Friday, February 24, 2012

Kitchen Makeover

Our kitchen is finally up to speed, sort of. We didn't document the process so far, since it took us several years to complete and this little blog is new. We still have a few things we want to do to it, like add a tile backsplash and caulk around the crown molding, but it's looking a lot better so far.


Here is what our kitchen looked like the day we toured our home.  This is probably the only photo I have from early on. It wasn't that bad. We lived with it for a several years before we decided to change it.  The cabinets were sort of a light green. The counters were beige laminate. It was at least nice that the trim was painted white. But that was about the only redeeming quality.


One of the very first things we did to our kitchen was replace our existing appliances. Here is our bisque circa 1987 dishwasher.


We got a stainless steel dishwasher from Lowes for around $300 that Joe installed himself. Talk about the man. 


Here is our bisque and black oven/range. I wish I had gotten a photo of the range hood. It was also bisque with edges that we were constantly bumping our heads into.


Oh here's a picture of our range hood. See those corners? Yikes. Many a bump have occurred on the head because of these. Our new oven/range is black with stainless steel look. Much easier to clean. This was also from Lowes for around $500.


And remember our old white refrigerator with faux wood paneling? The ice maker was broken, the insides were rusted and there were frozen dead ants in the freezer. Talk about appetizing!  So many reasons to upgrade our appliances.


Our new refrigerator is also a stainless steel "look" finish. It's so easy to maintain and doesn't show all the kid fingerprints, but still looks very modern.


This is a view of our kitchen very early on when we had moved in, but not much had happened in there.


Here's the same view when it was finished.







Here are the changes that we made and the budget breakdown:
1) Installed all new appliances, including range hood from Lowes -$1,600
2) Installed new laminate counter tops from Lowes called Flint Crystal by Formica. $600
3) Purchased new Sink from Lowes - $100
4) Installed new faucet and sprayer from Overstock for $60
5) Painted all cabinets with glossy white paint - $25 for paint
6) Added pendant lights above sink and remove wood overhang. Light fixture from Home Depot $45
6) Added fluorescent light fixture to replace old plain fixture purchased from Lighting.com for $100. This was caulked and painted white, since the color was looking a bit off white.
7) Added under counter lighting purchased from Amazon.com- $25
8) Bought two Parson chairs for the bowling ball table from Allmodern.com for $100

Total for kitchen Makeover - $2,655
We saved Buco bucks doing all the work ourselves. The counter tops alone for installation would have cost $2,000. We saved a lot of money and think these upgrades will generally be appreciated by future tenants, if we ever decide to sell.

Hopefully we can tackle a tile back splash one of these days. I think I see some caulking in our near future.

xo
Cathleen

6 comments:

corner kitchen table said...
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Anonymous said...

Very nice! I have been looking at the flint crystal countertop and the sand crystal countertop by Formica, its a tough decision but I really like what you have done, THANKS for posting pictures... now if I can just find a white kitchen with the sand color to compare and make my decision. I too will be painting my oak cabinets white, beautiful!

Richard C. Lambert said...

It features the wonderful range of Barazza cooking appliances along with the Barazza made to measure stainless steel benchtop. Vivarais H. Hightower

WilsonO'Neill said...

If you cannot use the entire wall, use only part. Kitchen design

royal said...

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Anonymous said...

Nice work! Beautiful upgrade. Is the Flint Crystal laminate a matte finish or an Etchings finish?

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