countertops!

We had to replace our sink, because of the cabinet situation at ikea…. we needed a 34″ cabinet, which they did not have… so we went with a 30″, and purchased a smaller sink. We used 2 insert pieces to fill the gaps between the sink and corner cabinets, and I actually really like how it breaks things up in the cabinets. I did not want to have a single basin sink, because I like having 2 basins for hand washing dishes/food prep etc. As a solution I was able to find a basin and a half that fit perfectly.

It was a little nerve racking cutting into our counter tops… thankfully my hubby is pretty handy with a jug saw. We have the left over piece to use as a cutting board.

I LOVE our counter tops. There are a few things that make them more maintenance than something like a laminate… but, you can’t beat the look. We sealed around the sink hole with a polyurethane sealer… and then oiled all of the tops.

The wall was pretty ugly… not going to lie. It was a nice feeling to slap that bead board backsplash up! It easily wipes clean and was a good alternative to re-drywalling and putting in a tile backsplash. You can take a peak at a past post where I went through the install process for a bead board backsplash.

What a different a day makes… or a few days. We went from this:

To this:

Things started to feel like a kitchen again! The small details really started to pull it all together, like the trim for the backsplash, the finishing panels for the end of the cabinets, under cabinet lighting, valance and crown. And the sink! I love how much cuter our cute red appliances look…

I hardly remember those green cabinets… eeek.

What types of countertops do you have? What would you do in your dream kitchen? I would still probably do the oak… perhaps with a stone topped island… one can dream!

Happy Friday! Next kitchen post will be the full reveal 😉 Thanks for your patience on this one… it’s been a long time coming!