Kitchen remodel. If you hear the term, run for the hills. Don't look back, just save yourself.
We didn't even remove a wall or change the layout, and it was still so much work. Some people might rise to the occasion, but living with a refrigerator in the living room, the stove in the dining room and still trying to eat here? Not on my list of things I ever want to do again. Maybe in summer it would be easier, but please say no to re-doing your kitchen after the leaves begin to fall from the trees.
Here's what we did:
New windows
New trim and baseboards
Patched ceiling
Sanded and painted the old brown cupboards and changed hardware
Ripped out old counter top and back splash
Replaced flooring with new overlayment and VCT tiles
Painted ceiling, trim and walls
New microwave
Upgraded electrical and plugs
Seems like more, but that was it. The biggest bang for our buck was definitely sanding and painting the old cupboards. The color that matches with the Ikea white cabinets? Dover White from Sherwin-Williams. I think that little stove wall is my favorite part of what we did here. Those old cupboards were perfectly great, they couldn't help if they were ugly greenish brown. Now they're a fresh white and looking good with the new Ikea counter top. The kitchen is all united now, instead of one with a serious case of identity crisis.
The new blue floors? I really like them- don't know if it was love at first sight but they are totally growing on me. I have yet to buy the floor cleaner recommended for these tiles, but even with just vacuuming and doing the wet rag dance they look great, even if they're not super clean. I think we got a bit of our retro look (as retro as can be with Ikea stuff) and can now say the kitchen project is done.
We didn't even remove a wall or change the layout, and it was still so much work. Some people might rise to the occasion, but living with a refrigerator in the living room, the stove in the dining room and still trying to eat here? Not on my list of things I ever want to do again. Maybe in summer it would be easier, but please say no to re-doing your kitchen after the leaves begin to fall from the trees.
Here's what we did:
New windows
New trim and baseboards
Patched ceiling
Sanded and painted the old brown cupboards and changed hardware
Ripped out old counter top and back splash
Replaced flooring with new overlayment and VCT tiles
Painted ceiling, trim and walls
New microwave
Upgraded electrical and plugs
Seems like more, but that was it. The biggest bang for our buck was definitely sanding and painting the old cupboards. The color that matches with the Ikea white cabinets? Dover White from Sherwin-Williams. I think that little stove wall is my favorite part of what we did here. Those old cupboards were perfectly great, they couldn't help if they were ugly greenish brown. Now they're a fresh white and looking good with the new Ikea counter top. The kitchen is all united now, instead of one with a serious case of identity crisis.
The new blue floors? I really like them- don't know if it was love at first sight but they are totally growing on me. I have yet to buy the floor cleaner recommended for these tiles, but even with just vacuuming and doing the wet rag dance they look great, even if they're not super clean. I think we got a bit of our retro look (as retro as can be with Ikea stuff) and can now say the kitchen project is done.
 |
| Before |
.jpg) |
| After |
 |
| Before |
.jpg) |
| After |
.jpg) |
| More of the former ugly duckling cupboards |
.jpg) |
| Our new addition |
 |
| The nook |
