The Big Kitchen Reno!

After years of waiting and dreaming and months of blood, sweat and tears, our kitchen has now taken on a new. lovely look! Let's introduce you to the 1970's wood paneling cave of a kitchen. I cringed when I first saw it, but instantly knew it had good bones and fantastic potential.

The Goals:

-Open up the space by removing the cabinets by the sink and install open shelves.

-Install LED can lights and update other lighting.

-Keep the cabinets but update them by putting trim around the dated engraved embellishments.

-Remove the old sink and replace with a farm sink.

-Remove old formica countertops and replace with new quartz counters.

-Keep original copper hinges and restore, replace handles and knobs.

-Build pantry shelves in nook in the dining area.

-Remove all the wallpaper inside the cupboards and repaint.

Price breakdown:

$400 farmhouse kitchen sink

$150 Moen kitchen faucet

$4,000 quartz countertops

$1,000 all other materials (paint, lights, caulk, drywall, hardware etc.)

Total: $5,550

Like I said, good bones. The first step was to tear down all the paneling and then attack the the soffits that were above the cabinets. Demo day is our favorite and doesn't cost us anything! The kids even had fun with the hammers.

I can't decide if I preferred the wood paneling or the green color we discovered underneath!

Thankfully, there were not major obstacles hiding inside the soffits. Some electrical things needed to be re-routed but that was all. The reason we decided to go through the headache of removing the soffits was because we wanted our ceiling to feel higher and more open. Mission accomplished.

After the demo was mainly finished, we had to patch everything. Our walls are made with old plaster and chicken wire. This proved to be a big challenge when trying to match new drywall to the old plaster. We had huge gaps and I had to be very creative when it came time to tape and mud and texture. I'd textured before but I'd never tried my hand at the taping and mudding part. I layered and layered and discovered the product Quickset, to be my very best friend!

The cupboards on either side of the sink are now removed, the taping, mud, and texturing complete, the cabinet faces removed and the lighting holes made. The drawers look funny because all the engraved areas have been filled in with wood filler.

Walls painted (a light custom grey color from Sherwin Williams), wallpaper removed from the inside of the cabinets and the upper cabinets painted in SW "Alabaster."

The hinges were covered with sixty years worth of grease and grime and were nasty! I placed them in the crockpot and covered them with water, squirted a bit of dish soap in there and let them "bake" for about eight hours on low. The grease turned white and then I was able to scrub it off with a bristle brush. It transformed them!

Quartz countertops and a new sink!

I was going for the shaker style cabinet faces.

The lower cabinets we painted SW "Riverway." I ordered the copper pulls and knobs off of Amazon and they matched perfectly with the copper hinges we restored.

The backsplash I researched for a long time. I decided on Smart Tiles adhesive white subway tile. There are knockoff brands but the Smart Tiles is the only way to go. No tile saw, grout, or specialty tools to install it and I was able to do it by myself. It looks amazing!

And now for the finishing touches!

We made the shelves out of our old, falling apart kitchen table. It ended up being the perfect width and had just enough sections to do all that we were needing!

It is a completely different space! Other than the countertop installation, we were able to do the entire project ourselves! We had a dear neighbor who helped us with some electrical re-routing and we were so very grateful for that. For an area in the home where we spend the majority of our time, it was well worth the effort!