I can’t provide you with kitchen updates since I’ve never actually provided you with… well, anything much about my kitchen at all. To tell that story, let me take you waaaay back to see our house when we bought it. Back then, the house we love so much was bursting with the wrong kind of character. The walls were various beiges, the wall-to-wall carpeting throughout was shaggy green, and everything was coated with stale smoke and grime.
However, the kitchen was a brighter spot… because it was entirely yellow.
Yes, that is a laminate counter, backsplash, and floor all in different shades of yellow. Try not to get too jealous.
These were not the only features. We had handles in the middle of the upper cabinet doors, a wall cutting the room off from the rest of the house, and awesome boxy window cornices.
Even though we really wanted to MAKE ALL THE CHANGES right away, we prioritized other things in our renovation. Full kitchen renovations are expensive, and there were some things that we needed to do (like replacing leaky windows) and some things that we thought were more important for our enjoyment of the house (like an open floor plan and new floors).
It was also a mindshare issue: we had so many decisions to make about the house as a whole and didn’t have time or energy to plan our dream kitchen. And this is a room I want to get right.
Instead, we decided on a half makeover, where we would take advantage of some of the things we were already doing in our renovation and make some affordable or temporary fixes, but leave a lot of the projects for later when we have the time to really figure out what we want.
Fortunately, a lot was already going to be taken care of during our renovation. As part of creating an open floor plan in the front of the house, we were already tearing down the interfering wall between the kitchen and the dining room, solving the problem of the room feeling so cramped, dark, and isolated. (If you want the full story, you can check out my full post about my renovation.)
Rather than a small kitchen with a single window and a cramped formal dining room, we now think of this space as a luxurious eat-in kitchen with light from all sides.
We were also already installing new bamboo floors throughout most of the house, and it made total sense to tear out that orange and brown vinyl floor and run the bamboo through into the kitchen to go along with the open flow. (Bamboo flooring is pretty durable, and also naturally mold-resistant, so it is not a bad choice in a kitchen.)
But even with these major changes already taken care of, we still had the old-but-mostly-working appliances, the yellow counter and back splash, the chipped and scratched cabinets with handles in the middle of the doors, the vinyl baseboards, the leaky faucet, the boob lights, ugly sink, beige door, grayed vinyl replacement window, and beat-up trim and window cornice.
I’m getting stressed out just thinking about it.
We figured out what on that list we could live with, what we could take on now, and what we could chip away at through affordable upgrades or DIY projects over time.
The “live with” list included the appliances, cabinets, cabinet hardware, lighting, and sink. Why? They all work. We like the current layout and storage options, so we’re not sure yet whether we’ll replace the cabinets or just paint and upgrade the ones we have when we finally do a big renovation. And as much as we’d like shiny, new, efficient appliances, ours are working fine (besides a leaking dishwasher which we were able to get fixed). Plus, waiting has the added benefit of allowing us to hold out until we switch from oil to natural gas, so we can eventually get a real gas range instead of electric like we have now.
We also decided we could live with the gray vinyl replacement window so long as we took down the cornice and replaced the old trim to match the new stuff we were having put up in the other rooms through the renovation. It cost virtually nothing to add this on to the existing scope of work.
However, we chose not to live with the yellow counter and backsplash. We were already doing a lot of demo in the renovation so it was no problem to have the old ones taken out with the rest of the trash… leaving us with this when we moved in:
You can just ignore my post-it note kitchen unpacking and organizing system, thanks.
It’s open! And look at that beautiful floor! And lovely blue paint color! But where’s the counter? We lived without one for about a month. It sure made unpacking and organizing easier (hello, open drawers) but it was a total pain for everything else… like cooking. Even worse, the dishwasher couldn’t work without the support of the counter, so everything had to be washed by hand in small batches (because there wasn’t a lot of surface to lay them out on).
After much thought, we chose to go with laminate counters. As much as I LOVE the look of wood or marble, I am not prepared to take on the maintenance. I prefer a counter that does not pick up stains or need water to be wiped up right away. Personally I think it is a good trade off to just avoid putting hot pans down on the surface.
Also, laminate has come a long way from that bad-imitation-of-wood-grain-with-a-persistent-brown-edge that you are all imagining right now. We got ours with a clean beveled edge, in a dark gray with blue undertones and a bit of shine. It’s from Lam-Art.
