Hello friends! Today I’m sharing our kitchen renovation and the products used to keep the entire project low in cost. I really like these products and highly recommend them.
Our house was already very airy and bright when we bought it but the kitchen seemed dark and closed off from the rest of the space. This was something I wanted to tackle right away.
It was very outdated with sparkly formica countertops and upper cabinets that hung down low enough that you had to bend over to see through to the living room. There was also a breakfast bar that was lower than the countertops on the opposite side of the peninsula so regular chairs could scoot up to it. It all seemed very odd to me.
Here is the before with the existing cabinets and breakfast bar…
We debated whether to rip everything out and put a brand new kitchen in but the timing wasn’t right and we needed to save the money. I tried to think of ways I could improve things without spending a lot and the main thing was getting those cabinets down so that it was actually an open concept kitchen.
My dad was over and we were discussing ideas and he suggested taking them down and using them as the base for the side that had the lowered bar to extend the countertops. I loved the idea because we wouldn’t lose the storage and it would make the island bigger. He came over and helped me take them down and install them below as well as trim it all out and fix the corner by adding curved shelves.
We had some strange cubbies and holes that we needed to come up with creative solutions for. The space where the vent hood used to be created an empty space so we added a shelf and I now use it as a bookcase where I keep cookbooks. My dad helped trim things out so they looked like they belonged and the curved shelves covered the empty space where the old cabinets used to hang. We had to get creative to make these odd spots look like they belonged.
Next, we had to figure out what to do about the countertops. I really hated the formica and ideally we would have put new countertops in but that would require a lot more demo in the rest of the kitchen because the formica extended up the backsplash all the way around and we really wanted this to be as low budget as possible.
I started researching and found Giani countertop paints. They make kits that consist of a base coat, several colors to sponge on, and a topcoat to seal it. The more I looked at before and after pictures on their site, I knew this was our solution.
Since we put cabinets where the breakfast bar had been, we decided to try placing the counter from that on top of the cabinets and making it flush with the rest and filling the crack. I ended up using just regular old non-shrink putty and sanding it until it was smooth, and then the Giani paint. It worked great! I think we were pretty lucky because it seemed like a long shot but we didn’t really have a whole lot to lose.
The process of painting the Giani took quite a bit of time. Our counters were pretty unusable for about a week as I worked on it (we ate lots of takeout).
I used the white diamond kit and filled in the veins with a paintbrush. They have detailed instructions on their site as well as an instructional DVD they sent with the kit. It’s a great solution if you do not want to replace your countertops but want a marble look for a low price. The kits are $79.95. I love how it turned out and it has held up extremely well, even the filled in crack.
After the countertops were finished I looked up solutions for the backsplash. The existing formica was sticking out from the wall so I didn’t want to add any more thickness. I wanted an easy solution since this was our quick fix until we can afford to renovate the kitchen for real. I found these peel-and-stick faux tiles from wayfarer.com. It’s super easy to install and you have to look very closely to see that it’s fake. We love the ones we chose but they have lots of styles including these subway tiles and these marble looking tiles.
I also replaced the hardware with these modern pulls and we added this inexpensive vent hood that we ordered from Amazon that hangs from the ceiling.
Here are more after pics…
For just under $800, we completely transformed the kitchen into an open concept, more modern looking space that looks bright and airy. I still hate the old appliances but it looks so much better. Eventually we will put a new kitchen in but I can live with this for a lot longer than the previous look.
If you enjoyed this renovation, please pin the image below. Thanks for reading!
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