My Small Budget Kitchen Makeover

I’m doing the happy kitchen dance over here!  After more than 6 weeks of chipping away at it (with long intervals of doing nothing) we finally finished the kitchen makeover.

It really kind of took on a life of its own.  It started with me innocently wanting to repaint the cabinets and replace the electric range.  Well, I wasn’t able to replace the range (hopefully in the fall) but I did repaint and a few other goodies too!

As I was planning I got inspired by watching a marathon of Fixer Upper.  Her style makes my heart soar.  So I decided to shoot for a modified version of the gorgeous barnwood shelves in her kitchen.

I mean, why not?  James and I are pretty much just like Chip and Joanna….except without all of the talent and charm.

This is another kitchen that inspired me, which I found listed under kitchens she has designed.  I also added it to my “inspiration and drool-worthy” file.

Another thing my friend Joanna has that I don’t have is access to old barnwood.  (by the way, I use the term friend loosely here, it may be more like crazed fan/unsuspecting designer)  I decided to experiment by making my own.  I got NEW wood at the hardwork store and played around with it.

First I brushed it with apple cider vinegar that had been soaking with steelwool in it overnight (thank you Pinterest).  It grayed the wood and made it look aged in about 10 minutes.  Then I stained it with Minwax’s “Colonial Maple”.  You might go with a bit lighter stain color, but since my kitchen island countertop was already dark I didn’t want my other wood to be a lot lighter.

In this picture you can see a new cedar piece.  Above it has been washed with the vinegar and below is after I stained it.  When I tried only staining the wood it was very new looking….the gray added flaws and a dark aged look.

Without further ado, here is my kitchen before I made any changes:

I was ready to ditch the punched tin cabinet doors and open it up.  Plus I hated the spot over the fridge.  Useless and messy.  HOWEVER, when I looked into the cost of tearing all of those cabinets down and adding open shelves, it was too much.  I’d have to replace the backsplash and re-sheetrock the walls (old house=no sheetrock behind the cabinets).  So I put my thinking cap on and decided to make it work WITH the cabinets.

Here’s how it looks today:

I removed all of the doors, caulked the holes from the hinge screws and sanded my little heart out so you can’t tell they were ever there.  I knocked out those upper shelves and removed every bit of trim (I was going to replace the swirls in front of the sink, but then decided to make it my goal to replace the whole countertop and sink in the next 6 months, so I left it).

After I did all of that, and here’s where the magic comes in, I wrapped the existing shelves with my experimental “old” barnwood.  Now my shelves look like 2 1/2″ thick pieces of old wood.  Cool, huh?

I ripped down cedar 1x4s for the front and cheap white wood for the top and bottom.  Even up close it really does look like one whole piece.

I added a new cabinet over the fridge and I like that so much better!  It holds some of the junk I had in the tops of the cabinets before I took the doors off and it looks SO tidy!

The only things I bought to put on the shelves were the EAT letters (which I bought at Michaels, Heidi Swapp….adorable!) and the old shutter, which I got at Round Top a couple of weeks ago.

The letters are made of cardboard!  But I spray painted the sides with a metallic bronzish spray paint and they look like vintage marquee letters now.  They come with the lights and everything.  Plus they use batteries so they’re super easy!

I love seeing the kitchen looking all spiffy and ready for action….

What’s cuter than a kid doing dishes?

I’ve got a few more changes to show you next week in the rest of the kitchen, but this wall is where the biggest difference is.  Most of the rest is paint.  Although we did repaint everything, they’re still white so it’s nothing you would notice. Unless, of course, you’d seen the horror of the ugliness which I did not take pictures of beforehand.  You have a good imagination.  Picture worn off paint and grime around every knob in my kitchen and you’ll get the idea.

I’m so happy it’s clean and pretty again!

Thanks for stopping by and come back next week to see the other side!

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And check out my Kitchen Board on Pinterest!