Shannon and her husband, along with their awesome-sounding Dads, recently completed a major kitchen renovation. To save money they "just did the whole darn thing, one bit at a time" by themselves. On and off, it took a few years, but as they say, slow and steady wins the race. Check out the beautiful, budget-friendly results:
The Story:
We did just about the whole darn thing, one bit at a time. We pulled up a vinyl floor and put down tile. We pulled off pink and blue wallpaper borders, painted and put up new paper. We hauled out the existing built-in cabinets and melamine doors; painstakingly reused and reinstalled some of the built-in frames; did some minor reconfiguring to the layout; cut old melamine doors into drawer bases; and built, finished and installed new doors. We finished it off by routering custom baseboard and installing penny-round tile.
"We", of course, refers mainly to my talented and tireless father-in-law (perfectionist cabinetmaker), my Dad (try-anything-once tiler) and to a lesser extent, myself and my husband. The timeline that we worked in (on and off over four years?) would not be for most people. But our pocketbook cannot complain. And it's absolutely ours - we love it!
The Resource List:
Paint: Pot of Cream, Behr
Wallpaper: Blue Mountain Wallcoverings, Home Depot
Cabinets were made out of white ash, with Minwax's Rosewood stain
Cabinet hardware (handles, drawer slides) were purchased from Lee Valley (all cabinet hinges were reused from existing)
Baseboards were made from scratch out of basswood (apparently a very durable and hard wood that is a good candidate for painting because of its plain grain)
Floor tile, new pot lights over sink: Home Depot
Penny-tile: Ceratec
Acrylic counters and sink: IKEA
Faucet: Canadian Tire
The Budget:
Labor (plumbing, cabinet-making and installation, tiling): free!
Electrical (for new microwave/fridge outlets, stove and potlights): care of electrician friend at a deep discount): $120
Cabinet hardware: $300
Tile: $400 (floor) + $400 (backsplash - penny tile is not cheap up here!)
Paint and wallpaper: $200
Wood and finishing (stain etc.): maybe $200 or $300? (My father-in-law is an avid hunter of bargain wood supply. It should be noted that these were rough planks that needed to be cut, planed, leveled, sanded, joined etc. so the cost was low)
Counters/sink: $2800
Faucet: $80
Total: $4500 :)
And, just for fun, one final parting shot of where it all started, the "before":
Thanks for sharing your project, Shannon!
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Wonderful job! What an improvement! You should be proud of all the work you put in... it shows. I love the open shelving... makes your kitchen feel so much bigger and breezier.
I, too, am renovating my kitchen bit by bit. This is an inspiration to work towards that "after" pic I have in my mind!
Love how the colors come together with the cabinetry, countertops and the penny tile. For folks who have the DIY skills you are a great example of how much $$$ can be saved by doing much of the work yourself. Nice work!
Your Dads are pretty awesome!
I bet you just smile every time you walk into your kitchen. Very nicely done, I like the Euro look that the long hardware and the tiled back splash give the room, and I love the wallpaper.
Wow, HUGE change! well done!
Where did you get the wallpaper from? What is it called? Is there a source that I could look into?
Gorgeous... transformation!
It must be a great feeling to walk into your new kitchen every morning!
that is so incredible!!! Wow!
Best. Dads. Ever.
Good for you! I did my own two-year kitchen renovation, stripping it back to the studs, and rebuilding in a new layout---and I totally agree that it's worth it.
Love your kitchen. Great that you have help. I agree with you that penny tiles are not cheap in Canada. I know as we also live in Canada and to top it off in the middle of nowhere. Do you have any other pictures of your home. I could use all the ideas that I can get. Keep up the great work.
@lmstanley The wallpaper manufacturer and source are listed in 'The Budget'. That particular paper is not showing up on the HomeDepot.ca website but you could always contact the manufacturer directly and find out if it's still made and perhaps distributed in your area.
I am tickled to see that the manufacturer is a 15 minute drive from my Toronto home...wondering if they have a showroom open to the public...
Lovely! Great job!
I love to see AT get back to the realistic, hands-on, on-a-budget projects like these. Anyone with a fat budget and designers/architects can make an amazing renno. Hats off to these guys that did a STUNNING job on their own project. Lovely work!
That's great. We're in Toronto and moved into our new-to-us 100 year old house about 6 months ago. We're going to be taking the slow and steady approach too so this is really inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
I'm going to blog about our room-by-room reno as we go (link in my profile, but don't look now there's nothing there at the moment).
