To kick off this new feature on Style Sheet I’ve volunteered my kitchen, because, I must admit, I’m a bit proud of it.
You may have read me mentioning that we inherited a VERY outdated kitchen with our VERY outdated house, and not knowing how or when we could renovate, we decided to implement some solutions on the fly.
Feast your eyes on the “Before”:
While ugly as sin, it actually wasn’t in such bad shape. Those cabinets were straight and solid Teak, the backsplash was sound, and hey, there was good light.
Now, the “After”:
Note: I know you’re wondering how the stove could have gone from bad to worse, but it’s a personal thing. I find it kind of cool. We didn’t want to buy really nice appliances as this is not our final kitchen, so we brought this beauty with us from our previous place (which was an industrial studio) because at least it has SOME sort of a “look.” There’s nothing worse to me than those ‘80s black and white stoves. They’re depressing. At least this thing looks like a survivor, and its name is Enterprise.
Aside from the stove, however, I think we did pretty well; the entire overhaul cost us just under $600.
Here’s what we did:
- Painted the cupboards, inside and out with Benjamin Moore “Battleship” semi-gloss paint
- Changed the hardware – Restoration Hardware, “Gilmore Pull” in satin nickel (but actually, Home Depot has something very similar at a much better price)
- Changed the countertops to IKEA "Pronomen" butcher block (note: needs lots of oiling or it will crack from the water, especially around the sink)
- Changed the sink – IKEA, DOMSJÖ
5. Painted the backsplash with Benjamin Moore semigloss paint, over Benjamin Moore’s All-Purpose Alkyd primer
6. Painted the cream hood white, with the same primer and semigloss paint
7. Painted out the back wooden door white
8. Ripped out the cupboards in the awkward pantry inlet and replaced them with custom shelving (this could cost you more if your husband doesn’t harbour the same carpenter zeal as mine…)
9. Installed discount, pre-finished hardwood flooring right over the linoleum (seeing as the area was so small, we found some discontinued product, which is usually left over in small quantities and hence very affordable)
10. Installed a floor model dishwasher bought at a discount at a Sears Outlet store
What do you think? Would you have done something differently?
Send us your Shoestring Makeover! If you’ve got your own Shoestring Makeover you’re proud of, please email your photos and brief description to stylesheet AT hgtv DOT ca with Shoestring Makeover in the subject line and we’ll post it as our next Shoestring Makeover feature.