Revealing our Inexpensive and Easy Kitchen Makeover

Sharing my kitchen makeover….

I finally did it! I updated our kitchen! Not to the full extent that I would like to eventually renovate it, but to the point where I feel like it flows well with the style of the rest of our home. Before we dive into the oohs and ahhs of this kitchen makeover, let’s take a quick look at some BEFORE pictures….

Sorry about the quality of that picture! Had to dig deep in my archives for a kitchen picture–not a space I proudly shared. It’s been in need of some updates for a while now. 🙂

It all started to come together around Thanksgiving. As I was getting ready for my first annual Holiday Open House Tour, I decided to dive into a full-on kitchen makeover. That makes perfect sense, right? Just prior to opening my home to several people, why not dive into a major project? I like to add as much stress to my life as physically possible. HAHA! So, just weeks before the crowd arrived I frantically knocked out two sliding barn doors, a couple shiplap walls, updated most (still need to change out the working kitchen area) of my kitchen trim to thicker craftsman trim and re-upholstered all of my banquette cushions. Oh and I also painted an upholstered chair and a furniture piece. I literally wrapped it all up practically hours before the first guest arrived….

A look at the BEFORE of our kitchen nook area….

And here’s a look at that space now…

Throwback to our banquette area before the makeover…

Here’s a look at the AFTER, before I put the table back and with my new rug…

I welcomed in the holidays as an opportunity to breathe. But couldn’t wait to dive into the next phase as soon as the last Christmas/Holiday party was over. Back at it I went! Let the kitchen makeover continue! The next phase was a long time coming. I have never loved our kitchen floors….

And have wanted to replace or paint them for quite some time now. So, knowing I could always replace them if I wasn’t pleased, I decided to paint them—WHITE! At first, I was very nervous about how this was going to play out. Would they constantly look dirty? Would I constantly be cleaning them? And at first I was and then I did this simple step and it changed everything!! I love them and actually they stay pretty clean-at least appearance-wise. 🙂

And with the newly painted floors, it became even more evident that the kitchen cabinets definitely needed a new paint color. They actually looked dirty against the freshly painted white floors. (And, let’s be honest, they probably were 🙂  ). So, off to Home Depot I went and back home I returned with 263 paint samples. Well, maybe not that many. But close!

I reached out to all of you who join me daily on Instagram (that’s where all of the fun, behind the scenes stuff, plays out) to get your opinion. You guys did not disappoint and we finally narrowed it down to Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray. So onto painting all of the cabinets. (If you’ve ever painted your kitchen cabinets–You Know! Easy but SO TIME-CONSUMING!)…

Because our kitchen is pretty small (hence, the MAJOR kitchen renovation project I would like to do SOMEDAY), I felt like painting all of the cabinets the darker color would make the space feel even more closed in. Therefore, I opted to paint the uppers white (Rustoleum Linen White Chalk Paint) and the lowers Chelsea Gray. (Affiliate Link Included)  I love how it all turned out….

I changed up the hardware too–went with more modern handles. I found these on Amazon for an amazing price! (Affiliate Link Included) Still in the process of attaching all of them. Since I had to fill the old holes and drill new holes, it’s taking a lot longer than I anticipated. They, of course, have to line up perfectly–which is proving to be very tedious. But I’m getting it done-slowly. :)…

Ideally, I would love to replace our countertops-but my ongoing dilemma is the eventual kitchen remodel I hope to do. That would be a lot of money to sock into countertops that I’m then going to rip out. BUT, the kitchen remodel is likely a few more years down the road. See the dilemma? Tossing around the idea of painting them, in the meantime. Have you painted countertops? Would you do it again? I would love any advice/opinions you may have on this. I’m not sure what direction I want to go on this one. But, I definitely want to change them up in some way. Another project in the pipeline. 🙂

Lastly, I covered up the old shiplap and added vertical shiplap on the bar….

And refrigerator area….I decided to keep the chalkboard for now–may eventually do something different….

There are still a few things I would like to do to update our kitchen in the short term: change out all of the trim to craftsman trim; extend all of the upper cabinets to the ceiling, move our microwave to the pantry and add a hood to the range area; and paint or replace the countertops. More projects to come! 🙂

All in all, this was a pretty inexpensive project and although time-consuming, very easy to complete. I love how it all came together. I’ve never really loved the look of my kitchen, but now I can honestly say that I do!

Well, almost! Now, it just needs some organizing and space-saving solutions–Onto my next project!! 🙂

One more look at the BEFORE of the kitchen….

And AFTER…

PIN IT FOR LATER:

Until next time,

Happy Building, Friend!!

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Get the look of this kitchen with these projects: 

How to Paint Hardwood Floors–No Sanding Required!

Easy How to Build a Modern Sliding Barn Door

Easy DIY How to Paint a Fabric Chair

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