Alright.

The bug bit me. I knew it was only a matter of time in this home before I was just itching to give our kitchen a facelift.

Ok, seriously ignore the mess. I decided to take this after digging through my junk drawer for a tape measure.

Since we have an addition on the backside of our home, our kitchen’s natural light was dramatically decreased. There are two windows that could provide light, both of which are in the semi-open concept dining room attached (to the right). But, one of them is a window into the carport, which really doesn’t do much of anything unless it’s sunset. So, I’m painting you a picture. 1. The kitchen is WAY too dark. This is the main focus of the makeover. I’m not calling it a renovation, because in my mind I have to remove walls and countertops for that to be appropriate, which I won’t be doing. The cabinets are really great structural, no complaints. I’m pretty sure they are custom, so they’re well built. They are just straight up pine colored, not a fan. I don’t mind natural woods at all in furniture, but it is all over this kitchen. That plus the evergreen laminate counter tops? All I see is yellow & green, which makes me quezy, which isn’t how you should feel in your kitchen. The floor, thank goodness, aren’t awful. They’re a slate-ish looking tile… I can work with them. 2. The kitchen is outdated, needs to be brought into this century. Last, but not least… I want to remove two top cabinets and put open shelving in, because 3. The kitchen feels like the cabinets are EVERYWHERE. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE having the cabinet space that I have.. especially considering my main hobby, cooking. I have a probably unhealthy amount of kitchen items… which I realized when we moved. Anywho.

This is my plan. And my budget goal.

1. Remove two cabinets on the top right. Replace with open shelving… which I haven’t decided on yet. This will also include fixing the wall & ceiling if need be, and paint for exposed wall. ($100)

2. Add a Backsplash. I actually just found what I wanted on clearance at Home Depot. So this is DEFINITELY happening. ($325)

3. Paint Cabinets. I’m trying something a littler different on the paint, we’re going to do white tops & gray bottoms to hopefully tie in the natural tones in the tile flooring. ($75)

4. Paint Countertops. This is a big one. You’re probably thinking, whatttt? Yeah. I mean, it’s not going to be granite. But, we just can’t afford that. And if the method I choose ends up horrible wrong, well they already look pretty awful now. AND get this… my budget for this is $180… as opposed to the 4K I calculated for stone tops. Check out Giani Granite. I’m planning to use the White Diamond Kit.

5. Decor. I mean, a makeover wouldn’t be complete without a little bling. ($50)

6. New light bulbs. Because I’m not a fan of soft white. ($40)

So, if I’m able to pull this off in the budget (which I’m very confident about at the moment), that would be a total cost of $770.

Really curious how it’s going to look when I’m done. This will be over the course of few months to spread the expense… I’ll update as I go. I can’t wait to show you the progress!

Find it,

Rachel