Cute and Quaint Kitchen Remodel

Up to this point in my renovation experience, my kitchen remodel has been my favorite project. 

It’s cute…and quaint…but it wasn’t always that way.

When I moved in, there were huge holes in the flooring. A haphazard caulk job. Pieces of laminate countertop breaking off. Makeshift “laundry cabinets” as upper cupboards. A stove riddled with several dents. Less than a foot of counter space. And a side shelf in an such an awkward space, I cracked my head on it several times before resolving to get rid of it.

Those photos were taken the day I closed on the house. What a way to say, “Welcome home!” The holes in the flooring were not visible when I had looked at the house, so it was a bit of a surprise to me when we did the final walk through. My realtor negotiated a couple of hundred dollars for flooring from the seller to help offset the cost of the surprise. I threw some rugs over it and dealt with it that way for about two months, until my bathroom was finally finished and I had time to get things going in the kitchen.

New Cabinets

To begin my kitchen remodel, I measured and purchased some unfinished oak cabinets. I know this seems like a small work space, and not much storage, but keep in mind that I also have a ten-foot long pantry where most of my kitchen items are kept. I’ll do a separate post on that space. I painted the cabinets white, using Dutchboy cabinet paint. It’s a gloss, so it cleans up nicely with all the spills and smudges that come with working in the kitchen.

I also got hardware for the new cabinets. The pulls came from Menards. There are no actual opening drawers so these were for decoration, really, in the panels under the sink. The door knobs (similar to these ones here) came from Habitat for Humanity. I always like checking out the cabinet hardware there, and it’s usually hit or miss on whether I find something I like, and in the right quantity. These worked perfectly and were only fifty cents each.

Top Cabinets

The two bigger upper cabinets were pretty easy to install on my own. There is a ledge in my kitchen that’s at the approximate height cabinets should start, so I just set them in place on there, and then used a few cabinet screws to secure them to the wall. The one above the stove was a shorter one, though. I wanted to use the ledge as a little shelf to keep a few stove-related items handy (tea, olive oil, a few spices, etc.). I got help to install the short one, making sure it was level.

Base Cabinet

The lower cabinet was a bit more challenging; I needed some help to get that one installed. A section of the back side was cut out for the sink piping to go through. I also had to put some plywood in on the floor to level off where the last lower cabinet was. I’m pretty sure it was the original, and I found some fun stuff lying underneath that, not limited to the tampon and dog food seen below.

Lovely, right? By this point I realized that the majority of my time on house projects was really cleaning. Not hammering, drilling, or sawing like I had envisioned. Cleaning. Thank goodness for my shop vac!

The old cabinet was deconstructed with the help of my dad, and in went the new one. Unlike the other cabinets, I painted this one after installation. It was awkward to move around on my own, and only some parts of it really needed to be painted. Like, I didn’t need to paint the back or one side of it. I also didn’t paint the inside of it. I put some of those cheap vinyl stick tiles on the bottom, so in case of a leak, the cabinet wouldn’t be destroyed from water damage.

Counter Top, Sink Diswasher…and Stove!

I ordered a new counter top for the kitchen. My plan was to put a dishwasher in as well, so that would mean I needed a little bit larger counter top than the previous one. Once I got some help in the countertop department at Menards, I spent about two hours explaining what I wanted to do, and then debating exactly what size I would need with the dishwasher. If I went too long, there wouldn’t be enough room for the stove to fit. If I went too short, the dishwasher wouldn’t fit under it. I put my order in and prayed it was the perfect size.

When my dad and I installed it, we checked to see that everything could fit. Space for the dishwasher? Check. Space for the stove…uh oh. It was about a quarter of an inch too long for the stove to fit.

Guess that means I need a new stove!

I got a slightly smaller than standard (6″ smaller, to be exact) stove from Appliance Connection. It fit perfectly, and I have to say, it’s super cute! Now I have a small space where I want to make a pull-out spice rack next to it. When I get around to making it, I’ll make a post about it.

I’m glad I didn’t go any smaller with the counter top, though, because then there wouldn’t have been any room for an end piece to hide the dishwasher.

The Walls

Another issue I that needed desperate attention in this kitchen remodel was the walls. Some of them were looking pretty ugly. Someone had painted over wallpaper that was adhered to an old type of “drywall” (I’m really not sure what that wall is made of, but it kind of reminded me of cork), and it was not coming off very easily. There were also some seams between the wall pieces that reminded me of a trailer house. My two options for hiding these ugly walls that I came up with was either shiplap or faux brick. I’m afraid of shiplap one day being “sooooo 2018”, so I chose to go with faux brick. It’s a more timeless look. Even though it’s not real brick, the unsuspecting eye probably wouldn’t question it. It gives the kitchen more character, and depth, too. I’m kind of a texture person.

Tackling the Wall Project

The faux brick install was a multi-day project that began with me trying to stuff the faux brick boards in the back of my little Kia. After realizing they weren’t going to fit, I hoisted them to my roof rack, ran back into the store and purchased some rope to tie them down. I’m pretty sure a car across the parking lot had a spectator or two watching me whip the rope around, over, and under the pile of faux brick on top of my little SUV until I had jerry-rigged them somewhat-securely on to the roof rack. I  utilized my sun roof to make sure the stack made it safely the whole way home.

I’ll get into the details of the faux brick wall in another post, but basically, I cut to size, used some construction adhesive and nailed the boards into place. I used a load of drywall mud in between the seams and edges to hide them and make it look a bit more realistic. Sanded as needed, then painted. I painted the entire kitchen with a clean white paint from Home Depot. Most of the panels, I primed and painted prior to install, I just needed to do some touch ups around the edges.

 

The Floor

Of course, I got new flooring. I used the same flooring as I did in the bathroom remodel, some luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and floated it throughout the two rooms. I’ll give a brief tutorial on the install in another post.

I also picked up this beautiful runner from Target. It fit perfectly in front of the cabinet area. I love the strands of blue woven in with the neutral tan and white. The rug is super soft under foot and ethically made, too.

I absolutely LOVE my little kitchen. It’s the perfect amount of space for what I need. The texture of the walls, the clean white cabinetry against the dark wood tones, and the space left for decor and personalization. I’ll show the pantry in an upcoming post.

Since the kitchen remodel, I’ve also refinished an Ikea cart to match the style of the room. Check the post out here for a tutorial.

 

 

I still have one section of original trim I need to finish off and add quarter round with on the flooring. I’m not sure if I should paint the trim white, finish removing the paint (I had started doing that), or paint it with a pop of color, like the blue of my front door. And I could also use a new fridge…looks okay on the outside, but it’s falling apart on the inside. So my kitchen is getting there!

I’m also working on configuring a pull out storage/spice rack in the gap between the stove and the wall.

There’s always something I’m finding to work on, but I have to remember where it started and all the progress I’ve made on everything.

What’s your favorite home project?