Our DIY Kitchen Remodel
I’m so excited to be able to not only finally share our kitchen remodel with you, but to also just be D-O-N-E!! I I think that the progression from concept to completion went very smoothly with only a few tweaks (tile and range hood) in the overall original design. I’m also very sure that I will want my cabinets in any future home setup like this, with open cabinetry below closed cabinetry, it just works so well for all of us and no extra dusting required!
So here is where we started (that’s the home inspector at the island), my hubby took photos of the house as he was inspecting it. What we have is a nice, open, good sized kitchen just not exactly what we wanted.
The first stage for us was replacing the can lights for pendant lights, new fridge, microwave, sink, faucet, dishwasher and updating and painting the island.
Stage two was the easiest and quickest, installing marble subway tile backsplash…
It remained like this for just over 2 years, but I always knew that painting the cabinets was next…
The third stage was to update and paint the butlers pantry, it was also my “test” for the kitchen cabinet paint color (Benjamin Moore White Dove).
Then FINALLY the last stage, raising the original cabinets to the ceiling, making new open cabinets to install below, adding decorative molding, installing more tile above stove and sink window, installing new range hood and adding a decorative cabinet above stove and fridge and painting all of the cabinets and installing new hardware… WHEW that was a mouthful and I’m pretty sure a run-on sentence!!
I hand painted (with a combination of foam roller and soft bristle brush) with Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint line all of the cabinet boxes and trim, but I spray painted the doors in the garage. I always follow the same routine, clean the cabinets with Formula 409, fill imperfections, lightly sand, wipe down with tack cloth, spray prime, sand, clean, spray paint color and repeat as many times as necessary. I sprayed 4 coats on each door side, letting them sit for 24 in between each coat and a week before I flipped them from the back to the front (always paint the back first). The final finish looks great!
The molding I added is the same we added to the island and helps disguise where the 2 cabinets are connected.
So much easier to access glassware and everyday dishes now!
We love our new hood, it works so much better than the microwave vent and because it is mounted much higher than the microwave was it helps open that space up.
My one small decorated area…
The wall color in the kitchen is Benjamin Moore Chelsea Grey.
Some before and after comparisons for you…
Well that’s it! No more phases left to do, whew!!!
Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this walk-thru of our kitchen renovation!
Other kitchen renovation posts:
My Newly Raised and Organized Kitchen Cabinets
So you may know we went through a kitchen cabinet overhaul where we raised the original cabinets to the ceiling and added an additional open cabinet to the bottom of the original cabinets…
This setup works extremely well for the way we want our kitchen to function! The everyday dishes and glasses are in the open shelving area where they are quickly and easily put away and retrieved. The original raised cabinets are now setup for basically anything that doesn’t fall into the everyday category. However my 5’5” frame can only reach the first shelf in the old cabinets now so this is the main issue that was taken into consideration when I was re-organizing the shelves.
This most likely might sound a tad anal retentive, but I started with a list (because who doesn’t love a good list) of the different categories of items I had to organize, for example…
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wine glasses (why do I have so many… OMG I am such a lush
) -
Casserole dishes
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Storage containers
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Everyday dishes
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“Fancy” china
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“Fancy” water glasses
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Misc. drinking cups
Anyway, you get the point… I think I had about 15 line items that I needed to deal with and rather than start to randomly put the items away and then decide I needed to move them or that I forgot something I created a very crude cabinet diagram and worked on placement of the items by numbering each line item and then placing that number on the cabinet they were to go in. It took a little more upfront time, but when I went to put everything away the job went very smoothly.
Just some of our many, many wineglasses… also all of our china fit on the top 2 corner cabinet shelves, you know the shelves you always loose stuff in anyway!!!
I mean the cabinets almost look bare, maybe I need more ice cream bowls…
This entire area (top and bottom cabinets) is dedicated to drinks, coffee, soda stream, tea etc.
