This draft has been sitting in my blog queue for…well almost 6 months now. I kept intending to get better pictures of the kitchen but there is no way it will ever be perfectly clean and organized, so it’s time to just post this already! Some pictures are from June, some are from today 
It feels like a completely different room now!
BEFORE: (at the inspection)
AFTER:
stuff on the counters has been moved around since I took this picture back in June, but it’s a good picture of all the cabinets.
and this is the arrangement today, I love having the window over the sink, great for letting in sunshine and a nice breeze.
baking area….until the ants infest next spring and I have to hide the sugar! We replaced all of the electrical covers with stainless ones.
close up of the new hardware, we replaced the hinges and the handles with satin nickel, HUGE improvement.
close up of the curtain my mother in law made for us, I purchased the fabric on etsy
no use trying to tidy it up, this is what the other side of the kitchen typically looks like! Recycling, trash, and my little message center. Framed prints are from Eastern Market in D.C. Eventually I would like to put a buffet in this space.
“remodeling is tough on baby pug, not enough time for snuggling”
Kitchen Renovation budget breakdown:
granite countertops w/double sink from Granite Reflections: $950
brushed nickel kitchen faucet w/sprayer from Home Depot: $100
primer and paint for the walls and cabinets from Sherwin Williams: $90
painting supplies, including Kilz odorless oil based primer and more paint brushes & rollers than I care to count from Home Depot: $75
electric sander from Walmart: $25
bottle of TSP for cleaning cabinet doors: $5
19 new nickel cabinet handles from Knobs4less: $72 including shipping
13 sets of brushed nickel hinges from Home Depot: $33
13 magnet doodads to keep the cabinet doors closed: $25
2 yards of fabric (which was too much!) for custom window valance from Etsy seller FabricCarnival: $15
white liner fabric from Joanns: $2
willing mother in law to make custom valance: free
cafe rod from Target to hang said valance: $7
pizza to feed my dad, Tyler, and I after a long frustrating evening of reinstalling the cabinet doors: $25
mail/message center from Kohls: $15 on clearance
black spray paint to make it match my picture frames: $4
metal “kitchen” sign from hobby lobby: $5
stainless steel simplehuman knockoff trash can from Target that promptly broke after a month: $40
black plastic trash can from Walmart that has held up wonderfully: $10
Approximate total for kitchen renovation: $1498!
Now I can’t say that is exact by any means, as there were many trips to home depot and they all kind of blur together. We didn’t start our project with a budget in mind, we just knew what we wanted it to look like in the end and we made every effort to snag a bargain when possible!
So impressive for what you paid! You give me hope that my DIY skills will blossom when we buy a house (and that old cabinets can be salvaged).
Looks AWESOME! And way to go being thrifty!Gotta love ten dollar trash cans.We were given one of those stainless steel ones when we were married.Ya,it broke too.Thankful we did not pay for it,but bummed that I bothered registering for such an expensive trashcan!lol!
Very nice! Looks great!
Awesome renovation. I love it. So bright and cheery. Great job. Hugs, Marty
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We just redid our kitchen and it looks very much like yours! Except for the walls – I can’t find that perfect shade (and I looooove green). What color did you use on your walls? I love it
whoops, n/m — did a little more digging and found it
Hearts of Palm by SW!
I’m in love with your kitchen, Julia! It turned out PERFECT! I love that green – it just goes so well with your white cabinets. Great job!
LOVE this post (even though it was posted last fall!) I just got this link from “before and after” — thanks. I am in the midst of my “old oak cupboard transformation” too.. what a big job! I had to laugh at “more brushes and rollers than I care to count” comment.. oh man, I’m with you! AND you’re the first person in all the kitchen transformations I have read that said anything about the frustrating re-installing of the doors!! Oh man.. this has been horrible!! I too bought new brushed nickel hinges from HD – and they are just a tad different than the ones that were up there.. just enough to make us want to pull out our hair!! Some of our cupboards meet in the middle without a post.. so this is a huge challenge to get them to meet perfectly.. then the ones with the post in the middle have to be put back on exactly the same, or they rub along the one side.. oh man.. its been a struggle.
One thing that I have to invest in is new backsplash tiles.. as there are currently old ones, so we can’t go back to just having a nice painted wall above the granite!!
Thanks for your honesty and detail.. if you have any tips on installing the doors, we still have 17 more to hang…
Saw your before-and-after on Better After and thought I’d come get all the details. It looks great! I love that it was on a budget, and I think that’s a great price for granite! Enjoy it!