Okay, I’ve been promising to sit down and write this blog post for a long time! I’ve been hesitating because…well I want to be sure to capture it all. It was such a big project. It really did turn out just as I dreamed. So as silly as it sounds, I want to make sure to do it justice!
Let me give you a brief backstory before I get too far into the details. My husband and I flew to Tennessee for about 16 hours to house hunt. We arrived early one morning and flew out the same night! It was a crazy, whirlwind of being awake for 24 hours and exciting at the same time! We made an offer on our house after only seeing it ONCE for about 30 minutes. When it comes to houses, I pretty darn decisive. I just “know”. And typically I know within moments of walking in the front door. The one challenge of this house was the kitchen. The cabinets, flooring, paint…basically everything…wasn’t my style and I knew we could change that. But the BIGGER challenge was the sink facing the wall. It felt claustrophobic to me. I really wanted to take full advantage of the big windows in the kitchen and turn the sink that way. I knew it was possible. I wasn’t sure how hard it would be for my Hubby to execute. As it turned out, it wasn’t very hard at all!
Since I documented all this on Instagram stories (if you want to see real time renovation and more details, EVERYTHING is saved on my IG @babbfarmlife) I didn’t get very good before pictures. I snapped a few with my phone, but you get an idea! That sink was so closed in before.
We decided instead of a sink on this wall, we would use the space for a refrigerator. Prior to this the fridge sat on the back wall, making this kitchen layout very awkward to work in. With the water source already on the wall, this was a very easy transition. We also switched the cabinets around to fit the space better. I’ll expand on that more in a minute!
This is the old refrigerator layout. We decided to take everything off this back wall. It is a main walkway from the garage, laundry room, guest bath and bedroom. It gets a lot of use! The thought of opening it up made a lot of sense. It also worked in our favor because we needed those extra cabinets elsewhere in the kitchen. The old sink area I showed above had a hole for the dishwasher. Since we were changing the layout of the sink/dishwasher anyway, we were able to move the bottom cabinet over to the new refrigerator area! It worked perfectly to fill that hole.
This is what the back wall looks like now! I scored this awesome antique cabinet off of Facebook marketplace for $75. I will do a separate blog post of the transformation of these piece. To say it was rough before, is a gross understatement! This cabinet is probably the most used item in our kitchen. It houses all our shoes, vacuums, and mops. It has a shelf for our keys and my purse. It’s a hard working piece of furniture!
So where did the sink go? We made a peninsula to for it and the dishwasher, right smack dab in the middle of the two beautiful windows in the kitchen! This kitchen used to have an eat in breakfast area in front of the windows. Since we have a dining room right next to the kitchen, I decided the second eating area was unnecessary. The kitchen came with the small island that floated anywhere you wanted to move it. It wasn’t anchored to the floor in any way. The previous owners had it sitting in the middle of the main kitchen area which seriously impeded your ability to walk. To save money, my husband modified that island for our new sink area. He expanded it considerably, anchored it to the wall and floor. He also built bead board panels to shroud the back and sides.
This old island makes a lot more sense in the kitchen now!
By removing the eat in kitchen option, it gave me a space to put my sweet buffet and open shelving to highlight some of my favorite décor pieces!
We didn’t change the stove side of the kitchen too much layout wise. We did add some very fun design elements. The one I’m most in love with is the backsplash. It’s made to look like antique tin ceiling tiles! We also took down the microwave and built a vent hood. Underneath all the cabinets we mounted corbels that my Hubby cut out of pine. They make the cabinets feel more substantial and custom.
Let’s talk details for a minute. The entire kitchen was transformed by 6 inch tongue and groove shiplap. I opted to hang it vertically instead of horizontally. I feel like it makes the ceilings look taller. We painted all the walls Natural Choice by Sherwin. We also painted the cabinets, trim and ceiling Alabaster by Sherwin. The old tile floor was replaced for Pergo Outlast flooring from Home Depot. The style is called Haley Oak. We opted for quartzite counter tops. I absolutely love them! They mimic the look of marble but are more durable then granite. Again, don’t forget all of the details of the reno process is saved to my highlight buttons called “kitchen” on Instagram. I have a month worth of kitchen renovation videos over there!
This kitchen was truly a labor of love. It took a little over a month of time for us to DIY the entire thing. My husband was truly the one who created the space. I picked out the finishes and shared my vision but he’s the one who made it come to life. My goal was to create a kitchen that felt like an extension of the home, another room to relax or hang out in. Not one that’s only meant for service. This kitchen embodies that feeling perfectly now! And if you know me, you know that this kitchen renovation was done on a budget. We reused everything we could, even the garbage disposal! Minus appliances, which we bought all new, our total spending was right around $7,000. That includes flooring, counter tops, lighting, paint, hardware, sink, faucet, wallpaper, shiplap, and all construction materials. I’m sure I missed a million details, and will kick myself later for it. So please ask if you have any questions about this renovation!