Our one display area in the kitchen, which I love and hopefully I won’t have to clean too often…
And look we even have the new range hood installed!
I can’t even tell you how much I love my new ceramic knife holder from Williams & Sonoma… it is super cool with its Kapoosh insert and I think it looks way better than the traditional wood knife block!
By the way remember the time I totally broke the glass stove top to pieces…
Well come to find out you can just replace the glass, which my hubby and I did as it is totally a DIY job. Yes, I would have LOVED to have purchased a new top, but finding one that fit the exact dimensions of the granite opening proved to be impossible very difficult. The Jenn-Air glass replacement top I bought online and it cost just a tad over $300, about 1/4 of what I would have had to spend to replace it.
I organized the cabinets based more on how often I would need to use the item more so then where I would use it. So for example all of my china and extra wine glasses went way up on the uppermost shelves. Where it would make sense for most people to have their casserole dishes near the oven (where ours were originally) I put ours in one of the base cabinets near the island because we use them quite frequently. I still have quite a few empty shelves, but everything is put away and I have only had to get the step stool out once in 3 weeks so I think the setup is working great so far!
As far as finishing the kitchen I just started spray painting the cabinet doors so once done the kitchen will be finished… whew hew!!! I took a few weeks off, some due to weather, but quite a bit due to procrastination on my part… but I’m getting it done now and if I never have to paint another set of kitchen cabinets I will consider myself a lucky girl!!
Thanks for stopping by!!!
Kitchen progress, looking good so far!
Even though I only have one coat of White Dove on the cabinets (but not all of the trim) it’s looking much closer to a finished project… however don’t even ask about the door fronts as they have technically been ready for painting for weeks I’ve just been neglectful and reluctant to paint in 90% humidity…
We also got the tile grouted this weekend as well. Have I ever told you that I have tiling anxiety? No, I’ve never been formally diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure it’s a real thing. You see tiling itself is not difficult at all, but you have to move pretty quick in order for the mastic and grout to not dry out and cause problems… SO I get anxious and pretty crazy about moving quick, quick, quick (like at a DEFCON 10) and my Super Awesome Hubby just wasn’t born equipped with anything over say DEFCON 7, so if you can imagine he’s moving at like a 4 and I’m at a full on 10! I’m so lucky he puts up with my crap sometimes I swear… but anyway on to the progress shots!
My favorite cabinet so far is the one over the refrigerator / oven area. At first I was not really thrilled about having to stage that area, but I have a plan and I’m super excited to get it finished!
And I don’t regret for one minute adding the tile over the window here, I think it really finishes off the area nicely.
I still have to caulk the crown molding and fix some areas that aren’t quite perfect before I can paint them. Also, the blue tape is marking areas I noticed after I painted that needed some additional repair so they have been fixed and re-primed and I will paint spot paint those areas when I paint the trim.
Also, a follow up on the cooktop I broke… we haven’t replaced it yet, but I did get “lucky” and was able to buy a replacement glass top for it instead of having to replace the whole cooktop. I would have much rather replaced it, but finding one that fit the exact cutout dimensions proved nearly impossible.
The rest of the to-do list consist of painting the ceiling, installing the range hood, reinstalling the under cabinet lighting, a few more coats of paint and painting the doors… so I think we’re on the downhill slope, right?!
Until next time…
What a Day…
Well today was the day that I was going to get shit done on the kitchen remodel! I had one last cabinet to prime, a few repairs and then sanding of all of the primed cabinets… it was going to be a big day! And truly all was going well (albeit messy and dirty and overall not fun) and I was moving along at a good clip and on track to finish what I had planned to finish until this happened… 
(insert lots of bad, bad words here…)
I dropped my mouse sander on the glass cooktop and the top shattered big time! I was lucky that the glass didn’t fly off of it, but I was extremely pissed to say the least. Now granted I hated this cooktop, it is 13 or so years old and it was hard to see the numbers beside the dial but it worked just fine and I wasn’t yet ready to replace it. I mean it takes me a lot of time and research to find just what I want and also what will fit the cutout in the granite that already exists. So my search begins today and I need to find a replacement quick because I cannot use my cooktop in this condition, I guess I will be using the crockpot for a while…
On the plus side we really are at a good point with the kitchen cabinet updates.
