$110 Kitchen Redesign

When JD and I purchased out house last year we had BIG plans for the kitchen.  Honestly, the entire thing needs to be gutted.  The cabinets are old and shoddy and though the counters and floors are newer, they are crooked and just not our style.  So when we moved in, we did NOTHING to the kitchen, in the hopes of renovating it in the near future.  We even left the previous owner’s blue curtains up and never hung a thing on the walls.  Well fast forward a year and a half and between the wedding, the baby, new electrical, and new windows we have not had an extra 20K to spare (who does right now?).  This past weekend, we decided to commit to the kitchen we have for now and give it some much needed love.  I think for under $100 we did a pretty good job and it feels good to have a “happy” kitchen.

I actually didn’t have any “before” photos of our kitchen except for the ones from the Realtor’s Brochure.  It looked pretty much the same once we got to it, except picture nothing hanging on the walls, clutter everywhere and patched holes from the new electrical.

We really wanted to try to limit spending, so we tried to use items we already owned.

I sewed the cafe curtains from Damask fabric I had in my stash and I purchased Kona Cotton in “Grass Green” for the 2″ bound hem.    The picture frames were just sitting in the garage and had been on the walls at my old apartment. I purchased new prints for them from Michaels.  The placemats were new from Macy’s Martha Stewart Collection.  I also pulled the napkin holder and birdie salt and pepper shakers from the closet (the holder was from our wedding and the shakers were from a shower I threw).

JD was very happy to put his Guinness posters back up.  They had been hanging in his office and we took them down when it was changed into the guest room (which will be see on HGTV’s “Carter Can” in a couple months!).  The basket to the left of the photo holds all the kitty supplies, (food, treats, brushes…) which had previously been laying in a pile on top of the wine chiller.

Before- Blah

 

After

JD replaced the light fixture awhile ago, because the original decided to give in and die .  Don’t mind the upper edge between the ceiling the wall.  I am the one with the steady hand, so finishing the edging will be my job after I am NOT 8 months pregnant.  

 

I really went back and forth about what to use for the curtains.  I was looking for “The Perfect Fabric” online, but couldn’t find anything that JD and I liked.  I pulled this damask fabric out of the linen closet because I was grasping for ideas and JD said “I love it!” and luckily I did too.  I was glad to use it too, because it wasn’t cheap and I have been looking for something special to use it for.  I origially purchased the damask for my friend, Wendy’s bridal shower, blogged at The Paper Stylist and pictured here:

 

THEN the fabric was borrowed by another bride and it was blogged at Elizabeth Anne Designs and pictured  here:

So, that fabric got around. Now I get to enjoy it everyday!

The laundry room is a lost cause (as most are), so I made a curtain to hide the clutter when we have parties.  The fridge was also COVERED in papers, photos, business cards and magnets.  I didn’t want to remove everything, but I decided to keep a collection of items on a selected portion of the fridge instead of allowing it to be encrusted with flyers.

Curtain reveal

 

Window box with my succulent collection.

 

So how does that $110 break down?

JD spent about $40 on one gallon of Valspar Low Odor paint, 1 pint white paint (for the ceiling), drop cloth and rollers 

I spent $25 on two 16x 20 prints at Michael’s (I had my 40% off coupon in hand, but the dang prints were already 25% off, so I couldn’t use it),

$16 on 3.5 yds of green fabric and thread at Jo-Ann’s (Don’t forget to print out a 40% off coupon),

$8 on 2 tension rods at Target,

$21 on 4 placemats and 3 dish towels (I cheated, though and paid for it with a gift card, so cost to me was actually $0).

 

Total: $110 

 

It is amazing what can be done with a little paint and fabric.  Reworking unused items from your home, using coupons and shopping with gift cards helps too!