Here is our kitchen the night we moved in. The picture looks 50 years old because a) it's taken hastily on an iPad while drinking beer, and b) because it was likely last updated 50 years ago. Now, as much as I would love to yank everything out and redesign the entire thing, I have learned to set aside my $40k vision and work within my $40-a-project budget. Is it exactly what I want? Not even close. But does it hurt my eyes less and make me at least a little more excited to be in it every day? For sure. We kept the dishwasher for several years until it broke, so that replacement was a necessity. But as you'll see, the stove and microwave (might that be THE original microwave ever made?) are still going strong. As much as I'd love to replace them for something more, um, current, there is no way I can justify changing out something that still works. Not surprisingly, the biggest trick of this scrappy "renovation" was lots of paint. Painted the brick, painted the walls, painted the top and bottom cabinets - needless to say, I freaking love paint. I also took off all the weird fringy details on the cabinets including the wooden shutters.
Next easy change: hardware. Those aren't necessarily cheap (by my standards, that is), but under $200 for all of them. One trick my mom taught me was to not replace the hinges, just take them off and spray them with stainless steel spray paint. She's the most resourceful person I know. And for the finale, both the backsplash and the countertops are peel-and-stick. TA-DA! Because my next favorite thing to decorate with after paint is giant stickers. I've got to say, they have both held up extremely well, and we are not terribly gentle to our kitchen. Now, clearly, this kind of renovation is not going to scratch the itch of a high-end dream you may have (or the one that I have.) But, all said and done it definitely cost less than $1,000. Do I want a real kitchen overhaul? Totally. But what I want more is to pay this house off entirely, so for now, paint and stickers it is.
1 Comment
Christine Patterson
4/18/2021 07:15:08 pm
What great ideas! Love the update kitchen 😊
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
|