Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | i should be mopping the floor
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Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover

Our budget-friendly kitchen makeover is coming to an end (amen and alleluia). It's been a lot of fun, a load of work, and a process that I'm happy to be finished with. But, I'm so happy with the end result. This was the very first room in our new 1970's ranch home to get made over (click here for the entire tour). As I've said before...if I didn't do the kitchen first, I may have never done it. 

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
This post has more photos than any other post on this blog, y'all. And I've been blogging here for five years, so that's pretty crazy! But, I wanted to show you every bit of this new space. I actually won't be too chatty in this post...I kind of want the photos to speak for themselves. I will interject every now and then with some info. 



Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover

We kept this budget-friendly in several ways...we kept the cabinets and just repainted them, I refinished the counter tops as I just mentioned, did some "cover up work" on the back splash (in a manner of speaking), and we did 90% of the work ourselves (my friend Krista did come and help me with the mountain of paint work and my dad installed hinges for us).

We did get new appliances, but that was partly due to an allowance from the seller, a great sale, and the fact that I ordered all white appliances to save some change (and fingerprints...don't hate me, but I'm just not a stainless person). We also didn't do recessed lighting like we did in our previous kitchen...I love recessed lighting, but it would have been a huge undertaking in here with wiring, drywall, texture, etc. We did have new LED fluorescent fixtures put in to replace the older ones...they're a lot more energy efficient and the light is a lot cleaner, too (not yellow, like the previous ones).
We did redo the floors in the whole house (with exception of the bedrooms)...so that carried into here, as well. That was our biggest splurge.


Before Photos

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

After Photos:

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

"Painted" Countertops

I have had a bajillion questions (give or take) on the counter tops. I've been ridiculously vague, and for that I apologize. I'm not 100% sure I'll do a complete tutorial...I'm still thinking. But basically, they cost me $40 and I refinished them myself with a boatload of sanding (and then more sanding), several layers of a bonding primer, paint (I know, don't leave me just yet), and then a high gloss finish. It was a process. It's a temporary fix, but we may end up keeping them for a while...I actually really like the look of them and the way they feel. My process was interrupted on its last day of curing (which is why I'm not comfortable doing a complete tutorial...I think the outcome would have been different if I hadn't had to make fixes). Our contractor missed my text that said "don't go near the counter tops for the next 72 hours...they're curing". He was on the last leg of some small jobs he was doing for us before move in. I walked in about 18 hours after the last coat of finish to see him standing on them (standing, y'all...no drop cloth or anything...just shoe to counter top), texturing the ceiling. I ABOUT DIED. Four days of hard work came crashing down. 

He didn't completely ruin them...but my touch ups and re-dos take away from the glory that they could have been. It still kind of makes me want to throw up. 
Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
I have to interject a wee bit here. This is the pantry. In my previous home, we had an enormous walk-in pantry, but this one actually is a lot more efficient (who woulda thunk?). The kitchen itself has a ton more cabinets (even though we lost the one section over the bar) than our previous one, so I can store small appliances in places other than the pantry. I use the section to the right of the pantry (the upper cabinets) as a baking area...perfect with my canisters and mixer right there at the ready.


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
For even more details on the breakfast area, click here for last week's post


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
For more details on our farmhouse sink and the DIY artwork above it, click here


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
For more details on our hardware, click here


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
My coffee bar shrunk a bit from the last house, but I still have all the essentials. 

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
This "Cawfee" tray is not misspelled. It's the Brooklynese line of dishes from my very favorite store in NYC. I also have the creamuh, shugah, buttah, sawlt, and peppa pieces, and a dishclawth. My blue Dachshund creamer is from there, too. The quaint little store is called Fishs Eddy (again, not misspelled). I've mentioned on here a few times that my husband wants to relocate to Brooklyn once we're retired, right? Now that we bought this house, we're on the fence, but we still celebrate our love for Brooklyn any way we can. ;)


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
This is the more everyday look for our table. I'm a tray person. Oh, and there's my sawlt and peppa that I mentioned above.


Budget-Friendly Kitchen Makeover | See how they took their kitchen out of the 1970s with a tight budget (and $40 countertops!). Loads of before and after pics.
A big, HUGE thank you to ATG Stores who supplied our new lighting, farmhouse sink, and hardware in here. They have an incredible selection. Check them out here.





20 comments:

  1. I love it, the colors are awesome!! You're making me look bad Kristi. I moved into my house 7 months ago and I'm not even done painting yet, lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Girrrrrl, this is the ONLY room I'm done in. We aren't even close to being finished with painting in the rest of the place. You're too kind!! Thanks so much, Lisa!

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  2. I love this kitchen! I'm absolutely amazed at the transformation!!!

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  3. Pretty! Where did you find the farmhouse sink? I think I want one....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! The sink is from ATG Stores. I posted all about it here: http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2016/03/farmhouse-sink-and-diy-kitchen-art.html.

      Delete
  4. Beautiful! I love the pops of red. Do you mind sharing the paint color you used for the lower cabinets?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cathy. It's called Clear Pond from Behr. :)

      Delete
  5. I love the colors. Those drapes with the red stripes are swoony.

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  6. I love how you reworked things and made an 80's kitchen look modern. I love everything about it except for one thing...the coffee bar looks awkward. Like its floating in space. It needs a cabinet or bookshelf for recipe books, or something so that it doesn't look like a little lost orphan. But I could NEVER come up with the changes that you made without redoing everything so.... Awesome job!

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  7. Kristi, it is so pretty! It feels light, airy, and inviting.
    Nancy

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  8. Gorgeous! I did almost the same thing in the house my husband and I moved out of a year ago. I had pickled cabinets. I did all white but the blue looks really pretty with it. I usually don't like kitchens with two different colors but yours works well.

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  9. What a beautiful kitchen! It's amazing what paint can do!! Sorry about the contractor and standing on your counters, when we had some work done years ago the people had been eating peanuts, we knew this because they left the shells all over the place and didn't bother to clean up. But from the angles you took the pics you can't tell, love your "new" kitchen!

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  10. Incredibly beautiful and simple, clean lines and the pops pf color are wonderful. Fantastic execution!

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  11. Amazing! Colours are so beautiful and love your coffee station. Congrats!

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  12. This is beautiful - I am so happy for you, you have done an amazing job! xoxo

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  13. Your kitchen is so bright and cheery and I love it! Love all the white.. it's so crisp and clean. Our house is also about a 1978 version and still has the original kitchen with dark brown (wood) cupboards and light gold formica countertops that are cracked and chipped. It's on our list but we'll never do it ourselves I'm sure. I keep saying that I could at least paint the cupboards as they are real wood! But I hate painting! Hubby doesn't "do" any sort of handyman repairs or painting, etc. so it may stay the same until we sell or die. Maybe at least one day we can get new counters. Yours are gorgeous and they look just beautiful... I would have screamed and yelled if I would have walked in to my carpenter guy standing on my freshly made over counters! I bet you did too! You have alot to be proud of! Marilyn

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  14. I love the redo!!! You did a great job on the countertops.

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  15. Great job. Love the floor and stools

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