Evolution of a Kitchen

I've seen enough of HGTV home makeover shows to know that a kitchen renovation takes 3 days...max.  So here is the evolution of my kitchen in a 3 day period (starting April 22, 2011)... 



Imagine my disappointment when after 3 days, my kitchen looked like this...

 

 

And this...



 

Let me back up a little bit.  Why did I decide to renovate my kitchen?  Believe me, I was asking myself that question after 3 back breaking days and it only looked like ^^ that.  So..why? It seemed to be in working order.  It was.  But seriously, black cabinets? Black trim? Black ceiling fan and tomato red walls?  ('Bleck' is more like it!) Remember when I said that I bought my house on clearance? That meant that I still had some pennies left in my savings.  I loooove to cook and there is no way anything other than a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is coming out of that kitchen.  

 

So I'm going to get the kitchen I want, except I want a farmhouse sink, I want full extension drawers with soft close, I want a beadboard ceiling and a ton of storage, and I really want warm hardwood floors - I want this kitchen to be mine.  But with a $10,000 budget, that meant I need to do this myself and I have no clue what I'm doing. Oh, and I work full time.  So please excuse the fact that the evolution may extend by a month...or year.  

 

Fast forward one month to May.  Here is what "the kitchen" looked like: 

 

 

See that floor (besides the fact that it was under 3 layers of flooring), there is beautiful hardwood under it.  Here's the catch - that ugly flooring was adhered to the hardwood floor with asbestos based glue and I wasn't going to touch it.  Now, I just really want warm hardwood floors a floor.  While I was sulking over the flooring dream that crumbled away, my plaster walls were doing the same (well, just where the tile backsplash was).  Dad helped me reface the one pitted wall with 1/4" drywall, reroute electrical, run new plumbing, and install the beadboard ceiling.  I took out the bulk heads, reinsulated the exterior wall, prepped the floor for a new surface and patched and sanded walls til no end, then finally primed and painted everything.  Since I couldn't refinish the hardwood, I chose a cheap flooring (VCT) that I installed to look like a checkered floor and something that I wouldn't feel guilty replacing in a few years.  So by June 30, 2011, the house looked like this...

 

 

Then came a few busy months that kept my kitchen waiting, which was alright since I had to wait 4 weeks for the countertops anyway.  One week before Thanksgiving I had countertops and crown moulding, and up to this point, my parents and I did everything ourselves.  However, my parents were burnt out and had projects and careers of their own, so I finally hired out some electrical, duct work, trim & plumbing work (I was referred by a friend to a few guys who ended up being cheap and good).  This same day I was also having my annual Friends Thanksgiving party - so while I was cooking the contractors installed the range hood (with an exterior vent - which didn't exist before), lowered the gas line (it kept the stove from sitting flush against the wall), installed undercabinet lighting that was hardwired to the main switch, and hung window and door trim (to match the original trim in the rest of the house)!  The electrician was leaving just as friends arrived - whew!  Because I was keeping in a budget (and I paid these guys hourly), I did all the priming, patching, painting and caulking of the new trim myself. 

 

Come December 2011, it was finally looking like a kitchen...

 

 

...Then I decided that the open shelf style I chose in a rush lacked something, and had to go, (brackets were from Ikea and the shelf was pre-made from Home Depot- and was already warping).  With a little inspiration found here, I made shelving from 2"x8" framing lumber, 1"x2" strips of wood, a bit of wood filler for a seamless look, and unfinished brackets from Home Depot (that echoed the design of the crown moulding).  Now I have heavy duty shelves that I absolutely love and will copy in future homes!  I also painted an accent wall with chalkboard paint, installed a backsplash and refinished an antique piece of furniture (that I bought on Craigslist) to be an island w/butcher block top.  So that's the evolution of a kitchen, and the story of how this desperate kitchen evolved...

 

 

 Into this...

 

 

And guess what - it's still not done.

 

Here's the project list that remains:

- Create "breakfast bar" area from barn wood is this corner below

- Order window treatments for the "breakfast bar" area

- Change flooring (the existing floor was a quick fix that cost $150, and although cheap that baby is high maintenance.  I always intended on replacing it down the road...or not - depends on if/when I sell)

- Create custom built-in around refrigerator - See update here.

- Finish base trim by refrigerator

- Paint the room a more dramatic color (maybe!)

 

 

 And there you have it.  The renovation that should've scared me away from ever doing it again.  Yet I really can't wait to get my hands on another desperate kitchen.  :)

 

Have you ever taken on a kitchen renovation? Would you like to renovate your kitchen?  I would love to hear!

 

Mary