All of the new cabinets are installed and everything is primed and ready for the first coat of paint! I’m so excited about the cabinet over the oven and refrigerator that I have already been mentally planning on how to stage that area.
As you can see we got the tile installed (but not yet grouted) over the stovetop, but we had a little scope creep and decided to tile over the window over the sink as well… it just looked awkward without tile there.
So I’m off to find the perfect/inexpensive/right size/quick ship stovetop, wish me luck… I have a feeling I’m going to need it!
Until next time…
Updating, raising and painting kitchen cabinets
I know that there are a bunch of cabinet painting posts out there where it only took a couple of days to paint the cabinets… well that is clearly not how fast my project is going. Now I will say that I knew going in to this project that it would take a lot of time, be messy, tedious and pretty much a pain in the ass, but if I wanted painted cabinets I was going to have to suck it up, put on my big girl panties and get started!
So you know I finished the butler’s pantry a couple of month’s ago… which I am so happy with!
Then I took a little beginning summer break and me and my hubby started working on raising the kitchen cabinets and adding open lower cabinets. So our kitchen currently looks like this, nope I didn’t even straighten it up for you, no glamour shots here… but I can see how much I’m going to love the finished product already!
I removed all of the dishes from the cabinets and all of our everyday dishes are temporarily housed in the butler’s pantry, everything else is laid out on the dining room table… it looks like I’m getting ready to have a rummage sale in there and I’ll have to wash everything that’s there when I’m done due to all of the dust I’m creating…
The cabinet below was a H-U-G-E pain in the arse for my hubby to build, but I think he did a fabulous job and I love the fact that it is one large cabinet rather than 3 individual pieces, it will give us so much flexibility for the space. He also added an electrical outlet in it in case we want to put a microwave or something else in the cabinet.
As much as I know my hubby would love to be done with the cabinet making part of this project he still has a rather simple one to add to the top of the stove and refrigerator space. We also added a wire from the under cabinet lights to this area so that it can be lit at the same time. This will be the only area in the kitchen cabinets where I will have decorative items, all of the other open cabinetry is for everyday dishes, glasses etc.
We also changed our mind on the range hood and decided to install this hood instead of a custom wood surround.
I think that the black of the hood in combination with our black island cabinets will be a very nice contrast to all of the white cabinets. So we had to remove some drywall, install a 2×4 support and shift the electrical over so that it will be hidden by the hood as well. When we were done we just patched the area with 1/2” plywood and I will patch and prime the entire area in preparation for the tile. Yet another scope creep item, we will be installing the tile backsplash all of the way up to the ceiling behind the hood… did we need to do this, no, but will it look better if we do… yes, I think it will look stunning!
So I’m slowly working on adding trim to the sides of the cabinets, caulking, filling and priming, in general I’m having no fun, but it’s better than being outside in the hot muggy hotness that has decided to reside over the Louisville area for weeks!!!
I will (eventually) be painting the interiors of the open cabinets the same color as cabinets themselves, but I’m pretty sure I will be using paper or fabric as a removable colorful backdrop in them.
Just so you can see a comparison to where we were before we started this project and today, it’s getting there slowly but surely!
What you can’t feel is the sense of height that raising the cabinets to the ceiling gives you when you walk into the kitchen, it just seems so much more grand for some reason, I love it! Obviously getting to the top shelves will require a step stool, but I am planning on storing all of my china and rarely used dishes and cookware on the highest shelves so that I will rarely have to get anything down from there. Well I guess I have stalled long enough from working on the kitchen… better get back to work and get this project done!
Until next time!
