The Kitchen Update Vision
It’s probably typical in most families for renovations or projects to happen in stages. We’re no different. Each room in our house has gone through a series of changes as we’ve had the resources (money, time, etc.) to be able to tackle them. This week, we’re officially starting what I perceive as the final leg of our kitchen renovation. And I’m sharing the kitchen vision today!
Up Until Now
When we first moved into the cottage, our kitchen was laughably small. And what little counter space we had was taken up by our monster microwave and convection oven.
In the first step of the renovation process, I painted the cabinets white and took the doors off the upper cabinets in order to make the room appear bigger. That’s all we had the resources to complete at that time. Rob was still working out of town in those days, so I was incredibly proud to have been able to tackle most of this project without any help.
But we quickly discovered we are not white cabinet people, and we started plotting our next kitchen move.
In December 2021, shortly after having our entire house re-plumbed, we started the next phase: repainting the bottom cabinets (which took the most abuse) and replacing our old 1950s formica countertops in favor of a warm butcher block. We also took the time to replace our very rusty sink (courtesy of our very hard water and galvanized pipes) and our faucet.
With our growing family, we also decided during this project to figure out how to add a dishwasher. This was incredibly tricky in our very small kitchen, so we actually bumped out our little shelving unit that opened to the table to give us more space. From there, we spent months trying to determine if we should put the dishwasher next to the sink (and completely messing with the visual flow of the kitchen) or place it on the other side of the oven. We chose to go with optics versus practicality on that decision, and a year later, we finally got our dishwasher up and running.
The Current Project
Now, we’re tackling painting the walls, ceiling, and trim paint along with repainting the upper cabinets. We’re also switching out the lighting above the island and giving the light fixture above the sink a mini makeover.
On Friday, we officially chose our wall/ceiling/upper cabinet color: Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige. The green for the trim will mirror the bottom cabinets and be Valspar Thalo Night.
I really enjoy painting, so I’m looking forward to this project. I love throwing on a podcast or curated playlist and just getting to work on a repetitive task. It’s honestly one of the reasons I love sewing so much.
Sometime before Christmas, we also plan to install wallpaper on the back of the upper cabinets and backsplash above our oven and countertop areas.
Eventually, I want to replace our flooring. That is probably a task that’s quite a ways down the road, so I’ve been thinking about what I can do to live with the floors now until that someday happens. I have a few ideas involving a can of paint.
Renovating a kitchen on a budget is no small feat. And there have been times when it’s been a little discouraging to not be able to do everything I want to do all at once. But I’m thankful that we’ve done it bit by bit. It’s allowed us to pivot when needed without being overwhelmed, and we’ve never had to worry about going over budget.
If you’re in a season of being frustrated by the lack of progress on a project, I can’t recommend a can of paint enough. It can totally transform a space!
