Kitchen Makeover on a Budget: How We Saved on a Remodel Part 1

Joy Elizabeth
by Joy Elizabeth
4 Materials
$2000
6 Months
Medium

When we toured our home for the first time, I had so many exciting ideas for the kitchen. Fast forward to closing, and it was six months of part time renovation…(yes, six MONTHS!)


Living life and making meals with a torn apart kitchen is difficult, and doing it with small children felt even more so. I had a few moments when I wished we bought a small move-in ready home with nothing to do! Like the moment I took this photo and sent it to a friend saying “Please rescue me from my kitchen!”


We made a lot of changes, and saved a ton of money working on much of the kitchen on our own.

DIY the Demo

The first key way we saved money on our remodel was to DIY the Demo. Even if you know you need help with part of the project, doing your own demo will save money on labor. We tore out the soffits, removed seemingly endless wallpaper, pulled up old floors, ripped out the backsplash and countertops, and removed sheetrock.

My only concern was to make sure we only removed what definitely needed replacing! Giving my Husband and Father-in-law license to use sawzalls and sledgehammers in the kitchen seemed like a dangerous proposition! 


After we removed all the old wallpaper, we patched the imperfections and repainted the walls and ceilings of the kitchen.

Refinish the Cabinets and Add Some Cabinet Upgrades

We opted to paint our old kitchen cabinets and save thousands. Our cabinets were all original and in rough shape, but painting them and adding new hardware really gave them a new lease on life. We thoroughly cleaned, sanded, puttied holes, primed, and painted them inside and out. It was a tiring process…but so worth it!

Upgrading the cabinets with molding and trim pieces added so much character to the kitchen. I added bead board to the sides of the cabinets using adhesive caulk, and covered the seams with a wide trim at the bottom.

I was able to do the trim without miter cuts using ready made corner pieces. Using basic shelf brackets, I made the cabinet “feet”.


All of these amazing kitchen cabinet makeover ideas are from my favorite DIY Kitchen at In My Own Style. I first read about her kitchen makeover back in 2010 and it is so inspiring! It was so fun adding all those beautiful details to our cabinets.

Affordable Butcher Block

Butcher block is a highly economical countertop compared to granite and quartz, and it fits right in for a farmhouse kitchen. We installed affordable butcher block countertops from IKEA and I love them!

Some of the installation we did on our own, as well as  sealing the butcher block. We had some help with the more complex cuts for the sink and stove.


A Simple way to Finish off Butcher Block

Our home had a formica sheet back splash that matched the counter tops. We ripped out the back splash, and patched the damage the adhesive did to the drywall. Then we just painted it with the rest of the kitchen. We added a white baseboard trim over the butcher block to hide the seam where the butcher block meets the wall.

It was incredibly simple, and I think it looks lovely. It was definitely the fastest and least expensive way for us to finish off the counter tops. Plus, we can always add a back splash later by removing the wood trim.

Shop around for Great Deals


We were trying hard to stick to a tight budget for our DIY kitchen remodel, but we needed some new appliances! The wall oven and fridge were very old, and there was no microwave. I really didn’t want to break our renovation budget on appliances. The compromise was that we decided not to be picky about all the brands matching so we could hunt for deals.

I looked at Craigslist and found lots of great options. First, there was a brand new GE stainless fridge that a family didn’t want in their new construction home. We picked it up for just $450. Then, I found a Maytag double wall oven that was perfect for the wall opening we had for just $300. It was brand new in the box, and wouldn’t fit properly in the owner’s kitchen remodel. The microwave was a deal on black Friday for $149. They aren’t all a matching set, but I am content as long as the colors match! I was more than happy to get the new appliances we needed for under $1000.


I also shopped around for new kitchen fixtures and drawer pulls. For example, our Top Knobs cup pulls are also from craigslist. Amazon had some great deals for some of our  kitchen and bathroom fixtures  from third party sellers and Amazon Warehouse Deals. Searching for great deals stretched the budget big time!

Most Importantly, Go with the Flow!


From the ceiling to the floor, we had several unexpected things happen that caused us to revise our remodeling plans. The best advice I can give for doing a large remodel is to try to relax and go with the flow!


To see more photos and details on our kitchen update, feel free to visit the original post below. If you liked this post, please click through and pin it for later. :)

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Joy Elizabeth
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