Redone with Love: Our DIY Kitchen Makeover

Now, the "DIY" in the title doesn't mean it was the only DIY project in our house...We have actually done almost everything ourselves to save money. However, I think our kitchen makeover is probably the most dramatic change in the entire house. Take a look...

Isn't it fabulous?! When we originally looked at the house, the kitchen was very plain, simple, and boring. The only cabinets were located in the corner, and the rest of the 300 square foot kitchen was empty! (And it had terrible linoleum flooring too...) If you don't remember, here's another look at the original kitchen.

Now, like I said, this was probably the biggest transformation in the entire house because it needed the most work. So here's what we did to make it beautiful.

1. We replaced the awful linoleum flooring with a neutral porcelain tile that we were able to score for only $0.99 a square foot (This was a budget-saver in our 300 square foot kitchen). Yours truly and the hubby put down, grouted, cleaned, and sealed the entire floor. It was a time-consuming project, but once it was finished, it was great!

2. We kept the original cabinets because they were in great shape, but we did paint them a bright white to give them a fresh, clean look. In addition to the existing cabinets, we also added an open cabinet over the refrigerator that the hubby built to match. Then, we added a cabinet set and wine rack on the other side of the kitchen. Again, the hubby built this to look like the existing cabinets. Finally, we added an island with a butcher block top for more storage. (Do you get the impression that I wanted more storage??) When we originally decided on the butcher block top for the island instead of matching the new countertops (I'll get to that in a minute) we thought we would try to do it ourselves. But after some research, I thought my easy DIY project might not be as easy as I imagined. I wanted the top to be food safe and easy to take care of, but all of the finishing products out there weren't exactly food safe or easy to use/take care of. This led me to begin looking for the perfect butcher block top that was pre-made, which didn't end up being so easy. However, I turned to Amazon and was able to purchase a top that was bigger than the island and met all of my requirements, including being budget-friendly since I got it in sale! I also painted the island with a mistinted green paint that I found at Lowe's for only $5, which turned out exactly how I imagined.

3. We replaced the green and mauve countertops with a neutral stock laminate countertop. While it would've been nice to do a solid surface countertop, it wasn't in the budget right away. However, I love the look and the durability of the countertop we did find at Lowe's. It was a color they keep in stock so purchasing it was easy. Cutting it to size was a different experience. Once the hubby and the Fathers figured out the right process, it wasn't too hard; again, it was slightly time-consuming and nerve-wrecking because we didn't have much room to make a mistake. However, everything went smoothly.

4. We added the beautiful backsplash! I found this tile at Menard's and originally, it was out of the budget, but after finding out that the corner wasn't exactly square AND the tile was on a 50% off sale, it was a must. We cut the tile to size and grouted it with a dark brown grout I got for free when I purchase the laundry room tile at a garage sale. (I love a good deal!)

5. We got rid of the terrible lighting (I'm really not sure how the previous owners could see to do anything with the lights they had in here...). We replaced it with a matching set of an island light and chandelier. While this typically would've put a major dent in the budget, we got lucky with this deal. It started with me discovering the island light on clearance closeout at Lowe's for only $5.00! (Yes, you read that correctly, and no, I'm not missing a zero somewhere in that number) We had already picked out a pot rack for over the island, but once I saw this beauty I changed my mind and decided I wanted this instead. Finding the chandelier was a bit of a challenge because it was discontinued, but I was able to find it on eBay (Not for $5.00, but it was still a good deal)

Overall, the changes that we made created the kitchen of my dreams, AND we did it on a budget! It was hard, just took some time and patience, but seeing it come together was definitely worth it. Here's another look at the transformation...