Before and After: A $6,400 Kitchen Redo Is Almost Entirely from Facebook Marketplace
When you see something you like at a thrift store, antique store, or on Facebook Marketplace, a good rule of thumb is to buy it right then and there. There’s nothing more bittersweet than eyeing a one-of-a-kind or bargain secondhand find, telling yourself you’ll come back for it later, and seeing that some other lucky person has gotten to it before you.
Fortunately for Mallory Hoofnagle (@home.by.hand), fate was on her side when it came to the full set of kitchen cabinetry she found on Facebook Marketplace for $4,000. It almost wasn’t hers, and then it was again — for even cheaper.
Before, this 1987 kitchen was dated and dysfunctional.
Mallory and her husband, Greg, wanted to upgrade their kitchen, once a brown and beige fest from 1987. “It felt outdated and wasn’t functional for our family,” Mallory says. “The walls had been painted beige, but only one coat so you could see layers of wallpaper beneath it, and it felt grungy.”
In addition, the cabinet paint was peeling, one of only two drawers in the kitchen was constantly falling down, and the floor was an orange terra-cotta tile that had been put over hardwoods to cover up water damage where the fridge was before. “I could not believe that they put that tile over hardwood flooring,” Mallory adds. “But our house was filled with love, and we wanted our kitchen to reflect that.”
Facebook Marketplace was a boon for budget-friendly materials.
When they first started pricing out cabinets and countertops, they were “in for a (very) large bit of sticker shock,” Mallory says. And this is where the Facebook Marketplace cabinets come in.
“I found an entire almost brand-new kitchen for sale,” she explains. “It was originally listed for $10,000, but by the time I came across it, he had reduced the price to $4,000. I immediately started messaging the guy and was all set to go look at it when my husband got home from his weekend away (he’s in the military), but when he got home, I found out that the property manager had sold it to someone else due to a communication error.”
Mallory says she moved on, wandering (sadly) through the cabinets at Lowe’s, trying to make a new plan for the budget. “Then, a month later, I got a message randomly from the original guy — the other buyer had backed out, and he said we could have it for half cost, but it needed to be moved out in four days! I was ON IT.”
Mallory and Greg booked a U-Haul, and for just $2,000, they scored cabinets, countertops, a hood, microwave, and lights. “It was the deal of the century,” Mallory says.
Separately, the couple also scored the $3,500 range of their dreams on Facebook Marketplace for $2,000.
Rearranging doors and closets in the kitchen made for a better layout.
Mallory and Greg packed up the old kitchen to make room for the new install, which they mostly did themselves, except for re-wiring and countertop install. Mallory says this kitchen project was where she learned “how to cut drywall, remove walls, how to use a rotary hammer, how to remove tile flooring, and how to build a frame for walls.”
To create the new, more practical layout, Mallory took out two closets, moved a bathroom door, added another coat closet, and added a 7-foot-long countertop to the space, in addition to a new island she built herself out of an old cabinet. “It has room for two barstools that my kids love to do homework at and hang out with their friends,” Mallory adds.
“Opening up the walls, moving the bathroom entrance, and adding the spacious coat closet was the best decision we made,” Mallory says. “The additional counter space we added was absolutely necessary for the way we live. I also am so proud of the island I just built by myself.”
The “after” works way better for this family — and cost $6,400 all-in.
Mallory has a few pieces of essential kitchen reno advice. First, if you have to live with a makeshift kitchen, “plan meals, choose easy, fast food to eat, and get friendly with your local pizzeria,” she says.
Second, Mallory recommends looking for secondhand items when you can. “Facebook was 100% instrumental in this project,” she says. “We also constantly would check out the scratch and dent section at Lowes. Our dishwasher was originally $1,200, but we were able to get it for around $500.”
And finally, Mallory says to have patience with yourself in the process of renovating. This is especially true if you’re doing lots of first-time DIYs, which take time to learn.
Mallory says if she could change one thing about the project it would be to order the backsplash tiles first, because they’re the one final step of the project yet to be complete, and she’s itching for a replacement for the old brown tile that came up a little too easily.
She’s excited for the finished product, but she loves the almost-finished kitchen as it is now, too. Her bright new walls are painted Sherwin-Williams’ Eider White, her new cabinets are KraftMaid’s Pebble Gray, and the new pendants are from West Elm.
“This feels like home,” Mallory says. “My kids love being in here now. Our family is comfortable and we can entertain and host people so much easier now.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.