Kitchen DIY remodel on a Budget

As spring arrived, I wanted my kitchen makeover; My Hubby already rolls his eyes every time I jump and say “How about…”; he knows I’m planning some kind of home remodel idea. Well this time was no difference. We bought our house 12 years ago and I do love my house, it’s what a lot of people call a “Starter” home. We did add a few extra bedrooms and office space, so we almost doubled our space, but it’s still our first home and the way this market is going, it probly will also be our last home.

We had been talking about selling and finding something bigger, but when we came back to reality, it wasn’t an option for us. Our mortgage isn’t huge and we have no problem affording the mortgage, actually we couldn’t even rent for what we pay on our very own home, our credit is perfect and our jobs are secure, yet we couldn’t sell the house for what we need to sell it… sad, I know.

We started to look around in our life and we saw that maybe another 4 years one of the kids will move out and will be off to college within the next 2 years, so that means one empty room, about 5 years from now the second child will be off to college and probly out of the house shortly thereafter, another empty room… so we have two empty rooms that we will need to fill? So why move into an even bigger home and then have a HUGE house with a  big mortgage and no one to share it with, cause the kids have grown up and moved on…? We quickly realized we maybe should stay in our home, we love the house, the yard and the kids had been here ever since they where born, so our next best option.. REMODEL, make it ours, make it the way we want it and since we are probly going to be here for the rest of our life… make it OURS but all on a budget…. :0).

Our first project was the kitchen, now let met tell you, we actually did a complete kitchen remodel about 7 years ago and I LOVED it… but the one mistake I did, I added BLUE to everything, the counters, the walls and just about anything I could find… I quickly got “blued” out and wanted out.. I like options, colorful accessories that are easily changed with the season.. with my Blue counters and walls, that wasn’t really an option.. so the kitchen remodel was born…..

This is the kitchen and dinning area before:

Our first challenge was all the Wallpaper that I just had to have back in the day, to be removed…. I’m so glad I have a Tween and a Teen, bless their heart, they spend an entire weekend removing the Wallpaper in the entire kitchen/dinning area…..

We sure had our work cut out for us, but we also saved a TON by using HOT water and fabric Softener in a spray bottle; let me tell you, this was the best way EVER to remove Wallpaper… simple, and easy and also made the entire house smell Pretty :0)……

Once all the wallpaper was removed, we started to paint and added crown molding…..

This took us about a weekend to paint, and add the crown molding in the kitchen/dining area.. but made a world of difference in this room…. Cost point so far about $120.00 for the crown molding and paint

Our next step was the new backsplash.. I had been dreaming of a tile backsplash for as long as I can remember, but always thought it was too expensive, too hard or whatever the reason was; to my surprise it was so easy to do and very, I mean, very affordable. We spend less than $65 on the Tile, the grout and the setting…. for the entire backsplash..!! WOW.. we got our tile at Lowes and Home Depot… and used 6×6 tiles….

We finished the entire Tile backsplash in a weekend, and we never had tiled a wall before, ever.. so it was a learning experience for all of us and we may have a few faults here and there, but for our very first attempt, I’m really proud and loving it!!!

We did order new counters, I was tired of the Blue and also we had the back by the sink separate and got moldy a few times, so this wasn’t a budget friendly counter top, but in a normal setting you may not even have to replace your existing counters… I soo wanted granite or corian.. Had always been my dream and honestly, I had the money saved for Granit, when it came down to ordering it and I saw that bill would be close to $3000… I couldn’t bring myself to spend that kind of money on a counter top and decided a Laminate would be just as good.. best part.. 5 years from now if I want it changed, I can spend $500 and get it changed, granite I would be stuck with FOREVER.. that kind of $$ I wouldn’t want to ever change out… but sure would have been beautiful… well.. maybe one day if I win the Lotto…:0). So this Counter replacement was not part of our overall Budget and DIY remodel on a Budget… I did not count it towards that for showing you how to spruce up the kitchen with little $$…..

Are you ready to see the finished kitchen and dining area….?? Check it out.. what do you think…?

What a difference a little elbow grease will make… and we are totally on a cheap budget…. you can do it… too :0)

Our Budget:

• Backsplash tile, grout and anything else needed    $70.00
• Paint and Molding $120
• Cabinet Feet (will be in another post check DIY ideas) $50.00
• Hardware updated (check out our DIY posts for this updated) $7.50
• Window Treatment (check DIY) $8.50
• Dining room Table ( Check DIY for post) $100.00

As you can see, simple ideas, simple budget and anyone can do it… one project at a time……