A few thoughts on scope creep
Wikipedia defines scope creep as: in project management refers to uncontrolled changes or continuous growth in a project’s scope. This can occur when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled. It is generally considered harmful. (I underlined that last little statement just for emphasis.)
My definition of scope creep: necessary changes made to ones plans in order to achieve a better overall plan, or to increase function and custom look.
My husbands definition: Additional work that Susan deems “necessary” but in reality is a nice to have not a need… also this usually means more work, more money and a longer timeline for the project. In addition I completely concur with Wikipedia’s final sentence “it is generally considered harmful”, however, we usually end up doing it and the end result is worth it.
SO… I did confer with my Hubby about the scope creep in the kitchen as originally I was just painting cabinets and replacing cabinet hardware, but I had a thought one day while sitting at the island enjoying my lunch. You see I like the idea of open shelving in the kitchen, just not the function of keeping it all nice, neat, clean and overall perfect looking. What I do like about it is the ease of getting the item you need or putting something back in its place quickly, so nice right?! So my plan is to raise the cabinets to the ceiling and add an open cabinet/box under the cabinets in order to have the best of both worlds. Similar to this but without the bead board back.
I much prefer this look to open shelving as to me it has a decidedly more professional, cohesive and finished look to it.
The main issues with this plan is that we also have to reinstall the under cabinet lighting, install a ceiling mount speaker to replace the wall mount one and build about 5 boxes. Not too big of a deal right?
The other areas I wanted to “fix” are where the TV is located, just totally looks junky to me.
And the microwave over the stove (just don’t personally care for the look).
I found this idea while browsing kitchen cabinet photos and thought it was genius! Now I don’t want my cabinet to come all the way down to the countertop, but the general idea seems perfect for me!
The main issues with this plan is that we have to move the cable outlet, remove the corner cabinet and build a custom one to take its place and add an outlet for the TV and microwave.
The third (and hopefully last) update is to add a hood over the stovetop and make a custom range hood, similar to this…
Which is a TOTAL DIY project that Jill over at the Rozy Home wrote up a step-by-step tutorial for and I just think is drop dead gorgeous and cheap to boot at only $65 for the project!!!
The main issues with this plan is that we need to buy a new stovetop vent and make the hood.
So overall I’m thrilled with the new plans for the kitchen and I think the changes will make it more efficient and give it a much more current and custom look. Plus I really like the idea of having the best of both worlds with both closed and open storage in the kitchen.
As you can see in the photo below that I have already finished updating the base cabinets and I am just starting the process of getting the upper cabinet doors ready to paint.
I’m hoping that my Hubby and I will try and move up one of the upper cabinets this weekend so that I can live with it at that height for a while. At only 5’5 I’m certainly not tall so I’d really like to see how the cabinets will function before I commit to the project. Also, I’d need to do some rearranging of items so if I have any pieces I need to get to with any regularity I can do so without getting out the step stool! This needs to work more efficiently not less…
In closing I’d like to say that I look at scope creep as inevitable and plan for it in my plan as part of the plan, does that make sense? What about you? Are you a stick to the plan person or do you feel like scope creep is inevitable as well?
Thanks so much for stopping by…
Updated and painted butler’s pantry cabinets
Well here is the final post on these cabinets… I shared with you part of my process in post 1 and how we added molding and feet in post 2, but now they are finally complete and I can share with you the final results!
Just to refresh your memory this is what we started with…
And we ended up with these!!!
Super smooth paint finish, using Benjamin Moore’s White Dove paint color and spraying the door and drawer fronts.
I replaced the hideous patterned glass in the doors with custom cut mirrors. I love how mush light they reflect back into the kitchen! They cost $50 for both and I installed them the same way the original glass was installed.
The additional molding added just enough detail on the sides.
I couldn’t be happier with the hardware I chose. They are graphite in color, even though they look a little ORB in the pictures, they truly are more like a very dark grey finish in person.
