We have finally started the process of remodeling our 1960s kitchen. This is a project I’ve been talking about since the day we purchased our house nearly 15 years ago. For a long time, I wanted to completely gut the space. But logically, I know that pouring $30,000 into one room is a waste of money. We are hoping to save cash by doing many of these kitchen improvements by ourselves.
Since John’s last update, we have made a few important decisions. We initially bought cheap cabinets from Lowe’s, but the quality was lacking. Additionally, the door fronts didn’t match our existing cabinets. Then I stumbled upon a little wood shop not far from our house. We stopped in the store, and ended up ordering new shaker style cabinet doors for our existing cabinets. We also ordered 3 cabinets for our peninsula. It is definitely more expensive than our original plan, but I think we’ll be happy with the results. From a cosmetic standpoint, it’s going to really update our space.
The hard part of this remodeling project is keeping my expectations in line with our goals. We don’t want to spend a ton on this project, but holy cow, it’s hard to stop! After we made the decision to get new cabinet doors, I decided that I wanted the walls to be updated and consistent throughout the room. I didn’t want the hassle and mess of removing the paneling and repairing the drywall, so I asked John if we could do shiplap. He’s a nice guy, so he agreed.
Last week, my amazing husband got started. John built our pantry and shiplapped every square inch of wall space in the kitchen. He worked like a dog. He started at 8am everyday and didn’t stop until well after dinner. I felt awful that he had to work so hard on his “vacation.” But his efforts were not in vain. The room looks great!
All of this progress is so exciting! I am going to be painting the shiplap this week in preparation for the next phase of our kitchen improvements. Our pantry doors shipped and should be here soon. Also, our peninsula cabinets will be ready within the next week. Although it’s going to take awhile to complete the entire room, we are eager to see our old, dated space transform into a modern, functional kitchen.