They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, don’t they? So isn’t it important for it to reflect you & the style of your home? Then WHY DO THEY MAKE IT SO EXPENSIVE?!

Alright, I think you can see where I am getting at. This was the exact thought process that ran through my mind as I stood in our kitchen staring into the rest of the house, feeling like I was in two completely difference space. Our house is almost 115 years old. The kitchen & bathroom were non existent. Plumbing was non existent. When people started running pipes through their home, an addition was added on to the back of our house. You can see a patch in the floor boards where there used to be stairs leading outside. Little pieces of history like this is what made me fall madly in love with this home.

When we bought the house, it was for sure in livable condition. Luckily the only things we needed to do was clean. We threw paint on the walls for a fresh feel, but everything was pretty okay. The kitchen & bathroom were somewhat updated??? but really there was nothing crazy that needed to happen other than buy all new appliances. Lucky us! We did end up adding a bathroom upstairs which was HUGE & is the greatest thing ever, but all this new new new in an old house, made the main bath & kitchen just kind of bleh. It needed to match. Down side was, our budget was drained.

When we bought all new appliances, the package for the kitchen came with a dishwasher. A glorious, shiny dishwasher that stood in its box for almost a year mocking us every time we pruned our fingers unfilling our sink & counter tops of dirty dishes. WE NEEDED TO GET THAT THING IN THE KITCHEN. Let me just add that our initial kitchen & bathroom remodel plan was extensive. The door to the bathroom comes out of the kitchen, so we had a plan of shifting the entire bathroom to move the door into the mudroom. We would then be able to extend the kitchen cabinets & counter tops to the wall, adding so much space! In addition, we were going to add uppers above the uppers to hit the ceiling & add a beautiful sliding ladder rail to match the antique charm the house has. That is still a dream of mine & will happen in a kitchen I own NO MATTER WHAT. All this means a lot of dollar signs. The cabinets were in fine condition, the hardware was ORB, so I didn’t hate them, & the appliances were already purchased. We knew there was an option here to have a fresh new space without draining all our funds.

First things we did since we already had the walls painted, was new flooring. The bathroom originally had a peachy tile that I temporarily touched up with black chalk paint & vinyl stickers. The kitchen floor was sticky tile. Really sticky tile. Like every step you took was sticky tile. We took it all up & laid a floating vinyl wood plank that flows seamlessly into the bathroom. What a difference this made!! By doing this, there was some trim work we needed to do, but nothing too difficult.

The next, & biggest change of em all that I can scream to the mountain tops for anyone who wants a cheap change to do, is the dreaded “paint the cabinets”. Was this a long & annoying process. Absolutely. Was it worth it. Even more! I cannot tell you how much painting the cabinets fixed the whole vibe of the space.

Tip : Label cabinet doors after you remove them so you know where they go. Some can go anywhere, but sometimes they need to go right where you found them. This is a sold CYA method.  

Some other things on our list that we did was switch out the base cabinet where the sink was. The original one was for a middle sink. Which made no room for the dishwasher on either side. We got the cheapest, most basic base cabinets we could find, stole the doors from the original one & plopped them on. You would never tell that the cabinet it different then the rest! We also got lucky & found a brand new laundry sink in the back shed. The space we had for the sink wasn’t all that wide, so having this deep of a bowl is something I didn’t know I needed. Lastly, we changed the laminate counter tops with ones that matched better. Yes, I would love a nice slab of granite, but let me tell you, the $64 we spent on this one was the best $64 we spent. It looks so nice & new! Who cares what it is made out of! & How can I forget the backsplash! We added our go to white accent behind the sink to cutesy up the space a bit.

Those are all the things we did for the kitchen, its a lot. In the bathroom, we did the flooring as I said earlier, we changed the light fixture, hung a new mirror, installed a new vanity & counter with sink, & changed all the plumbing fixtures on the sink, tub & shower. We did ALL OF THESE THINGS for $1,000! It really only took about two or three weeks, mainly because I stalled on the cabinet door painting, but wow would I do it all over again in a heart beat!

I wanted to share this with you all to maybe put your intimidation for these spaces aside. If updating your bathroom & kitchen is on your list, but you won’t get your dream kitchen for a few decades, here is such an easy & relatively cheap face lift for you to love your space! Maybe all you need to do is paint your cabinets? That is like a $20 fix! I want everyone to love the home they are in & to take initiative to make it happen. I believe in you! Just hit up your local Menards during the 11% rebate & you are as good as gold!

Painting Tip : Put your painted brush right in a baggy and in the fridge. It will be ready to go the next day or week without all the messy clean up!