When Jessica sent us her before and after kitchen photos we couldn’t believe she and her hubby stretched their $400 budget so far. Here’s her letter:
I’m always inspired by what I see going on at your pad! My husband Josh and I recently took on a cheap-o kitchen makeover and found that $400 goes a very long way toward bringing an 80’s kitchen into 2010. That budget covered paint, an electric sander, a jig saw, hardware, primer, Liquid Nails, “real” nails, and beadboard- which is all it took to really transform the space. The “before” picture was from before we moved in, so please excuse the terrible light fixture and furniture. We really hated the fake wood paneling under the bar and around the sides of the cabinets, so we covered it with beadboard that we then painted white. It was easy to install (especially since we had the wood cut at the store & borrowed a tack gun) and it’s definitely our favorite part of the entire makeover. As for our paint sources, the green is Benjamin Moore’s Mountain Lane and the white is Sherwin William’s West Highland White. Oh and there’s more info about the whole kitchen redo on our blog. Our next step is a nursery (we’re adopting a baby from Russia) and I can’t wait to see how yours turns out! I’m sure I’ll get some great ideas. Thanks for all you do! -Jessica (& Josh)
Here’s their kitchen before the big overhaul:
And here’s the same space after just $400 worth of upgrades:
Isn’t that amazing? We love Jessica and Josh’s infectious DIY spirit and we totally appreciate that they weren’t afraid to use some bold color and a little creativity (in the form of beadboard and paint for those cabinets) to cover up the things that they didn’t like and draw attention to the features that they wanted to highlight. What do you guys think? Are you itching to paint your walls a bold color, overhaul your cabinets or tack up some beadboard? We definitely love that not every kitchen makeover calls for several thousand dollars of work and tons of hired help. Inspiring!
Psst- Looking to paint your cabinets like Jessica and Josh did above? Here’s a quick and easy tutorial to help you get ‘er done.
wow – what a transformation! just shows a little paint can go a long way!! Looks sooo good :-)
It is amazing what $400 can do… It looks like a totally different kitchen!! Great job!
That is just gorgeous! I have always hesitated to do anything to my kitchen because we don’t have the money right now to upgrade some of the appliances, but they made it look like an entirely different kitchen with the same appliances. I am impressed and inspired! Thank you for showing this on your blog!
WOW! Love the paint color, love the beadboard. Great job–so do-able for the rest of us, too!
Love the beadboard…such a creative and cheap way to cover that paneling. Gorgeous!
Absolutely gorgeous make-over!
Are you serious, 400 buckaroos?!!! It looks amazing!
Lila Ferraro
LOVE IT! Seriously, that beadboard is calling my name. I was dreading doing our kitchen cabinets, and we have a similar(ish) bar set up, so I’m totally stealing the beadboard idea.
As an aside – is it risky taking the cabinet doors off if you’re dealing with MDF? I’d been thinking I should leave them on and paint them (painstakingly) that way, but if it won’t weaken the cabinets to take them off, I’d love to get them all down and flat for painting.
Hey Jill,
We don’t believe it’s a risk to remove those cabinet doors at all, in fact it’s one of the only ways to get a nice clean coat of paint on everything. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wow!! That is fabulous. I can’t believe only $400?!?!
All I can say is….WOW!! What an amazing job on such a small budget. I am inspried to get moving on updating our kitchen!
Fantastic! I am looking to paint my cabinets any day now; as soon as I muster up the courage. Thanks for sharing thier success :)
Love, love, LOVE this color! So pretty and lively – this is the color I want to paint my dark stairwell to brighten it up…
Makes me wish my entire kitchen wasn’t tile.
I like that they had so many good traits to work with and how their changes highlight these features that were already there but were being swallowed up by the light-sucking wood cupboards/cabinets. Such as the pot lighting, the great counter top, simple hardware and the double basin sink fixtures. After painting and adding the beadboard, these features are really on display.
Wow. They did an amazing job!
I really like their floors. I know that they did not do them… but they are gorgeous with that fun green and crisp white!
Wow! It looks so great! Eventually I want to paint our cabinets too so it’s great to see how well it can turn out!
Awesome overhaul! I love being inspired by these DIYers… so creative and working with what you have!
Amazing! It’s nice – and inspiring -to see a big transformation on a small budget. I have the world’s weirdest kitchen, and have no idea how to go about making it …usable. But seeing transformations like these give me hope. :)
A complete transformation since you never really know what to expect but the changes really opens the space up! I love green for a kitchen color! GREAT job!
WOW! What a great job. Love it. I love what white does. It just brings new life to wood. :-) Thanks for sharing.
You gotta love what white paint can do – this kitchen looks great!! Everything just comes to life – awesome job!!
What a fantastic redo!
We just finished updating our little NY kitchen (painted the cabinets, replaced the vinyl tile, put up a backsplash, etc). But the thing I got stuck on is window treatments. We have a 48″ wide window over the countertop (not framed), and we need something that still lets in light because it faces a shady courtyard and the fire escape. I don’t really like the look of traditional valances. Tried bamboo roman shade – too dark. So I’m at a loss. What would you do?
Try a light and breezy white roman shade (we got the one in our bedroom from Ikea on the cheap- you can check it out by clicking on the House Tour tab under our header). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wow! LOVE it! I love the colors and the beadboard. Great job! I’m curious about the cabinets above the bar. It could just be the picture angle, but they look narrow – just curious how those function with doors on both sides.
What an awesome transformation! What a difference a little paint (& a few other small things) can make.
