DIY Kitchen Renovation Reveal

According to a study by Houzz.com, the average kitchen remodel is between $25K and $50K, which is such a crazy range that only goes to to show how ridiculous the question is anyway. Only 4% of people spend less than $5000.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the 4%.

Deciding to renovate your kitchen is kind of a big deal. The kind of big deal that, when you tell people about it they say phrases that would do just as well if you announced you were had decided to perform heart surgery on yourself. “Ohhhh, good luck with that.” Or “Wow, that’s ambitious.” And, very practically, “By yourself?!”

But doing it yourself pays big dividends.

To create this look we reformatted some of our cabinetry, painted it ourselves, tiled the backsplash, created corbels, installed a new sink and faucet, built a sink bump out, added new lights, laid new flooring, and took on the many other little details that go into a remodel.

And all in just six weeks as part of the One Room Challenge hosted by Calling it Home and House Beautiful.

The only part of this kitchen remodel that we did not do ourselves was the quartz countertops and a little bit of the electrical. And while my husband and I are not new to any of it, there is really no reason anyone who wants to cannot roll up their sleeves and do the same.

Once more, let’s take a look at that before.

The big problem was the orange. As in, it was all kind of orangey. To fix that, and to refresh the worn cabinetry, we painted the cabinets using a Wagner Flexio 4000 paint sprayer. Prep work took forever, but the actual painting only a few days, including the doors.

We used Sherwin Williams latex enamel paint in Alabaster from their Emerald line. I honestly never even tried another color. It is a popular choice and it looks fantastic.

Newly refreshed cabinetry meant new hardware as well, right? We used to have those bar pulls that are so ever-loving popular and, sorry-not-sorry, I hated them with an eternal loathing. Maybe it’s my height (or lack thereof), but I got my clothing caught on those darn pulls on a daily basis. So if there was one thing that was certain, the new hardware had to be non-catchable. It’s a thing.

I got these Liberty Brand Mandara pulls from D.Lawless Hardware. They go with the Kichler Moorgate lights so well they were clearly meant to be.

Next, we decided to widen the doorway and demo the laundry area outside the kitchen to create a butler’s pantry with hidden laundry right off the kitchen.

Now, technically, this was part of a One Room Challenge, but I figure a pantry is part of a kitchen, and I only finished the part that actually shows from the kitchen. And anyway, it gave me a chance to include these Piper lights from Kichler Lighting in that space, and they are so fantastic I think I would remodel an entire room just to use them.

I have to say here that this look will change a little. The beam up top is faux, and it is everything I hoped and dreamed. We have temporary spacers in the walls on either side where faux pieces that match that beam were to sit to create a cased opening. But the wood they sent was the wrong color, so we quickly painted the sides to make it work until the new pieces arrive. There’s always something, right?!

In the fourth week we tore out our engineered brazilian cherry wood floors and replaced them with Select Surfaces luxury laminate planks in driftwood. We will actually be continuing these floors throughout the entire main level of our home. Laminate is a fantastic option that is durable, affordable, and looks amazing. I love how the floor brings in a rustic vibe to this space.

Then it was time to focus on the details. These tiles are from Home Depot. Patterned tiles are so popular right now, and give that cement tile look without the high cost. These tiles are super budget friendly. I believe we spent about $250. Compare that to the $1000 it would have cost us to use cement tile. We ended up needing to pick these tiles up super last minute, so I was thrilled to find something attractive in stock. If we had had another week I probably would have gone with this option instead, but we are happy with how it turned out!

Solid maple floating shelves help break up the space, and are echoed in the butler’s pantry. They are also a great place to display a bit of color in an otherwise monochromatic space.

I had been looking for an excuse to purchase some of these Dorotea plates and bowls ever since I saw them and learned they are made by an artist here in the pacific northwest. Aren’t they just fantastic?!

The corbels on the kitchen bar are custom and are inspired by an Eastlake Victorian corbel I picked up at an architectural salvage store. I carved the corbels on my X-Carve. Each uses four pieces of wood which are glued together to form a beefy but beautiful corbel. I’ll have the tutorial available soon, including the files to create one using Inventable’s free software, Easel.

And did we really shiplap that bar? You better believe it. This home used to feature a lot of shiplap behind the walls, so it’s totally okay to add shiplap. There’s some sort of rule about that, I think…

 

The crown on the entire renovation, and my personal favorite part of the entire thing, is the lighting. I’ll share more about that in a follow up post, but I think you can see that the look would just not have been complete without them. All of the lights you see here are from Kichler Lighting.

The chandelier and pendants are from the Moorgate collection.

The undercabs are dimmable LED strips that are hardwired into the home’s electrical system. They were actually really easy to install, and they look aaamazing against that tile.

The ceiling lights have been retrofitted to LEDs as well, and are kind of everything. I’ll talk more about that very soon.

Be sure to check out Kichler’s collection of gorgeous lights. Do you need new lights? Oh, you know you do!

 

 

What a ride it has been! Let’s check out a before and after, shall we?

I want to thank my sponsors and partners for helping create this space. They help make these tutorials possible. I only share products I love and actually use in my own home, and so I can do so with confidence. Be sure to check them all out, and feel free to ask if you have any questions about the products I used in my own renovation. Of course, and as always, all opinions are my own.

 

If you missed any of the first five weeks, check them out at the links.

Week 1: How to renovate a kitchen

Week 2: How to paint kitchen cabinets the right way

Week 3: What HGTV won’t teach you about home renovation

Week 4: Why you should choose laminate flooring

Week 5: How to add vintage charm with a DIY reclaimed wood sink cabinet

 

Coming soon!

Don’t go away! There was just too much to include in the short time frame, but there is more to share. In the coming weeks I will share how to create custom crown molding without actually having to cut crown, a template for custom corbels, how to create floating shelves, and how to build a custom pantry or laundry area.

Also, tomorrow, join me as we focus on the single element without which the renovation would have fallen flat. I’ll share our lighting and how you can create a lighting scheme in your home that will dramatically transform your space.

 

 

Is tackling a kitchen renovation in your future? I hope this helps! Already renovate a kitchen? Share a photo! Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions feel free to reach out.

Happy renovating!

 

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