We are renting so I didn’t want to put very much money into this but I am familiar with a lot of budget friendly materials (which I will be sharing links to!) so I knew that it was more about elbow grease and time. Since we were in quarantine I had a lot of both on my hands. But where to start?
Before we go any further lets take a moment to look back at the before. Its hard to tell from the first photo but to summarize, we were looking at a VERY outdated and dingy kitchen. The laminate floors were stained and worn down to show a yellowy path through high traffic areas and there were holes in the ceiling and chips in the countertop (from before we moved in) The ceiling hadn’t been painted in what seems like half a century and were literally crumbling..
INSPIRATION
My personal design style is constantly evolving and lately I’ve been very inspired by classic English details and neutral color pallets. I decided that black, white and grey would be the base colors. Mixed metals and aged wood details would be complimented by white marble and bead-board.
Time to get into the details…..
The backsplash is a bead-board wallpaper with two coats of gloss white paint and the countertops were recovered with a 5-layer vinyl faux-marble sticker.
I had a lot of leftover paint from the DIY HUTCH MAKEOVER so I used that to paint both the cabinets and the molding. The hardware was super cheap from Amazon and has the aged brass feel I was going for. The warm tone looks perfect with the grey don’t you think?!
I continued the grey from the cabinets onto the doors and molding but lightened it by 25%. You can have this done for you at the paint store. I had Hope Depot lightened the color I used on the bathroom cabinet in this Lake Oswego Condo by 20% and it turned out perfect but since I wasn’t going to a store during quarantine I did this myself by measuring it out in an old tupperware container and adding 1 part white to 3 parts grey. You wouldn’t be able to tell its 25% lighter when you are in the room but because of how differently the light hits the doors on the opposing walls it was necessary to achieve the same tone from the cabinets on the doors and molding. I love how it accentuates the original details and carries the color all across the room!
The painting of the old woman has been in several rooms of our house but here with this gold frame I think she’s finally found her perfect spot!
Doesn’t the floor looks so awesome next to this black and white stove? It’s part of the reason I chose to do this flooring. I didn’t take a before photo of this side but there used to be a missed matched vent over the stove. It wasn’t actually hooked up to vent out anywhere and the bulb had exploded at one point making it quite a fire hazard so we took it down and I continued the bead board wallpaper behind the stove and added this DIY copper rail. My mom had a bunch of copper pipe she no longer needed from a project so I had my stepdad cut some down for me and ordered some clamps (which I painted gold) and hooks to go with it. I really love all of the mixed metals! The aluminum strainer was my grandmother’s.
On the other side of the kitchen is the door to the back porch and our coffee station. Thanks to my sis and her husband for the gift of the beautiful antique library table that brings in more of that vintage charm the room was needing and that element of aged wood. It is just the right height now that I’ve added some old style metal casters.
PROCESS:
I’m sorry that I didn’t post this in real time as I was working on it and at some point I may do individual posts for each step but for now I will summarize for you.
When updating a room I like to work from the top down. If you’ve ever painted a ceiling before you know that there is the potential for splatter and drips. Knowing that all surfaces were going to be recovered in some way I didn’t worry about this. I used a flat on the ceiling (after patching the hole) and a satin on the walls. After painting the ceiling and walls I started on the cabinets. Do yourself a favor and label your doors as you take them off so it is easy to put them back where they go. I also removed all of the hardware to make sure the paint rolled smoothly over the frame. Since we were living through this and would need to still function in the kitchen while this was happening I chose to do one section at a time, tackling the upper cabinets first, then the lowers, then the section around the stove.
Painting your cabinets is not hard its just time consuming! I washed them down with a deglosser first to make sure they were clean and the paint would stick. I gave them two coats of paint using an angled brush to get in all the corners and a 4” foam roller to roll over the doors and then two coats of a General Finish to keep them from chipping and make them washable. When all that was FINALLY done I hung them back up and added the hardware.
