My Kitchen Facelift on a Budget
While Cindy's passions are found in cooking, clean eating, and nutrition; my passions lie in home remodeling, repurposing, and design. We are in our sixth home (as I have a slight problem finding diamonds in the rough and restoring them) and it is a fun, turn of the century four square. I am always looking for ways to make this beautiful, old gem work better for our family of seven.
We cannot afford to completely gut our kitchen, however, I have been able to make it more aesthetically pleasing on a budget while also functioning better for today.
BEFORE: The pink, pickled maple cabinets just needed a coat of paint. By removing the chair rail the room feels bigger and by removing the cabinets over the cook top it opened up the work area and let more light in from back door.
AFTER: I replaced the counter top with IKEA butcher block and it was very easy on the pocket book! While the maple floors were perfectly fine, they weren't in keeping with the rest of the house, so.... I painted them! The open shelves made of old barn boards make the room feel more spacious and add an interesting element. Re-use it salvage centers are one of my favorite stomps and the sink was my $10 find! I love it with the butcher block! I replaced the counter top with IKEA butcher block and it was very easy on the pocket book! While the maple floors were perfectly fine, they weren't in keeping with the rest of the house, so.... I painted them!
AFTER: Craigslist is a another great source when remaking any room and the slide in stove is a perfect Craigslist example! The light was made from an industrial dough beater I found at the re-use it center...very easy to wire. Tutorial to come.
AFTER: Facing some of the drawers with architectural finds adds interest and layers of texture to the kitchen. A built in bench adds much needed storage as well as making the most of seating in this small corner. The glass backsplash tiles are from Lowes and were very inexpensive.
As you can see, it isn't a perfect kitchen, but it certainly is updated and functions much more efficiently for our family.
