The REVEAL!!! My Kitchen Remodel on a Budget – Before and After

YAAAAYYY!!!! My kitchen renovation is finally complete and I just love it! It’s so fun to see my vision come to life. It’s the same space but it feels like a totally different room; so bright and fresh!

So, without further ado (cue the trumpets!!!) the big reveal of the before and after!

BEFORE

My kitchen takes up one corner of the open floor plan in my home. The corner doesn’t have any windows so it only gets natural light for brief parts of the day from windows on other parts of the main floor. Both the floor and cabinets were dark brown which absorbed any indirect natural light. Long story short, my kitchen kind of sat in the shadows most of the day.

AFTER

The Overall Look

The obvious choice to brighten up the space was to go white, but I didn’t want to go all white, so I looked for ways to break it up. There is nothing more timeless than black and white (plus I am a sucker for that tuxedo feel) so pulling in those elements seemed like a great way to brighten things up while incorporating some contrast.

Cabinets

I also wanted to go taller in the kitchen to carry on the theme that I began in my living room where I had built-in cabinets and bookshelves installed all the way to the ceiling.  My original plan was to take the kitchen cabinets all the way to the ceiling, as well.  However, my goal was to keep the budget for the remodel under $5,000 and taking all of the kitchen cabinets to the ceiling would have blown most of my budget, so I used scrap wood to create faux-cabinets over two portions of my existing kitchen cabinets. This allowed me to carry the theme of the ceiling-height, living room built-ins into the kitchen at a fraction of the cost.

Countertops

For my countertops, I wanted a timeless look that was also durable. Every part of my home needs to be functional and even though I love the look of marble, it just isn’t practical for my kitchen because it’s porous it can stain easily. I found out that they are doing some amazing things with manufactured quartz in a variety of finishes that look a lot like marble. I had my countertop installer work with MSI (a stone wholesaler) to get ahold of some beautiful manufactured quartz that had the look I was hoping for.

Click here to learn more about my painting. 

Appliances

To stay within my budget, I decided to hang onto all of my existing appliances. Side note: I have a similar philosophy regarding automobiles: hang onto them for as long as possible. Also, I love the combination of the brushed nickel on my appliances and polished brass that I went with for my hardware. It’s a great mix of warm and cool metal tones. Mixing metals gives the space a more eclectic look. So, down the road, my kitchen won’t appear dated because I went with one metal throughout.

Backsplash

For my backsplash, I REALLY wanted to go with a Moroccan tile that I found online, but due to the cost (and oddly enough) the thickness of the tile I decided to go with Montauk Gin 2×8 Ceramic Wall Tile from Tile Bar. It was a fraction of the cost and still had a beautiful pearl, two-tone finish. The slightly different finishes bring additional depth and texture to the space.

Paint

I painted the cabinets in Greek Villa by Sherman Williams. For the wall color, I went with Edgecomb Grey by Benjamin Moore. It’s a warm grey that is very close to the tan family. While subtle, it provides just enough of a shift from the white in the cabinets to create a clear separation between the cabinets and the walls. For the island, I wanted to contrast the white on the walls and cabinets with a darker tone that almost makes the countertop feel likes it’s floating in the middle of the kitchen. I went with a warm black from Sherwin Williams called Black Magic.

Faucet

My kitchen sink is located almost right in the center of my home so the kitchen faucet is visible from almost everywhere on the main floor. I wanted the faucet to act as a focal point that was both functional and feast for the eyes. I went with a vintage gooseneck faucet by Kingston Brass.  It’s a total showstopper!  I just love it!

Hardware

I totally obsessed over this! It was SO hard to find clean, simple, timeless hardware! Almost everything I found had embellishments that I felt were just a distraction.  I wanted a smooth transition where the metal itself was the focus rather than the shape of the metal. Long story short, I found solid brass artisan hardware on Etsy that came all the way from a small town in England. I splurged a little on the hardware and spent more than I would have locally, but I had a look in mind that I wanted to get just right. Just like the faucet, I wanted hardware that was both functional and elegant. The faucet and hardware really act as jewelry for the kitchen.

Lights

OH, LIGHTS!!! These pendants (that I absolutely love) were a ton of fun (insert eye roll here). I found the look that I wanted at Crate and Barrel. I had them delivered to my house and two of the pendants were in good shape, but the third was cracked. When I returned it to the store I was informed that it wouldn’t be back in stock for three months! They were kind enough to agree to exchange my broken pendant for the floor model. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t work when I got it home to install it. Back to the store again to order a new one. The staff were amazing and totally took care of me. I was totally surprised how quickly it was delivered (way less than 3 months!). They look fabulous and compliment the chandelier in my piano room so well!

Accessories

The most important thing to think about when you’re accessorizing a room is picking unique elements that make you happy and leave you smiling. And don’t feel like you need to get everything in one place! For example, I found this cute handmade piece of pottery that I thought would be perfect to hold the sponge next to my kitchen sink at Goodwill for $1.50. Can’t beat that!

Click here to learn how I made my DIY Ombre Soap.

Check out the links below for some of the accessories and hardware I went with in my kitchen.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13

Click here to learn how I designed my DIY Tiled Kitchen Island.

My goal was to brighten up my kitchen and give it a more timeless look. What used to feel like a dark corner of the house now feels fresh, bright and cheery. We love coming home to it!

Do you have a room in your house that needs a facelift? Let’s talk! 🙂

XOXO

Melessa