We did it! We finally have our kitchen mostly done! Aside from a few cosmetic updates – we will call it complete. One year later…but better late than never! We love the results and how much brighter it is. It was definitely one of the bigger projects we undertook after moving into our new home. When starting this project we knew that it would need to be done on a budget. We wanted to keep it under $5,000 which in reality, isn’t a lot of money when you’re updating a kitchen (so we found out the hard way). I’ll be sharing tips on how we saved money and what we did below – keep scrolling!
But first….a before photo! I have never loathed green countertops so much in all my life.
Solid Surface Countertops:
The photo below is of the new countertops going in! Putting in the new countertops was the most expensive part when updating the kitchen. It cost us roughly $2,300 for the countertops alone. We went with Solid Surface countertops. After reviewing the pros and cons of not going with a granite or a quartz…it was clear to us that we really would get a much better deal going with solid surface and it would keep us within our budget. Unlike granite or quartz…you can’t cut on solid surface countertops with a knife or put anything hot on it, however, the similarities are quite comparable. This info from the solid surface website can help you out! We ended up getting our countertops from Home Depot! Our new white castiron double sink came as a special offer with the purchase of the countertops. Keep an eye out for deals and specials at places like Lowe’s, Menards and Home Depot! The new kitchen faucet and garbage disposal were roughly $200 total.
Ta-da! Below images are the “finished” product.
Cement Tile Backsplash:
For the cement tile backsplash, we worked with Riad Tile and got their Emma Grey Tile. It was delivered fast and really is the show stopper in our kitchen. The cement squares are beautiful, durable, and add a fun style to this space. Riad Tile offers the lowest prices in the country! We highly recommend them! We measured out roughly 34 square feet and the cost for the tiles and all of the installation supplies was roughly $600. We saved on labor and had my dad do the install and use his wet saw for cutting and fitting the tiles. We also updated all of the light switches and outlets and changed out the ceiling boob light!
Painting the Cupboards:
Installing completely new cupboards would be quite a costly undertaking so to save money we decided to sand and paint them! Err well… my dad was the hero again for this project and helped us out a lot by doing most of the grunt work! We went with Behr Paint and the color Whitewash Oak. We paid roughly $150 for the one gallon of paint that we needed, brushes, and primer. We bought new hardware for the cupboards – handles and hinges to match the faucet. We went with the color Brushed Nickel. We paid about $125 for all of the hardware! Around the island, we put up wainscoting which was super inexpensive and easy to install. It gave our otherwise very plain island a nice updated look.
