Before & After: A Homeowner Happily Tackles a Gut-It-All Kitchen Renovation
Christopher took one look at this beige, laminate loving kitchen and thought to himself, “it’s perfect!” His enthusiasm was rewarded as after basically overhauling the entire kitchen, he found himself with crisp white cabinets and counters and a gorgeous wood island that warms up the space with rustic style.
From Christopher: We knew that navigating the Denver market would be a tough one. But once we walked into this kitchen we knew this was it. What may have looked like a disaster was the kitchen we always wanted in disguise. The kitchen had laminate on all the shelves, no doors and it seemed like someone started to renovate but stopped short. Right from the start we knew the kitchen was going to be completely removed.
The open floor plan of the home was our main focus. Obviously the kitchen was practically unlivable. But we were excited to tackle it right from the moment we bought the home.
The process was fairly simple. Remove the entire kitchen. Start completely over. Remove the tile floors, replace with new flooring, remove old cabinets, upgrade electrical power and upgrade lighting to all LED, remove appliances, install hardy board for tile backsplash, re-paint, install new cabinets, install island and cabinet countertops, tile backsplash and floating shelves.
We did have some surprises. There was a water line snaked under the cabinets for the refrigerator that never worked. I also had to remove the drywall above the old cabinets to update the electrical which I did myself (I’m an electrician). The total time from design, to purchase, to finish was about a month. The total cost for cabinets, countertops, shelving and flooring was around $15k. My outside help was a great friend, my wife, mother and father who can build anything.
We love everything. The island was a dream come true. We have some marbling in the white countertops, while really great, they do tend to scratch sometimes.
Christopher’s words of wisdom: Do it all at once. The worst thing you can do is decide to start without being able to finish. Make sure the funds (and a little more) are ready and all there. Schedule the delivery of things as best as you can. Prepare to live with no kitchen and focus all of your energy on the project. If not, things will take longer and you may end up cutting corners or rushing to get done which can lead to something less than what you really wanted.
Resource list:
- Cabinets and white counters – Home Depot (100% perfect experience from design to delivery!)
- Wood island – TC Woods in Fort Lupton, Colorado. The wood is Honey Locust from an Urban lumber mill, trees cut down in the around the metro area get lumbered and sold. My father and I built the island ourselves.
- Wood floating shelving – TC Woods.
Thank you, Christopher!