Renovating our kitchen is not going to be easy! Especially with my champagne taste on our beer budget. I would love our kitchen to look more high end but without the price tag. The plan is to give the kitchen a face lift with mostly just paint and then splurge on the hardware to elevate the look. We’ll see if I can pull it off.
Our kitchen was brand new when we bought our house 6 years ago which is why I was hesitant to do anything to it. The problem wasn’t that it lacked functionality, it’s just that I didn’t like any of the finishes. From the busy patterned granite countertops to the beige micro subway tile backsplash to the fake cherry wood cabinets and silver fixtures…none of it goes together. However, it is all very functional and maximizes the space. The cabinets go to the ceiling and there is plenty of storage. I wish that the kitchen hadn’t been done when we purchased the house so we could have chosen all the things that we liked, but unfortunately that wasn’t an option. After living with the kitchen for so long and not loving it, I think it’s finally time. Here is what it looks like now. I know it’s not terrible, it’s just not my vibe.
I would love new countertops but that is definitely not in the budget. I’m hoping that painting the cabinets a complimentary color will make me hate them less. And if not, they’re going to get redone either with concrete or microcement which will still be way cheaper than buying new counters. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
This post is all about setting the mood and showing you the vibe we’re going for in the new kitchen. I’m envisioning neutral tones on the floors and cabinets and upgrading to nice unlacquered brass hardware and maybe some soft-close hinges. I would love a new faucet in the sink to match as well!
The tile floors are absolutely disgusting. The grout that used to be white is black even though I’ve tried cleaning it every way possible. I’m talking I’ve scrubbed with a toothbrush and nothing worked! The floors just always look dirty and I’m tired of it. I’m not about to rip up all the tile and put in a new floor right now, so we’re just going to give the floors a cosmetic lift. That’s right, I’m going to paint the tile floor. Don’t worry, I’ve done this before in our guest bathoom a couple years ago and they still look great! Will the painted floors last forever? No, but they will last for years until we’re ready to redo the floors with something more permanent.
I’m also going to be refinishing the cabinets by repainting them. If they were solid wood, I would sand and re-stain them, but alas, they are not. So the best we can do is paint them without buying or building new doors which I’m not about to do at this point in time. Maybe next time around!
So that’s the plan. Paint the floors, paint the cabinets, splurge on hardware and see if I can live with the granite countertops after that. If not, that will be phase 2!
For the floor, I’m deciding between a checkerboard pattern or a diamond pattern with similar neutral colors. The checkerboard would definitely be easier, but I think the diamond pattern would look better. What do you think?
For the cabinets, I’m thinking about a mushroom-y light brown, or maybe a bit of a darker shade. By the way, all of these images I just pulled from Pinterest and used Canva to design a little mood board.
I love, love, LOVE white oak cabinets like the ones below. That is my dream, but not in the budget. If my cabinets were real wood, this is what I would attempt to make them look like, but since they are laminated I will be painting them.
So there it is! That’s the plan. Subscribe so you can see how it turns out! And be sure to check out the other One Room Challenge participants here.
I’ll be tackling the floors first! Follow on Instagram or Facebook for daily updates as well as videos on TikTok and YouTube!
Until next week, happy DIY-ing!