If you ever wanted to quiet that voice in your head that says “Kitchen makeover? Are you crazy? You don’t have the money for that!” – let this transformation by Erin inspire you. Here’s her letter:
I wanted to share my blog post on our kitchen remodel with you. It’s a temporary remodel, as cheap as possible, until we can afford to completely gut it and get a new kitchen in a few years (hopefully!).
The biggest purchase was new appliances, besides that we spent max $100 for paint, stenciling supplies, and a shelf above the microwave.
I also finished the floor by stenciling on it, and I love the results! I don’t know if I would have had the guts to do the floor stencil if this was our “forever” kitchen, but since this is a “live-with-it” stage until we can do a whole gut job, I went for it! I’m so glad I did!
The floor was probably the most tedious part of the entire kitchen update. It started with peeling old linoleum off of the plywood subfloor. Then it needed to be wood puttied, sanded down a bit, and finally primed and painted. This part of the process has been done for a while, but we needed to wait until the rest was done to finish the painting and stenciling part. I’m glad we waited – the floor got pretty scratched up moving things around, and it had more than a couple paint drips on it! – Erin
Chalk up another one to the power of paint, eh? We love how fresh and bright Erin’s new kitchen looks (and the painted brick backsplash reminds us of our first “for now” kitchen makeover back in the day). Oh, and she’s got more info on the makeover over on her blog so be sure to head over there too. Thanks so much for sharing Erin! I’d suggest we play the favorite part game, but I’d bet it’ll all be floor votes… although the painted cabinets are room-changers for sure.
Psst- We picked a winner for this week’s giveaway. Click here to see if it’s you.
It’s amazing what a little paint can do for a room. We recently painted out kitchen black and it completely transformed the space. i went from hating it to loving it in an afternoon. Houseofthebonestorm.blogspot.com
I think this kitchen looks good enough to be an “after!”
Katy
Holy cow I love the floor! I love everything actually! It brightened up the space so so much. How pretty!
I work as an industrial hygienist in Ontario, Canada. I hate to be a downer, but please let your readers know that removing flooring (especially vinyl sheet flooring or vinyl floor tiles) as a DIY is not a good idea as it can cause exposure to asbestos. I’m not sure which product the reader was dealing with, but in the case of vinyl floor tiles, asbestos was sometimes used as a binding agent. Also, the mastic used to secure the tiles to the floor may contain asbestos. In the case of vinyl sheet flooring, not only was asbestos sometimes used as a binding agent, but there is often a paper layer below the vinyl that can contain amosite asbestos, typically considered the more hazardous type. This paper is often badly damaged during removal of the vinyl flooring which can release asbestos fibres into the air. The presence of these types of asbestos-containing materials is usually considered more likely in buildings built circa 1985 and earlier. The test to determine if asbestos is present in a material is simple to arrange for and should be conducted by a person trained (and licensed, depending on the State) in asbestos awareness and abatement.
Thanks so much for sharing that info John! We actually have a mid-century house and discovered that we had asbestos free vinyl tile but the paper layer beneath ours was asbestos (we floated a cork floor over the vinyl to avoid ripping anything up) so we know firsthand what a pain it can be! Perhaps Erin had hers tested before ripping it up (as part of her inspection, etc) – it’s always a smart move just to be certain. Thanks again for spreading the word!
xo,
s
Thanks for letting us know about that, John! The flooring was relatively new (“new” meaning around 30 years old), the layer under the painted subfloor is asbestos tile, though, so we’ll let pros deal with that when the time comes!
Do you always say, “we just picked a winner” when you’re announcing who gets the great prize for the week? Reading it worded that way struck my funny bone today, and all I can think of is picking your nose!
Haha, I think we do. Maybe we say “announced a winner” actually- haha. Must have had boogers on the brain this afternoon when I wrote that. Haha.
xo,
s
Wow! That’s beautiful! I love the floors, but I also like the wall color and painted cabinets. I swear as soon as I’m allowed to stain/paint again I am tackling my kitchen! Nice work Erin! I would keep those floors forever! :)
Love it all, but especially that floor!
People can over-design their kitchens, throwing every bell and whistle into the mix. Yours is very fresh and sweet. It’s a real inspiration and incredibly charming! I love the soft blue on the walls with the red accents. And the stencil looks amazing. I also love the stencil in YHL’s office.
I LOVED the floors…
Beautiful floors! I love how you decorated your kitchen.
Personally, I love the white cabinets. :-)
We’re gearing up for a kitchen remodel, starting on Tuesday! I’m so excited to fix the annoying little problems we’ve been just dealing with since we bought the house two years ago. A leaky faucet, a drain that’s very slow, a huge hole in the back of the old ’50’s era metal cabinets, getting can lights above the counters, and LED light strips for undercabinet lighting, getting some countertop between the fridge and stove, some more storage on the fridge/stove wall….. Can’t wait!
Ooh that sounds like so much fun. Good luck!
xo,
s
Looks amazing! Love your color choices!
Thanks for sharing! This is proof that you can remodel a kitchen {a project can can cost TONS of $$$} on a budget and have it look super cute like this one! LOVE IT!
What a great budget makeover! Everything is beautiful, but I am most impressed by all the little ways the found to save money – curtains from a cheap flat bedsheet (which would have also saved her time from hemming), microwave on Craigslist, etc. etc. Way to go!
It’s awesome! I love the stenciled floor!
I love it!!! The floor and kitchen look fantastic! :)
http://munchtalk.blogspot.com/
That’s a beautiful transformation. It looks so bright and cheery now!
Speaking in changing, doing something new… I’ve just created my tiny winy blog.
I’m very amateur, but I’m enjoying the process… I absolutely LOVE your blog and I’m here very often :) …
My sister just bought a new unit and I’ve sent her your blog so she can get inspired. SHE LOVED IT AS WELL <3
Oh well, that's all for now… Please keep updating us with all beautiful things you guys have to share :)
xoxo
Aw thanks Aline! And happy blogging!
xo,
s