My Kitchen Remodel - Before & After Photos

Kitchen Remodel on a Budget

The kitchen turned out just how I envisioned. I really love  how the backsplash turned out the best, it reminds me of the ocean. It sparkles and shines, also picking up other beautiful colors like abalone does. 

You know how they say kitchens sell houses?  Well the kitchen that was here when I first walked in sure didn't sell the house to me. It was my least favorite room and I knew I was going to rip into it first thing if I bought the house.  The rest of the house was so bright and calming, but the kitchen sort of had a dark grungy sad look, not a kitchen I felt like cooking in.

This is what I saw of the kitchen the very first time I ever walked into this house.

BEFORE

AFTER

Amazing what painting everything white can do!

It brightened the room up so much.

I changed out the appliances (the old ones were broke),

the counter tops and backsplash.

BEFORE

AFTER

I really didn't want the microwave over my stove, so I put that in the pantry in the room right next to the kitchen. I don't use a microwave for cooking, so I don't need access to it right out in the kitchen all the time.  I prefer coil tops to glass top stoves. I like that I can lay my tortillas on it to cook them on the coils (thanks for that tip, Lisa!).  I also like that if a pot is hot, I can just throw it over on one of the other coils when I take it off the heat.  The house is set up for a gas range, but I chose not to use it. If I ever change my mind, I can easily just switch over to a gas stove in the future. 

BEFORE 

AFTER

There is also the wall across from the stove that use to be a little eat in kitchen area with a wall blocking off the dining room area. As soon as I saw it, I knew this wall had to go, or at least most of it.

BEFORE

AFTER

Cabinets were added and a bar area on the other side of the cut out was added, too.

This gives the kitchen so much more storage space and more counter top area, not to mention tons more light coming in.

None of this was there, it was  just a blank wall dividing the 2 rooms.

I'm in love with turquoise, can you tell?

Here is a list of where I purchased some things, please email me if you have more questions.

• Chrome hardware from a local store, Village Flooring & Decorating Center, that ordered through Top Knobs.
• Sink faucet from Home Depot.  
• Counter tops from Ikea. Ikea Numerar Oak
• Backsplash from Floors & Cabinets in Cocoa Beach - by Tesoro Listello Collection, Reflections Series, Color-Excalibur, 1x2 translucent
• Cabinets painted with 2 coats of BIN Zinsser primer and 2 coats of Valspar White
• Wahoo fish from Baha Fish Gear
• Striped blue rug from Wayfair.
• Bamboo blinds from Lowes.
• Appliances from Appliance Direct.

My next door neighbor is the one who put in the counters and backsplash for me and also installed the new cabinets and opened up the wall.  A huge thank you to him! 

I'm still working on a lot of things around the house, I think the living room and small dining area will be finished next. Photos of those coming soon! So come back.

My Kitchen Mood Board

Here's a little mood board I put together to show what all I'm doing with the kitchen.

I'm hoping to get pictures up of it completely finished within the next week or two.

I'm having a lot of fun with this, not being too serious, I just wanted my home to be a little more playful and casual this time around.

Gotta love that Wahoo fish!

Flowers Bloomed

Flowers have bloomed in front of my house.

So beautiful!

Quick Update

The house is looking really great, so I will have a lot of pics to post. My neighbor that was helping me, sort of took off on vacation for a few weeks so I'm at a stand still on my house. I've just been doing what I can on it. I won't have the updated pictures until next month when my neighbor finishes up a few things on it. 

Kitchen, dining and living room are all about 75% finished.  

  I've got more little bananas growing on my trees and am hoping to plant more fruit trees. Mango, Avocado, Lime... can't wait!

Weather is really great here in Florida, I'm just taking some breaks here and there and digging my toes in the sand and swimming in the ocean. This is the life!  :)

Family Room - Painted and Tiled.

Sorry for being MIA, I haven't had internet access at my new home. Not sure when I will get it, but I will start taking lots of pics soon. Things are starting to come together. Here is a little look at what the family room is starting to look like. I had the carpet pulled out and tile put down. I painted the walls turquoise. I still haven't finished, I still have to paint around the windows and do some touch ups, put up window treatments, all that jazz.

Here is how it looked before.

My furniture was just delivered Wednesday, so I have my hands full taking everything out of boxes. I can't wait for this to all come together so I can get out to that beach and learn to surf! :)

More pics coming soon!!!!

Backsplash Finished

The backsplash is finished! It turned out beautiful, even prettier than I pictured.  :)   I still need to push the stove back in as you can see and remove the painters tape from around the room and over the range hood.  I ordered knobs and pulls and they should be here within another week.

I finally finished painting all of the cabinets.

It was a long drawn out process, but I succeeded.

I used a 2.5" Wooster nylon brush to put on 2 coats of the primer (BIN Zinsser) and a 2.5" Purdy brush to paint 2 coats of the white Valspar paint.

When walking around my yard I noticed two of the palms are about hammock width apart.  

Hehe  Well, one palm looks a little small, so not sure if it would work.

Which leaves me to look forward to fixing up the outdoor areas... at my last house, I focused so much on fixing up the inside, I never really made it to doing the outdoor work I had planned on. 

So after I finish the kitchen and get the tile floors put in, I'm going to start working on outside.

Here is sort of the look I love for the patio area.

Love this! 

Do you see a turquoise theme?  :)

Backsplash Going Up

I took these pics with my cell phone, so they are a little washed out.

Just wanted to show some updates. The backsplash is almost up and then it has to be grouted.

There are little square plastic film pieces all over them right  now, but this shows the color.

If you stand with the light on them a certain way, they sparkle and look iridescent. 

The tile floor goes in next week.

The carpet is all ripped out and ready to go. 

I also ripped the carpet out of one of the bedrooms and instead of tiling it, I'm going to try to restore the terrazzo. My home is completely terrazzo throughout, but it's been all tiled and carpeted over. I decided to go ahead and tile the living room area here because where the tacks were holding the carpet down messed up the edges of the floors all the way around the room.

I've been doing a ton of painting. 

So many coats of paint on those cabinets, plus I have to paint the walls.

 I made a new friend in the neighborhood and she is coming over to help me paint. 

Yay for awesome neighbors!  :)