I’m going to skip a step by step of the lighting installation because you should always have a licensed electrician do this kind of work for you but what a difference! I ordered the base from Amazon and the globe was in my mom’s basement no being used. After switching out the light fixture I moved onto the floor while I waited for countertop and backsplash materials to show up. This floor could not be any easier to install! Its self adhesive (easy to pull back up) and can be cut with scissors to get around corners. I stuck it right on top of the old flooring. There have been a few pieces that wanted to pull up at the edges and I’ve gone back with a little super glue and that has worked great to get them to lay flat again. When everything was down I went along the edge with a bead of paintable, waterproof calk to seal it (similar to what I did with the backsplash). If I owned the home I would have probably pulled the baseboards up so the floor continued under them or added a half round piece of molding to hide the edges but this was an inexpensive and easy solution that looks great still.
With the ceiling, walls and cabinets done it was finally time to get rid of that chipped, blue/grey laminate counter and backsplash! I probably would have liked to have used real bead board for this but I actually really like this wallpaper option and it has the texture and look of the real thing with the convenience of being able to cut it with a razorblade and has wallpaper paste on the back that’s activated by water! I barely used 1/3 of the roll for this project and at $20 a roll I will definitely be using this again! I used two coats of glossy white paint on it once it had a day to dry completely so it is now waterproof and washable. TIP: Make sure you spackle and sand your surface so that it is smooth before applying. I could have done a better job of this and had to peel back, smooth and the reapply in a couple areas that showed through.
The countertop was not quite as easy. Think of this product like a giant super sticky sticker that you better get just right. Yeah, this was the only part of this project where my husband had to jump in and assist me after I had a complete meltdown mid installation! Some tips for success when attempting this… you absolutely need to remove the sink, have two people, use tons of water to make sure it slides into place, use a blowdryer on low to get it to adhere smoothly to the edges, and don’t freak out if there are a couple little bubbles you just can’t get out. It is still going to look 99% better then it did before!
The lamp and cutting boards were both DIY as well. I had two of the large cutting boards from Ikea already but one was warped and wouldn’t lay flat so I drew a couple shapes on it, drilled a pilot hole and cut them out with a jigsaw. After sanding the edges I stained one with coffee then treated them both with a few layers of coconut oil. I will probably go back and drill a hole in each of the so that I can hang them if I want to.
The lamp was a white glass lamp I had in the kid’s room a while back but the internal layer had cracked. I spray painted it with some satin black spray paint and I was surprised to discover the awesome texture that the glass area took on! It has an almost ceramic feel now while the metal parts remained smooth. I switched out the lamp shade with one I had left over from my DIY LAMP projects and I love it in here. I know that you don’t often see lamps in American kitchens but it is very common in Europe and the ambiance in the evening is so beautiful with its soft glow under the cabinets.
*I bet you’re going to be noticing lamps in some of the kitchens from your favorite designers now!
And tada!! The kitchen is finished and bright and beautiful and cozy and classic and all the things I had hoped it would be and more. But enough about how I feel about it. What do YOU think?!
SOURCES & BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Grey Paint: Swirling Smoke by Behr -on hand
White Paint: Behr Pure white - on hand
Light Fixture: on hand - similar version
General Finishes Top Coat: $74.99
Knobs: $1.87 x 17 = $31.79
Pulls: $6.39 for 10
Vinyl Counter Cover: $89.99
Beadboard Wallpaper: $19.55
Bamboo Window Shade: $31.99
Black Floor Tile: $10.98 x 3 = $32.94
White Floor Tile: $10.98 x 3 = $32.94
Cutting Boards: made with materials on hand
Lamp: made with materials on hand
Paper Towel Holder: $8.99
Paintable Sealant: $4.39
Pipe Brackets: $14.89
Gold hooks: $14.97 for 10
Brass Bar: on hand
Utensil Crock: $24.95
Salt and Pepper Grinder: $12.99
TOTAL SPENT: $400.76
What questions do you have for me? Is there a particular project that you could use a more detailed how-to for? Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comment section below. Thanks!