New Kitchen Remodel

Our kitchen remodel was perhaps the first taste of personalizing our home a bit more. When we first bought the house in 2005, the layout & floorplan of the kitchen was really what sold me.  I loved how open it is, how big the kitchen island is, the functionality of everything, the continuity of the hardwood flooring throughout the downstairs of the home, and how it is attached to the family room making it a HUGE great room.  After 15 years though, it was time for some changes and make it our own.  

There wasn’t anything techincally wrong at all with the space.  It functioned perfectly and all stainless steel kitchen appliances were in great condition.  The biggest problem I had with it was it was dark.  Dark cabinetry, darker granite countertops, and nothing that screamed “us”.  The design plan for this kitchen makeover was very very simple:

• kitchen cabinets painted (DREAMED of a white kitchen)
• new quartz countertops
• install new ceramic tile backsplash
• change out hardware
• new faucet
• new kitchen sink
• decorate

We had no plans for a huge “demo” or new builds on this kitchen renovation, so there was no need for a general contractor.  A lot of it we planned to DIY from the very start to save money.  We overbudgeted on renovation costs just to be sure that I got everything I wanted!  The biggest expense was of course going to be painting the cabinetry and the quarts counter tops for the kitchen island.

Proposed Budget= $12,000

Unfortunately we did not take any pictures of the process of the home improvement process or any DIY tutorials we handled ourselves, so before/after’s will have to do for this post!  The entire kitchen renovation took about one week.

• painting kitchen cabinets= two days
• installing ceramic tile = three days
• change out hardware/ install pendant lights/install fixtures and then style= one day

Custom cabinetry was not an option for us at this point due to cost and again, the existing cabinets were all in perfect condition.  Instead of painting the cabinets ourselves though, we went with a local mom & pop company and were super pleased with their work.  The cabinets look GREAT and nobody would ever guess they were actually painted!  I think they look pretty high-end actually!  They did GREAT quality work.  Here is what the kitchen looked like BEFORE:

And this is what it looks like NOW:

It’s literally a day & night transformation isn’t it?  It looks like a whole new kitchen.  I find it so much more light, bright, and inviting.  No more dungeon here!  Our kitchen remodel went so smooth, no hiccups or major issues.

When we were first deciding on tile options for the backsplash, my heart kept gravitating towards what we installed.  I wanted something bold because I did not want it to get lost in the sea of white cabinets.  It’s a LOT of white.  I also didn’t want to do anything very dark because I felt like the kitchen needed the pop, needed the personality.  The goal was to have the backsplash be the focal point of the kitchen, basically I just wanted it to stand out. However, as much as I love the ceramic tile we picked AND it makes my heart happy when I look at it, finding something a bit more timeless might have been a better option.  I adore white subway tile (perhaps with black grout), but again… I wanted to avoid adding any more white.  Let’s be real though… don’t be surprised if you see a little kitchen refresh in the next couple of years… for now though, I do love it very much!

Looking at side by side pictures of our “old kitchen” and our NEW KITCHEN is crazy to me.  One would never think this was the same kitchen!  I could not wait to get the mixer and other countertop appliances tucked away.  I moved my little coffee area to this corner where the mixer was and it’s worked out perfectly.