They are a tad difficult to install because the back plates are actually separate from the handle, but I’m digging the more industrial vibe and how the color picks up on the color in the granite. If you’re interested in them you can find them here.
This crisp, clean, modernized feel of the cabinets really updates the look of the whole space so now I’m excited to get the rest of the kitchen cabinets done!‘
This project took W-A-Y longer than it should have, but most of that was my “fault” as I was in no hurry to make it a priority. I also made very sure to allow the appropriate amount of time between paint coats. I really hate painting cabinets, but I would do it again and again because I know how much I love the final results! To do it right takes time and patience, but when done correctly the paint job should last for a very long time.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Adding feet and molding to cabinets
Adding feet and decorative molding to the butler’s pantry cabinets was a pretty straightforward and easy project. We started off with these cabinets.
I removed the shoe molding from the kick plate and we dry fit a 4” piece of poplar wood which is very smooth and solid. We chose to use solid wood instead of MDF because we were routering the top and MDF doesn’t look as crisp/sharp as real wood does when routered in my opinion.
I also installed one of the doors back on temporarily to ensure that it would fit once the molding was attached… I don’t always think ahead, but when I do I sure as shit am happy about it in the end! So the door fit and we were back on to the next step…
Using SmartDraw I designed the exact cutout I wanted for the feet. We did consider adding 4 feet (one for each set of cabinets) but in the end opted for just 2 which I am so glad we did!
My Super Awesome Hubby used the jigsaw to cutout the design and the router to add a nice ogee edge to the top. Since the wood is placed against about 1.5” of cabinet face all I needed to do was nail it directly into the face, very sturdy and simple. I then filled in all of the nail holes and a long dent I didn’t see when we bought the piece, I use spackling for this process rather than wood filler as it is quick to dry and sands very easily.
I also added a small chair rail backer piece of molding to the sides of both of the top and bottom cabinets. Just used some Loctite and 1.5” nails and it’s not going anywhere.
Once everything is filled, sanded and caulked we can move on to priming and painting!
I’m almost finished with the the door and drawer fronts, hope to share the finished product with you soon!
Thanks as always for stopping by!
Kitchen cabinets and a little R&R
So I have this project I’m working on and I am doing a pretty good job of not letting it stress me out or make it a priority in any way… the project is painting all of the kitchen cabinets, but I’m starting with the buffet / butler’s pantry area just off of the kitchen.
This is what I started with, not too bad, the cabinet color is pleasing, but what the pictures don’t show is quite a bit of damage (one door broken, prior owner’s dog chewed on corners etc.).
Not only did I want to paint my cabinets white, but I wanted to beef them up a bit. My final color choice was White Dove by Benjamin Moore (in Advance Satin), I saw so many pretty examples of this color and since my countertops are staying the paint tone worked perfectly with them. I removed and labeled all of the door and drawer fronts, lightly sanded (repaired) and cleaned the cabinets and then hand painted the boxes and trim.
I also added the same trim to the sides as I did on the island and my Hubby made a beautiful set of “feet” for the base which I think makes the piece feel more like a custom piece.
The cabinet doors and drawers are getting all new handle placement so I filled and repaired the original holes and used my Critter sprayer to spray them in the garage so I could have a beautiful streak free finish. And this is where I’m at after 3 weeks of working on them off and on…
As you can see I still have 3 door fronts to finish (and a glass decision to make), my Critter sprayer is being a total B-I-A-T-C-H and keeps spitting chunks of paint onto the cabinet surfaces so I’m waiting for some warmer weather to tryout a new sprayer to see if I can get things working properly again… this is hugely frustrating for me, but I have plenty of other things to work on in the meantime.
So last week I left the work behind and me, my Super Awesome Hubby and the last daughter packed up and went camping at Red River Gorge for her spring break. We had a fabulous 4 day/3 night stay with lots of campfires, Uno, stories told and many beautiful hikes.
We had an awesome camp site right next to the creek… and despite what this picture may indicate we hiked miles and miles of beautiful woodland trails!
