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| Before |
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| After new cabinets, countertops, drywall, etc. |
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| Before (Looking into the dining room) |
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| After wall was knocked out and breakfast bar put it |
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| Before |
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| After |
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| Dining Room (view from living room) before |
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| After |
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| Another view (from kitchen) |
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| Looking into kitchen (wall we removed) before |
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| After |
Summary
We had a small budget to work with when renovating our house (like less than $10,000 small)
Nate and his friends, plus my dad did most of the work. They knocked out the walls down to the studs, tore down the wall between the kitchen and dining room to open it up, and then dry-walled and framed it all nicely again. My dad did the electrical work, which was basically just installing more outlets and the pendant lighting.
Nate also tiled the floor himself, installed the cabinets (which was a nightmare, honestly, just to get them all hung evenly) and I painted everything 3 times over (primer and 2 coats...exhausting!). I realize that we could have had much more "designer" details in this kitchen if we had hired a builder/renovator or an interior designer but as I said before, we didn't have the money for that. And we saved money in the long run by doing it ourselves.
It was a TON of work but I'm so glad we did it, However, it you had asked me at the time how I liked living in drywall dust and eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner I'm positive I would have said to never "do it yourself"...Thank goodness it is over:)
As far as designing where the cabinets and appliances would go (we changed the layout of the kitchen quite a bit), when I went to order them from
Builders Surplus, they entered all of our kitchen measurements into their computer program (just like they do at any home supply store) and Nate and I "designed" if you want to call it that, where to put what and the size of the cabinets/drawers, etc. I'm sure there were better ways to do it, but we are happy with the results: a functional kitchen that makes the house much more open.
Here is the breakdown:
- Paint color: Abington Putty by Benjamin Moore
- Floor Tile: Home Depot (basic neutral color...can't even remember which one!)
- Appliances: Microwave and dishwasher from Best Buy, refrigerator from a local appliance store (Bargain Supply) and stove from same place, both scratch and dents (scratch was on the back) so we got a great deal on all of them.
- Cabinets: Purchased through Builder's Surplus in Louisville, but they are Wellborn Cabinets, color is Divinity in maple wood. We would highly recommend Wellborn and despite the headache of installing them ourselves, Builder's Surplus got them for us for a fraction of the cost that it would have been at a bigger chain store. (We spent about half of what Home Depot quoted us)
- Light fixtures: pendants hanging above breakfast bar are from Home Depot and the ugly one over the sink that I want to replace soon is from Home depot as well.
