Before and After: Kitchen Renovation Reveal

This post is long over due, but I am so excited to share our KITCHEN REVEAL with you all! We made cosmetic changes that definitely made an impact and makes our kitchen look more inviting. The reno makes it feel more like home, because it matches our vibe. After purchasing our home in 2014, doing any changes to the kitchen was not even on our radar. Trust me, when you buy a house there are so many other important things you’re worried about like.. buying FURNITURE to fill it up! It seemed like such an expensive project, so we didn’t even entertain the idea. After our wedding we had a little bit more time and realized that a kitchen update may not be a bad idea after all. I did some research and felt like it was a doable project, so we decided to go for it, making sure to stay cost efficient and using DIY options wherever possible.

Floor plan 

The kitchen floor plan was something I knew we would be leaving as is; it opens into the dining room, and you can see the living room from the sink. Overall, we just wanted a brighter and more classic look. Sticking with your current floor plan will save you a lot of money. You also have to do a lot of research to make sure you are getting the best deals, and you have to stay organized. With keeping budget in mind, I knew we had to wait for sales, and do some things on our own. In order to keep costs low, here is what we did with our money:

Keep your cabinets  

1. We decided to keep our current cabinets. They were still in great shape so we decided to sand, prime, and paint them ourselves. It is very important you are thorough with this step because you want to ensure the paint will hold up for years to come. The paint we went with was Sherwin Williams prime and paint in one, and we purchased our bronzed cabinet knobs from Wayfair at $1.50 ea!

2. For our glass cabinet doors, we kept the door frames the same and just had glass installed.

Choosing the right stone 

3. With our backsplash, I wanted to make a subtle statement. I stayed with white tile, however I decided to choose a herringbone pattern to change it up a little. We shopped around for our backsplash and found the look I was going for an affordable price, $2.99 per sq ft at Floor and Decor! You really can’t beat that! To make the herringbone pop a little, have a warm feel, and still subtle we opted for a light grey grout in the color Platinum grey. 

4. For our countertops a lot of research went into this. I really wanted marble countertops, but then learned that upkeep for marble was something I was NOT even going to get into. Granite is nice, less maintenance than marble, but still not the look I wanted. Then we found quartz, which is a man-made stone with no upkeep! It gave that marble look, but it had durability, so this was a win-win for us. We went with Quartz Carrara Grigio and I absolutely love it! We had a great reference for our quartz countertops with install + sink, and our installer knew someone that installed the backsplash.

Always purchase appliances during sales 

5. When purchasing appliances, try to wait for the sales! We decided to wait for Memorial Day sales before we purchased our new appliances, which happened to be the most expensive part of the project. Nothing was wrong with the appliances that we had, they were just outdated so waiting on a sale wasn’t an issue. Luckily, we got a Samsung microwave for our wedding gift, so we just stayed consistent with that brand and only had the dishwasher and stovetop left to purchase. I am actually in love with our new gas stove, it also came with a griddle which makes making pancakes fun!

All the vibes 

It was so exciting to see our vision come to life! I love how it is such a modern but classic kitchen design that will still be relevant years to come. This is not our forever home, but investing in our space will increase property value and a beautiful home will make all the memories even more enjoyable! I must say, I do a lot more cooking, def a win for everyone! Hope you enjoyed reading about our renovation. And hopefully it inspired you to take on your own kitchen project!

As promised, here are our before pictures!

Let me know what you think! Do you have any home projects planned for this year? Please, do tell! xo