We knew when we bought this house that the first thing that was going to go was the kitchen. It may have been renovated in the 1980s based on the date stamp I found on the old countertop. Either case, it was still dated, small, closed off and poorly lit. The appliances sucked, and frankly everything was just a bit gross.
We’ve never renovated a kitchen before, or taken on any kind of project of this size. It was quite the learning experience since we decided to do it all our self. In the end however, we saved a ton of money over hiring a professional.
It was a frustrating journey made even more difficult by having a deadline. We had about 2 weeks to work on this before we had to be out of our old apartment, so we had to have the kitchen in a livable state before we could move in.
In the end, it came out alright. There were a lot of things we could have done differently of course. The entire thing was a learning process, with many late nights and a ton of watching Youtube and This Old House.
The total cost of the remodel including materials/supplies and appliances ran around $8000 total. The most expensive part of the whole renovation was really the granite counter tops, as they were half of the entire cost.
The gallery of our progress is to show that anyone can do this. It’s not easy, but with patience and the internet, it is possible!
Here is what we started with, the old kitchen.
Looking towards the front room. That wall was awful.
So closed off and cramped. Almost nothing for light.
View towards the sink. Ample cabinet space, but it felt so tight in there.
And what we ended with!
The kitchen feels so much more open
And so much brighter too
Got straight to work ripping out those hanging cabinets and wall.
It already feels so much more open.
It’s amazing what you don’t see when a home is built.
The lights were always an issue. Ripped out the entire ceiling.
A dirty job requires hydrating.
While I was ripping out everything, wife was repainting the new cabinet doors.
Our friend came over to help, as turns out there are a lot of cabinet doors.
Lots of painting and sanding. New ceiling is in.
New cabinets mounted to the wall and new stove is in.
The only injury I sustained the entire project was my jeans.
Cabinets mounted on the other side.
Testing out the layout of the kitchen.
Thank god the fridge fits. We only made assumptions.
We had to make it livable, so I put the old counter tops back on for now.
Stove and OTR microwave fit like a glove
Back to that livability part.
Since we extended the kitchen out by a foot, the old counter tops don’t fit.
New granite counter tops and sink are in.
Time to install the back splash.
We used double sided adhesive to stick the tiles to the wall.
It actually came out pretty well. Grouting sucks, caulking sucks more.