Monday, March 19, 2012

Kitchen Makeover Part 1: The Post I've Been Dreading

After seven and a half years in our little home, we've decided to update our kitchen. I'm not talking about throwing some new paint on the walls and adding some new accessories-I've already done that (about 4 times already). Changing the paint color just isn't making me love the kitchen. More serious work needs to be done.


To be fair, our kitchen is certainly not ugly. At most, it's a little dated. The flooring and counters are chipped/cracked in some places-but it was nothing I couldn't live with. Like many of our household projects, this decision resulted from another project. We are currently having a new exterior door in the kitchen installed. This door leads out onto our second story deck. This is the final exterior door we want to replace. We would like to stop supplying heat (or A/C) to the rest of our neighborhood and a new door should help. After the door is installed, I have to repaint the trim and walls anyway, so why not work in a full makeover?
Here's a preview of what the kitchen currently looks like. Actually, the walls aren't even green anymore; they are a light aqua blue. It looks basically the same and most people didn't even know I changed the color. It's not horrible. The maple cabinets are in good shape and the laminate counters are okay. There are chips and, if I'm honest, I'm the only person I know who doesn't love gray right now. The laminate floor looks okay, but it's actually in pretty bad shape. The floor is warped in some areas and chipped in many places. Laminate floors just do not work for clumbsy me in a kitchen.

I've decided to follow Young House Love's kitchen remodeling steps since those guys are so DIY savvy and do such a fantastic job providing tips. My first step is painting the cabinets. I am so not looking forward to this, but I am looking forward to the end result.

So, what's the plan?



  • Replace the sliding door (not pictured). This is where the bulk of the budget is going.

  • Paint the cabinets a creamy white (Ack-I have to decide on a paint color!)

  • Replace/add hardware

  • Install a new tile and glass backsplash

  • Install a new butcher block counter top, sink and faucet

  • Paint the walls a new color since Installing the door will ruin the paint and I am ready for a new wall color anyway. Aqua blue, while pretty, just does't do it for me.

  • Install inexpensive flooring

  • Accesorize!

We're pretty slow with our rennovations due to our day jobs, kids and well because we are just slow at getting anything done (except eating). I'm hoping to get this rennovation done by mid-May, but I'm not going to flip out (much) if it's not done. Slow and steady-that's my mantra with this project.