Five tips for renovating your kitchen and making it look beautiful on a budget!
Kitchen renovations can be exhausting. A full kitchen renovation can cost thousands of dollars. But if you're willing to put in a little sweat equity, getting the kitchen of your dreams is doable!
Here are five things we did to renovate our kitchen and give it an updated farmhouse feel!
tip #1 - countertops
Our home was built in 1978. When we moved in it had the original countertops and they were yellow! Yuck! Since the countertops were formica and I really wanted the "white marble" look but couldn't afford the price point we decided to cover them with a faux marble formica! It was functional and beautiful. Not to mention it REALLY changed the look of the space! Checkout the before and after below!
tip #2 - white never goes out of style
Replacing the cabinets was not an option for us. It cut too much into our budget. And the current cabinets were real wood and in fairly decent shape. Transforming a space can be costly but the best way to make a big impact on a low budget is paint! We painted the cabinets Sherwin Williams Extra White (SW7006) Among many of the trendy things you could do with making cosmetic changes to a kitchen, mark my words, white kitchens will NEVER go out of style. White kitchens are timeless and will forever be a thing. A white kitchen gives a simple, timeless look that acts an a universal design color. White cabinets can literally fit with any decor style!
"A white kitchen gives a simple, timeless look that acts as a universal design color. White cabinets can literally fit with any decor style."
tip #3 - replace flooring
There are so many options with flooring these days. And since we were pregnant and knew kids were in the future we went with a budget friendly peel and stick, water resistant, black marble vinyl tile flooring. Our decision to choose this vinyl tile was based off of two things: one, we wanted something easy to install ourselves, and two, it was a "just for now" cosmetic fix. We knew eventually we wanted to replace it with actual tile so it was the perfect "for now" option.
tip #4 - add a cost effective yet designer backsplash
This backsplash was done in the beginning of the Chip & Joanna Gaines era. And although subway tile has not left the building of being the go to backsplash, it was and still is a widely used design choice still to this day. Perks, easy to install and only $1.20 a square foot. A 3x6 white subway tile backsplash only cut a few hundred dollars (that's including the materials to do the job) into the budget.
*Designer Tip: Pull colors from your countertop into the backsplash. We used a dark gray grout on the subway tile to create a cohesive look next to the marble in the countertops.
tip #5 - custom finishing touches
Wanting that picture perfect magazine look is a dream. Can I give you a little secret? The best way to make your space look like a designer curated it...add custom (or semi-custom) design elements!
In this case we decided to build a built-in bench seating area underneath this window. I was able to pick out a funky fabric that was versatile and matched the modern farmhouse esthetic I was going for. And it added a design element to the space that was complimented on every time someone walked into the room!
Another "custom" design element that offered function and fashion were our built-in shelves next to the window above the sink! It gave me a space to add decorative elements and bring in greenery which always livens up a room (scroll up to see the shelves in the first photo of this blog).
Do...don't dream!
Home projects are SO incredibly rewarding. Make a list of your top 3 things you want to tackle around your house and start saving! I promise you will not regret the way a transformation in your home makes you feel. So tell me, what project are you tackling next?
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