DIY Kitchen Renovation

Oh the joys of being a homeowner! What started as “we’re just going to replace the dishwasher” turned into an entire DIY kitchen renovation!

It all happens so quickly.

We removed the old dishwasher to find that it had apparently been leaking into the cabinets for a while causing them to mold and fall apart so the decision was made to renovate everything. We were crafty, we could do it all ourselves, right?? Hah! When I say we did it all ourselves, I mean “we” as in our “village”… We couldn’t have done all of this without the help of our parents and best friends. We have the best support system and they helped us along the way with everything but with that, WE did it all ourselves!

It was rough to start out with…

First, demo!

Now comes the DIY part!

Paint! We painted the walls and then took a look at the flooring…

The terrazzo under the laminate turned out to be a MESS. So the very first thing to be done was new flooring. We went with a wood-like laminate flooring that could withstand plenty of spills. We were able to get most of our supplies on sale thankfully, because of a holiday weekend and Hubs and his dad installed it all in no time!

Look for sales everywhere!

We were able to get discounts on our flooring, cabinets, and appliances by just being a little crafty and purchasing everything on a holiday weekend.

The goal is to save money.

We went with unfinished cabinets, painted them ourselves, and accented them with dark/brushed copper handles. (This is where 3am painting parties and really awesome friends come in)

When it came to a backsplash, none of us were exactly pro-tile workers… So my father in law had a great idea he remembered from his time in the restaurant business; Faux brick backsplash!! I LOVE this aspect of our kitchen. It gave it the cozy/rustic feel I was looking for AND it’s durable and affordable!!

Next, the countertops!

My dad is pretty crafty too. Our house warming gift was HANDMADE butcher block countertops that he made, himself. How awesome is that?! There is no better price we could have beaten than FREE! Countertops can be one of the priciest points of a kitchen renovation but making ours only cost my dad $150!

We were able to get our appliances extremely cheap at a local “scratch and dent” store and put it all together to make our cozy little kitchen whole again!

Finished pic

Don’t forget to check out my hacks for a clean home!

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