For the backsplash, we weren’t ready to replace it with something permanent like tile until we knew what we were going to do with our cabinets. I considered just painting it, but the surface was in too bad of shape, and I don’t love that look anyway. So I decided to try a DIY solution.
I considered fabric like Sage used on her stairs, but that would have gotten too messy in a kitchen, and setting it behind glass or fiberglass would have been just as involved/permanent as tile. Instead, I installed a temporary backsplash using renters wallpaper in a tile pattern.
I love how it turned out. A full tutorial on that is coming up next week! (Update: here!)
We also replaced the faucet – the old one was leaking and looked like it was on its last legs. I really wanted a cool commercial style faucet like this one.
However, the Advisory Committee (Brad) was not interested in that industrial look. But this might be one of those mythical cases where “compromises” are a “good thing.” We ended up with a faucet that we love, that is probably better suited to the overall style of our house.
Via Faucet.com
At the time we bought this, it was priced at more like $200 – not cheap but not unbelievable. With the good quality and the simple and modern shape we’re confident that we’ll have it and love it for the long haul.
(What, you noticed? Yes, our plumber did install it the wrong way, with the control pointing toward the middle of the sink. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful. We’ll try to fix that eventually, but for now it doesn’t really bother us.)
So what did all this get us? Here is our kitchen today!
Not perfect, but it is bright and open, with natural light coming in from two sides and our bamboo floors flowing right into the dining area. The openness makes a huge difference in how much we enjoy the space. Just take a look at how much the “view from the kitchen” has changed!
And no one is sad to see that yellow go away. The counters look a bit bluer in these pictures than they really are – they are really more of a slate than a blue. The color looks pretty good with the tone of the cabinet wood, actually. If only they were in better shape, with different handle placement!
The backsplash really brightens up the room, and I love that it brings in a lot of the bright colors we use throughout the house – yellow, red, and blue – in a way that is not overwhelming. It fits in with our house, but is actually a little calmer in comparison.
However, as much as I love it, I cannot claim the space is done – not even for now. I definitely need to get off my butt and paint the baseboards, which are currently showing splotches of glue from where we tore out the old vinyl ones. It would take me like 5 minutes to just do this, and it would make such a big difference.
Also on the “short term” list is a change of lighting. When we finally pick and install our dining room chandelier, I also plan to replace the living room light (currently a temporary open bulb) and the two kitchen lights. I’d like to do a schoolhouse style flush mount for the central lights in the living room and kitchen, and then pick a cool pendant for over the sink.
Finally, I want to paint or replace the exterior door, which, in all its beige glory, is a lone holdout from the earlier days.
After that, it is time to start dreaming about the real renovation!
(Sharing at Think and Make Thursdays, Link Party Palooza, DIY Showoff, Saturday Sharefest, and AKA Design)
Sure looks nice opened up to the rest of the house, with the bamboo flooring! Love the countertop and backsplash, too. We have a couple of overhead lights like yours in there … now I know they’re boob lights!
LOL, it’s quite the name, isn’t it. But you can’t deny it is accurate! Thanks for your nice comments, I’m really happy with the direction this room is heading!
Left-handers everywhere will thank your plumber.
Wow, you’re right, I never thought of it that way!
I love that this let’s me comment sometimes! Glad you got and like the new counters. Great choice with temporary backsplash to complement it. I vote in favor of a NEW door to the outside, I am sure it would be more energy efficient, not to mention you can get one you really like. And to go nicely with the porch re-design!
Yes, a new door would be great. I would love to pick out an old wood one – I think a dark wood tone would really add something in here. Of course, a major benefit to this one is that it is already framed in! Hard to beat that…
Your kitchen looks wonderful. That bamboo floor is just beautiful. And I love the blue walls and countertops. I had blue countertops in my first kitchen back in 1973 and had forgotten how much I like the look. Job well done.
Thanks so much, Peggy! I was a little worried about all the blue, but I love it, too. It’s such a forgiving color. (Of course, if you want to see BLUE BLUE counter tops, you should check out Sage’s kitchen in her house tour.)
I love what you have done with the kitchen! The faucet, counters, and backsplash are beautiful! I remember walking in to our beige kitchen when we moved in…it was even painted on the ceiling. We decided to paint our cabinets and not only replace the hardware, but had to completely reset it. It was quite a job but I couldn’t be happier with it. Sometimes I think I want new cabinets but the ones that are in my budget aren’t like the real wood cabinets I have now.
Thanks, Karla! I really feel like we’re going in the right direction with this room… but there is so far to go!