I happen to catch these two enjoying some much needed (no electronics) father daughter time… I just love the fact that at almost 14 she still wants to hold our hands from time to time.
So we’re back home and I’ve got to get back to painting (eventually), I’ve already removed the door and drawer fronts off of the rest of the base cabinets in the kitchen and I will slowly be working my way through them. For me this is not a race to get them done, I have no deadlines so I’m taking my time and making sure that this paint job is done properly so I won’t have to do it again! And while I’m waiting for paint and filler to dry I can enjoy some gardening and planting my new plants! We had a great time at the Starview greenhouses yesterday, I’m sure that this place will be my go-to for all of my garden plants, it was fabulous… just look at all of my lovelies! I’m also growing quite a bit from seed as well…
And this little absolutely stunning true black Petunia just stole my heart and it is going to find a prominent place in the garden where I can enjoy looking at it everyday!
Also there is SO much going on in Louisville now, the Derby may only be a one day affair to some but for this town the celebration starts a month in advance of the races and we have plans to enjoy as much of the festivities as possible!
Thanks as always for stopping by…
Until next time!
Renovated “Princess Suite” bathroom complete!
I’m so excited to finally be able to share the final results of our daughter’s bathroom with you! This bathroom is in her bedroom, some people would call this a “Jr. Suite” or “Princess Suite” which is what I prefer.
A little throw back to when we purchased this house and I know this may not look too bad to some of you but those are boats on the curtains and the wall paper pattern is gold rope, not our style at all.
Off with the wallpaper, out with the flooring, blinds, mirror and light fixtures!
In go the wall planks, granite vanity top, 1” hexagon black and white floor tile!
This renovation was a pretty easy (at least compared to the Master Bathroom) remodel. The final cost for the remodel was $1,340, which for us was a very good investment of our time and money.
BTW I love this shower curtain! It’s from Bed, Bath & Beyond and has a mesh top which allows the light to filter into the shower area and it also has a built in curtain liner (just below the mesh) that snaps off!! I customized the curtain by sewing the teal band at the bottom, but the quality of the curtain is great! I also installed the rod just under the crown molding which makes the height of the room feel like 10’ instead of 8’… don’t know how but it does!
Filled with succulents and moss, this planter will get plenty of light I just need to remember to water it!
Greatest Expenditure
The granite vanity top, including sink, at $410, but well worth the investment!
Greatest “Time-Sucker”
Hands down the winner for this category was by far the floor, from demo, to layout, to installation it was a shit-ton bunch of man/woman-hours that I’d rather have spent doing just about anything else, but the finished product makes such a dramatic impact that I will try and forget the pain… kind of like childbirth I guess 
Biggest Impact
The floor of course! It just sucks that it also won “Greatest Time-Sucker” too… we chose to use a low profile aluminum transition strip from carpet to tile here so as not to distract from the tile itself.
Most “Fun”
Making the café curtain was the most fun for me, it totally wasn’t hard and it makes such a cute statement in the room that I so enjoyed installing it too (because that was a BREEZE)!
Favorite Tool
Sorry guys, but this one is a tie between the nail gun (compressor type) and the hammer drill, without either of these this project would have been much more difficult to complete and I probably wouldn’t have demoed the floor!
If My Budget was Limitless
If money was no object I would have taken out the tub and linen nook and installed a large tiled shower in their place. I would have also installed a frameless rolling shower door and I would have clad the walls with a white subway tile, but the floor I would have done in a 3” hexagon similar to the master bathroom. I also would have replaced the vanity with a taller one with better storage options. And while I’m dreaming I would have hired out all of the contracting work, just saying that’s the no fun part for me I’d much rather design and decorate but we can’t all be that lucky 
Still I’m glad we could do what we did, both physically and financially, we’re very very happy with the end results, but a girl can dream right?!
Thanks for taking this little renovation trip with me!
Until next time!