Wonderful job! You're lucky to have such great and generous dads!
DYI, yes, but it's actually stunning!
HUGE improvement! I love the shelves :) Beautiful.
I love the tile backsplash! I might actually take that idea...
This is gorgeous, congratulations on the result. Your hard work and patience paid off. Ditto theweathermanlies' comment about normal people with normal budgets. Bravo!
Congratulations! I especially love the beautiful tile and the shelves, which look very special and custom. The colour combination is very pretty, too.
Yes, I like the tile very much as well. I've always loved the retro feel of it, but it looks completely modern here with the sleek, dark wood and long hardware.
What a wonderful result! I love that you did it yourselves (with dads) and took your time. That's my kind of reno.
Fantastic results. I took the kitchen in my 1930 vintage house down to bare studs, but didn't have the luxury of letting the project go as long. I see how much money I could have saved if I could have taken each step at my own pace rather than bringing in contractors for several steps...
Definitely a result to be proud of.
thank you so much for the inspiration as i hope my husband and i are going to get the courage to try something similar. i agree that you should be proud and host some big dinner parties, soon.
beautiful!
Great job! We just finished a very slow DIY kitchen makeover too (well, I say 'finished' but there is that last bit of trim that needs to be painted...)
Anyhow, I know what a pain-staking process it is, and I commend you and your awesome dads for the work that you did. Also, very jealous that you have an electrician friend. Wish I had one of those!
so pretty! well done! i have an awesome DIY dad too :-) this makes me feel better that i've still got a few bits and pieces to finish in our kitchen.
Love the cabinets and penny tiles, the pic above the pantry, the curtain instead of a bi-fold door. Actually, love everything everything from the bottom of the cabinets up. That's the problem. Tiles on floor cheapen the whole look :(
Shannon here - thank you all for taking the time to comment and for your oh-so-kind words.
I must admit, it wasn't always easy to love the reno while it was happening, but we do enjoy the results. And we know how spoiled we are to have such abilities in the family - our house would not be the same without our Dads!
Information about the kitchen wallpaper can be found here: http://www.designbycolor.net/en/Living/book/39/neutral/default.aspx
You can still walk into Home Depots in these parts and find that paper on the shelves.
@imdbtoo - you're so right about the floor tiles. It was the first thing we did after we moved in and while we had a short window of time to get it done. I would love a do-over on that choice! We just focus on the other parts of the reno that we like more. (And it's still better than yellow sheet vinyl!)
Lovely. I actually think the floor tiles are just great. Nicely done -- a realistic story about how people are doing kitchens today.
Great job! Very modern looking, and I love the backsplash/counter combo look.
Nice work! So pleasant to read comments with none of the snippy-snide remarks that usually populate this site. You ought to be very proud of what you accomplished with the help of your totally awesome dads.
I'm rather tickled that someone has swum against the tide and gone from white cabinets to dark wood, rather than the opposite which we have seen so many times on AT in the last year!
Bravo!
Hi five! I just did my own apartment's galley kitchen my one girl self too, but not to this extent. These are the AT posts I love the most. Seeing what incredible things normal people like me do on a budget - it doesn't look done on a budget btw!
Very impressive. I wish I had the DIY skills to do something like that myself! Loving the tiles.
Absolutely beautiful. I love how the undersides of the cabinets above the sink are painted white!
The subtle colors of the wallpaper allow the very large pattern to be dramatic without feeling the least bit overbearing.
Having the aid of a perfectionist cabinetmaker isn't what I'd call DIY but hey, there are all levels of expertise and all are worth seeing!
Excellent! I too am about to embark on one of those updates to a 100+ year old home, though the kitchen is clearly circa the 60s. We don't have the luxury of gutting it and redoing the lay out right now, so it's going to be all about what we can do with what's already there. I too love the backsplash, and plan to do something similar with the hexagonal tiles of the same size. Thanks for the inspiration that it can be done!!!! (especially with handy boyfriends and dads. . . . )
Dads are so great. And your pics are inspiring to me as those cabinets are brothers to the ones in my kitchen. Thanks for posting.
That wallpaper is beautiful! Its so light that you can use it almost anywhere for an accent.
Wow .. amazing how it used to be an 'idea' that now is a lovely viewable design - GREAT job! Beautiful, elegant, and functional!
Bravo! Well done.
Especially liked the purple flower touch in the glass vase. It really completes it.