I LOVE how your cabinet painting came out. What a transformation of that dark room! I’m a little wary of the time and energy it will take, though. I am currently considering painting half and replacing half… they are all decently set up for storage except that wall beside the fridge, which has deep “black hole” shelves that really frustrates me. But we’ll see!
if your budget does not extend to a new door right now, paint it black! we painted our ugly front door black (inside and out) and it looks great–a great interim solution 🙂 love the backsplash–great idea.
Good call! Black would look really good. I was considering yellow to match my interior doors, but decided that would be too much of a good thing. Thanks!
What a difference these changes made already. And I love the post-it note idea. 🙂
Thank you! Yes, the post-it note strategy worked really well. It looked RIDICULOUS but we left it up for like a month while we learned where everyone was. Thanks for reading!
Looks so good!
The same laminate as your countertop would look great for the baseboards, though painting would surely be easier & cheaper (and thus what what I’d do).
I have the same faucet, btw, and love it except that I’m a lefty, the sink is at the right end of the cabinet row, and the plumber installed it correctly (to the right!). Urg – as in awful ergonomics!
Oh, you’re right! I have to say that a big part of my hesitation on actually painting the baseboards is I’m not sure what to paint them. White (like the rest of the baseboards in my house) would look totally odd in the middle of the wooden cabinets and bamboo floors… but attempting and ultimately failing at blending in with the wood could look even worse.
That placement sounds like a pain! But obviously from my strange installation it can work multiple ways, so maybe there is a fix out there!
Found your website tonight looking for exterior door colors and the “What not to do” for painting doors. (-: I am groaning and laughing as I read because of how much we can relate! My husband frequently says, “Why did I ever make us buy this house!” Luckily, my meopause brain actually remembers the 10 years ago of why. We were older parents of 2 wild boy-toddlers, and my husband loves gardening, so we bought the only house we could find with a Fantastic Yard. Our house is a ’63 Rambler, (a small ranch). The only update in those 50 yrs. was the avacado green shag carpet in the basement, and horrible dark cabinets in the tiny kitchen.
You’ve done some really beautiful work done throughout your home. Really terrific color choices. It seems very inviting and personal–a perfect mix between relaxing and energetic. Given how tricky stuff can be for new DIY-ers, I am impressed with all your work and perserverence. I felt a bit bad about having to pick laminate countertops too, especially after all the work one does. But, with kids, boy-kids, and better choices, I actually liked what we found quite a bit.
Our first project was also our biggest–the small addition off our kitchen. It gives us a place to put a table and chairs, some extra storage, and all the added windows gave us something like a sunroom. We were heavily influenced by architect Sarah Susanka’s, “Creating The Not-So-Big-House”. I was also heavily influenced by the searches I did on homes built in 1963, and our lack of dollars. This now leads me to a few thoughts on cabinets.
Cabinets: Here are some random thoughts based on what we ran into: The original cabinets made back-when are so so much better than what we can buy now–all solid wood, not part plywood. It was Very expensive to buy cabinets thru a contractor, but better priced at a box store. However, it takes a LOT of studying to be able to Precisely Order each of them.(a lot of details to know for each one. It took me lots of hours to figure it all out and place an order.) It was a buger for my hubby to hang them. I know it isn’t always easy repainting them. There are companies who can “Re-surface” them for you. We’ve had friends with good success this way.
It’s probably a good thing the budget forces us to dream awhile. Time only brings better decisions in the end. I wish you great success with your homes. Thanks for posting your fun pics! -Mitzi
I’m glad you found us! It’s so true – I have never felt so much regret about the home buying decision as when I am right in the middle of a project going very wrong. But it retrospect, when things are all done and fixed, that was just part of the fun… maybe… we tell ourselves. 😉
Great to hear your laminate experience. I think it gets a bad reputation from the early days. I love the look of ours, and wouldn’t trade the convenience away, even for the most beautiful marble. The last thing I want when entertaining or rushing through a weeknight meal is to worry about cleaning up that little dab of soy sauce before it stains.
Thanks for your great thoughts on cabinets! We’re definitely leaning toward the repainting route. They’re in pretty good shape and also just fit really well. I could imagine a lot more uses for that money 🙂 The exception may be the wall next to the fridge, which is in good shape but is so terribly laid and very hard to use. Narrow, deep cabinets, but still not deep enough for the fridge. So maybe we would replace just those? So many decisions….
Thank you for your very nice comments, and for sharing your experience!