{kitchen reno update part 2}

Oh I am BEYOND happy to share with you that for all intents and purposes, our kitchen reno is DONE!

Goodness that 7-ish weeks felt like an eternity! 

We still need to do some painting...white on the walls and a pop of turquoise on the island surround, but anything that we hired someone else to do is finished! 

It is all so bright and white and pretty. I don't know if I can pick a favorite thing. I'll post again when everything is 100% done but for now here is how it is looking!

Oh this backsplash makes me all kinds of happy. This photo was pre-grout but we went with gray so not much of a difference in the finished look...

The open shelving is from IKEA and is making me giddy! I couldn't resist plopping some dishes on it two seconds after the contractors left and snapping a few pictures. 

And now for a  good corner view of everything...

The upper cabinets, sink and drawer pulls are also IKEA. We purchased the lower cabinets and countertop (formica if you can believe it!) from Lowe's. 

And I actually smiled while washing dishes the other night... 

That Mrs. Meyers lemon dish soap didn't hurt! I'm obsessed with anything lemon scented these days. 

And because we all love a good before and after...

Holy cow right?

I've been pinning kitchen ideas ever since we moved into this house over seven years ago and really didn't know if we would ever be able to do this. It is a dream come true! 

And I really want to encourage you by adding that even though this wasn't inexpensive, we did it on a lower budget and income, so it is possible friends! Here are some examples of how we saved money...

We have a TON of countertop, and with formica it was only around $700 for the entire counter. No need to spend thousands on granite or solid surface to get a beautiful counter. The farmhouse sink from IKEA is only $300 which is a bargain. And it is a monster...so much room in that thing! Our faucet was an $80 Ebay find. The gas cooktop was $150 marked down from I think $400 in the IKEA clearance section. We have literally had it in a closet for like four years waiting for a new kitchen. The key is to be creative, think outside the box, and snatch up deals when you can!

Thanks so much to everyone that has joined in my excitement over this renovation. You are awesome!

XO,

kitchen reno update!

We are a month into our kitchen reno and I thought it was time to share an update with photos! 

I wish I could say it is finished...but it is well on it's way and for that I'm going to say thank you and keep practicing patience! (Although eating off of paper plates is getting OLD.) 

Here is my last post with the before photo (ack!) and lots of inspiration images and the plan. 

But in case you want to see that before again...

And here are the progress photos!

We had a new window installed which provided a much bigger before and after than we imagined! Worth every penny.

I'm really proud of Dan for getting the pieces for our island ready for the contractors. He painted the cabinets and has painted countless coats of sealer on the butcher block counter. Here it is temporarily put together so we could get an idea of how it will fit in the space...

The island will house our cooktop and have an extra piece of counter added to the back to accommodate stools. It will also have a surround added to cover the base cabinets that we'll be painting turquoise. The awesome cabinet with the pull out drawers was a super lucky Goodwill find, and we grabbed the slim cabinet from the clearance section at IKEA (we'll be adding shelves inside). They were mismatched colors so Dan painted them both white which really pulls it together. The butcher block top is also from IKEA. 

And umm how perfect is that Raskog cart nestled in the middle? I'm dying. Can't wait to see it finished! 

Next week is supposed to be counter install, which will then lead to the sink and hopefully back to a functioning kitchen very soon after that! Eek! 

SO ready to stop using those red solo cups. It looks like a 24/7 frat party at our house!

XO,

{kitchen reno}

Hello friends! Happy Saturday!

I want to take a break from my usual art sharing to chat about our house today.  I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog yet, but we're renovating our kitchen!!!

We've lived in our house for seven years and put up with a truly horrible kitchen for all of that time. And I'm not just talking about 80's cabinets or a laminate counter instead of granite. This kitchen is OLD and FALLING APART, big time. Like drawer fronts falling off and a faucet that is so janky we have to use two hands to turn it on in case it pulls out of the sink. 

It is embarrassing up in here friends. 

But a week from Monday the reno is starting and I'm still pinching myself that we're really doing this. Here is a before photo from waaaay back when we moved in and the room had CARPET. 

No worries...we remedied that right away with laminate...

And over the years we've painted the cabinets and tried to add touches to spruce it up, but when the bones are bad, not much helps!

So here's our plan:

• White modern cabinets
• Farmhouse sink
• Industrial faucet
• Dark gray laminate counter
• Lots of open shelving
• White subway tile backsplash with gray grout
• Island with cook top 

We're doing this on a fairly small budget, although a complete gut job is anything but inexpensive! Keeping to laminate for the counter (we have a TON of counter space), subway tile backsplash, and lots of shelves instead of all upper cabinets is keeping the cost down quite a bit. 

Here are a few inspiration photos I've pinned...

The two biggest chunks of the reno cost are the cabinets and appliances, which include a new fridge and wall oven. We decided to do the lower cabinets and appliances from Lowe's. The few upper cabinets we're using are from IKEA, as well as the open shelving. 

Why split the cabinets between Lowe's and IKEA? Well, on a practical level, Lowe's is close-by, they offer easy financing (IKEA doesn't anymore), and they will deliver the cabinets fully assembled. Not having to assemble all of the cabinets is a HUGE plus, because we have a crap ton of lower cabinets. 

Why IKEA for the uppers? I had my heart set on these cabinets...

And Lowe's didn't have anything comparable that didn't cost about 4 times the price. (Like this whole cabinet cost the same as the piece of glass for the door at Lowe's.) Whew! 

We also purchased our shelving and brackets at IKEA. We're using white shelves and these brackets...

We'll have open shelving on either side of the sink instead of cabinets. I'm super excited about how that wall will turn out. This photo has a similar feel to how ours will look, with the same industrial faucet and IKEA sink, as well as the window centered over the sink...

One of the biggest changes is that we will be removing the soffet over the cabinets. I know that will really open up the room, not to mention allowing us to move the cabinets up higher which will help tremendously! 

Another big change is that instead of our range, we'll have a separate gas cook top in an island, and an under the counter oven. Dan found a clearance gas cooktop at IKEA a few years back that we've been keeping in storage. He is beyond excited to start using it. 

Changing to an under the counter oven also means that we'll have a super long, uninterrupted wall of counter space which will be heavenly! The vent hood will be replaced by a wall microwave which will also free up counter space. 

For the island we're picturing a butcher block top and turquoise painted base similar to this...

We purchased two open stock cabinets (one was a lucky Goodwill find and the other from the clearance section at IKEA) to use as the base for the island which saved tremendously on cost. 

And finally here are a few of the finishing touches we'll be using!

We bought the smaller version of this pendant light for over the sink (from IKEA)...

And these bar stools are at the top of our favorites list...

So there's the kitchen reno in a very big nut shell! 

I can't wait until the process starts so I can share the durings and afters. And I really want to give encouragement to those who are on tight budgets like us. It may take a lot longer than you would like, but eventually these house projects can happen! 

XO,