Kitchen Makeover on a Budget

Here are some photos of the backsplash installation. This part dramatically changed the feeling of the space.

Here you can see a little look at the honey coloured wood that used to be here.

I added some wood corner pieces on the corners of the walls to conceal the tile edge as well as  crown moulding along the top of valance. It took me several weeks to complete all of my finishing touches when the tiling itself was only 5 hours when done by someone we hired. I like learning and every time it gets a bit easier to install moulding and other architectural details.

It looks like a different kitchen and it still has the same elements, just a lot has been added to embellish and customize it.

 

UPDATE:

We have since sold this home and I have just finished painting our new kitchen. It is so much work to paint the cabinets but you can’t beat the low cost and major impact it has!

This is the before:

Our New Kitchen – Before Painting the Cabinets

Related Posts 

Painting Kitchen Cabinets

White Quartz Counters

Thrift Store Dining Table Refinished

 

 

 

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Kitchen Makeover – New Counters

Now that we have almost completed our kitchen update I wanted to share a bit of the process, starting with changing the counters. This is the before shot, a basic kitchen with wood cabinets, laminate counters and a painted wall backsplash.

 Last year I painted the cabinets and lived with it like this before making the decision to replace the counters.
I knew that I wanted to go with white quartz that looked like marble but when I saw the small samples in the showroom it was difficult to tell how the patterns would look on a larger scale. I asked if it was possible to go directly to the supplier to see the slabs and luckily it was nearby. By seeing them in person  I ended up choosing a different sample which was closer to what I had in mind.

This is how the counters arrived and installation process was so quick and took less than two hours. The biggest inconvenience was having the water shut off in the kitchen for several days because I got the plumber to come too early. 

This is the after which doesn’t look too dramatically different but once the faucet and tiles go up the whole look comes together. I posted the old counter and sink on kijiji and someone picked it up right away so it didn’t go in the garbage.

I still have to sort through my photos of the tiling process and then I’ll share those too.

Painted Kitchen Cabinets

When we chose this house one thing that I liked was the potential for some cosmetic improvements. The cabinets were wood and in good shape and luckily the counter and floor tiles were neutral greys.

I finally decided on which shade of white to use (Vanilla Milkshake, partly because of the name) and tackled painting the kitchen cabinets late in the evenings. 

Even with a single coat of primer the space already looks brighter and bigger.

At the end of the cabinets I added pine panelling to give a more custom look instead of the little plastic plugs that were originally there.

The only hardware that I changed was on the drawers because I really believe in working with what you already have and the existing hardware was classic and simple.

For a minimal amount of money (and many hours of work) the kitchen feels brighter and less dated. Of course there are several other things I’d like to add but for now it’s a huge improvement.