In reality, the first month was mainly unpacking and doing boring but much-needed repairs and chores (sprinkler system which was all Stephen, a thousand loads of laundry, installing new appliances, painting a couple rooms, replacing outdated light fixtures, dusting, etc). But this past month I've been focused on just one room, and in my opinion, the most important one - KITCHEN!
BEFORE & AFTER
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our totally 100% DIY updates:
Scraped popcorn ceiling ($free-ish)
Replaced kitchen faucet (it was ICKY) ($60)
Replaced all appliances (got the funds built into the sales contract) ($free)
Replaced the hard-wired fan over the stove with an overhead range (including patching the wall and installing outlet) ($5 for wall patch)
Primed, painted, added hardware, and put glass in cabinets (by far the most time consuming thing) ($180)
Painted walls ($20)
Replaced the outlets and switches with white ones to update the look (there are a couple not done in the pics above.... waiting on parts) ($25)
Replaced fluorescent with track lighting ($50 - $10 from sale of old fixture = $40)
Replaced the ugliest light I have ever seen with a pendant and added a second pendant ($60)
Built the cute island (all Stephen's doing, put I stained and painted) ($100?)
TOTAL KITCHEN REMODEL COST: $490
Can you believe that? The entire remodel for under $500!! Of course, this also takes into account we had paint brushes, spackle, wood filler, etc all on hand.
Do you have any idea how much it costs just to have someone install them for you?!?! Minimum, $99. So, we may have spent hours on a dishwasher, and who knows how long on the range? But I am proud that we not only saved the moolah but learned a lot on the process.
Our biggest problem in the kitchen was (and still kind of is) the lack of natural light. The dining room right next to the kitchen has a sliding door, but it's not enough - even during the daytime, I have the kitchen lights on. The dark cabinets were not doing anything to help... plus they were in CRUMMY shape (finish was worn off since there was no hardware, and 25 years of grime was covering them). So, they had to go. Originally I wanted to paint them green... but upon consulting my mother (who is very good at decorating and visualizing things, which I found I am not) she pointed me in the right direction. I can't imagine them being any other color now!
This job was AWFUL. Clean, prime, sand, prime, sand, paint, sand, paint... blah blah blah blah
As for paint color... I just really wanted a green kitchen! I had selected a color that Stephen actually agreed with... then lost the color sample, but surely, I would recognize it in the store! But after searching for the color I thought I would remember, it was a lost cause. So, with Stephen by my side, we chose a color... it was a compromise. He likes much brighter colors than I do. But somehow he "won" this compromise, because I wasn't expecting it to be this bright! I go back and forth on whether I like it or not - it feels a little beachy - but it brightens up a dark kitchen, so I'm leaving it for now.
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| we're still waiting to replace one of the doors... we have a broken hinge situation |
Let me show you a little trick for something called INSTANT UPDATE...
See that? We are about to replace the GFCI (cheaper online so it came in yesterday) - but the phone jack and outlet we already did. See how much newer the kitchen looks? So inexpensive and SO much better! And, it's kind of fun being an electrician, I think... :)
Also, you can buy some of this at the Habitat ReStore for WAY cheap - we got some $3 switches for 30 cents! And you can donate your old stuff, so someone can replace a broken one.