Wow! One of the best cheap-o makeovers I’ve seen in a long time. Good job!
This is such a great budget friendly transformation! I can identify with a tight budget so I really appreciate this post! We also painted our old oak cabinets white and I am so happy with the results!
WOW! A little really does go a long way! You guys did an amazing job!! The whole area looks so much more put together now!
I LOVE it! My cabinets now are the same color… in fact our kitchen colors (your original ones) are the same. I have been wondering whether or not to paint my cabinets, but I think that this project puts me in the heck yes category! job well done!
looooove those white cabinets, and the beadboard base! those are some of my favorite kitchen looks ever. and the green is lots of fun. great job jessica and josh!
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to overhaul my kitchen despirately. Sadly, we have prefabish cabinets and can’t sand and repaint. Any suggestions. They are white and I would actually prefer darker but if that can’t happen with out new cabinets where would I get just cabinet doors on the cheap so I can have more of a modern sleaker look. Also, where do you find cheap hardware. I want the rod looking door pulls.
Thanks, Ya’ll are awesome!!!
Hey Libby,
We would suggest removing a cabinet door and bringing it with you to your local home improvement store and asking the paint pro what they recommend. They might just have something that’ll work. If not, we have no idea where to get cabinet door fronts on the cheap other than googling around (and checking if the home improvement store has some well priced options). As for hardware we got some of ours at Home Depot and some of it at a local hardware store that we found in the Yellow Pages so just look around and see what you find. Happy hunting!
xo,
s
This is fab-u-lous! Great job, guys! I installed beadboard on the back of my kitchen island as well and for less than $100 it’s *also* one of our favorites in the kitchen, too!
http://tellerallaboutit.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/yaall-ready-for-dis/
Great job!
L
What an amazing transformation! I love the colours. Looks very modern. My kitchen is in the same state yours was in…..very old looking….. I guess I should start doing the research & figure out how to strip stain off of my pine cupboards! You guys did an amazing job ~ well done!
Hey Andrea,
Just follow the link at the bottom of the post for how to paint stained pine cabinets. We actually took on that very project a while back so we have step by step instructions!
xo,
s
That looks fantastic! Good job! The color of their kitchen is very similar to mine, and I also have white cabinets. I too, just did beadboard on my half wall under my bar, but I did a “cheater” method that still looks fantastic and is far simpler than traditional beadboard – it’s beadboard wallpaper! Here’s the link:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100625997/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
It’s paintable, so you can match it to any decor. It’s made by a company called Graham & Brown (they have a ton of great wallpapers on their website), and is fantastic quality. People see it and think it’s actual beadboard, not wallpaper!
Once again, great work on the kitchen! John and Sherry, if you’re interested in seeing pics of my “beadboard” wall, I’d be happy to send them.
Feel free to send away Sheela! We always welcome eye candy in our inbox!
xo,
s
Looks fantastic! We did the same thing. We painted our brown cabinets white, changed out the hardward, painted the countertop black (it was ugly forest green tile with ivy design, yuck) and painted the walls a pretty blue color, it looks like a totally different kitchen! Wish teh old owners could come back and see it (like that show Moving Up) hehe
Lovely! Gives me hope! :-)~
Our house was late 80’s made and it has those not quite wood, not sure what the material is cabinets…they look like wood but arent. They are kind of shiny and have the real grain of wood but are thin like particle board.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Can those be sanded down, primed and painted?
Hey Amariemcdonald,
Just remove one of your cabinet doors and bring it with you to the home improvement store to see what the paint pros there recommend. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Much improved! I love this transformation.
I have a green in my kitchen that is very similar! Mine is Farrell Calhoun, Summer Olive. I LOVE it! I have dark walnut cabinets and it looks awesome.
I love your beadboard. Beautiful!
Excellent job!! It’s amazing what a bit of paint can do!
$400?? WOW! What an amazing transformation! I love it!
There is nothing better than a Cheap makeover. I love what they did. Great job!
ahhhh the power of white paint!
Such an amazing result with just $400! Love the beadboard!
We just redid our kitchen a couple months ago and we painted that same color…love the green with the white.
That looks amazing! I rent an apartment, so I can’t paint, but I’ve always wanted a green kitchen with white cabinets, they did an awesome job with just $400!
I recently bought a new (to me) house and the very first thing I did was paint the kitchen a rockin’ shade of green (Olympic Grassy Meadow, to be exact). Now I’m seeing green kitchens all over the place – there was even a feature on them at The Kitchn (http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/kitchen-spotlight/kitchen-gallery-green-like-spring-peas-077700). Totally love it!
(Pictures of my ridiculously green kitchen here: http://thatcardboardbox.blogspot.com/2010/01/bringing-spring-home.html)
I really loved how this kitchen turned out! All the contrast really makes for a beautiful space for cooking & eating!
I like that they didn’t paint all the woodwork, but left a little brown border around the windows, ties it back in with the floor. great job!! takes a lot of decorating courage to try a bright green like that but you really pulled it off!
Love the beadboard! We had very similar paneling under our island, and a few weeks ago tiled the entire thing, which also gives a very updated look.
Question for Jessica: were you afraid to paint the cabinets white? We are afraid to paint our cabinets because they are really expensive and in great condition, but yes, a little outdated in the same wood tone yours were. Thanks for any advice!
Here’s hoping Jessica drops in with that answer for you soon!
xo,
s
Wow! What an amazing difference-Thank you for sharing your pictures. -It really does inspire :-)