Last month I wrote a post about kitchen organization and how refreshing it was to do a giant purge of things we no longer use. I also purchased a junk drawer organizer that makes our junk drawer look amazing. Who knew a junk drawer could look good? Well, we are almost a month past the post and I have to say, things are still in order. It's easy to keep things looking great and organized when you are happy with a space.
In case you missed it... you can read it here
However.... I have to be honest, I haven't always been happy with our kitchen. The cupboards, the counters... the previous hardware and sink. So not us. It had a bisque porcelain sink, stove, refrigerator and range hood... and a black dishwasher. Ohhhh... it gets better, BRIGHT POLISHED BRASS hardware and blue speckled solid surface counters. Sighhh....
When we moved into this house in 2006, we had two little kiddies and the last thing we were going to do was tear apart the kitchen. We had just come from our house with a BRAND new kitchen that had been torn apart when I was three months pregnant with our first child in 2003. Have you ever tried that? Sure I didn't have little kiddies to feed but we had ourselves to feed and I was totally suffering from morning sickness. It was awful. Let's cook every.single.meal in the microwave and wash dishes in a clawfoot bathtub. MISERABLE.
Although we have been in our current home since 2006 and discussed kitchen renovations, we've never actually went ahead with it. I refused to replace the refrigerator with something that we wanted because it was still working; or to replace the propane stove/oven even though my preference is/was electric; or to replace the range hood because it, too, was still working. It's not like I don't like to spend money {one look at my wardrobe will verify that...}, it just seemed foolish to replace appliances that were still in good working order.
It wasn't until about five or six years ago when Ben finally decided he had enough of the refrigerator. He was sick of bending over to get things out of the fridge and insisted that we make the switch to a fridge on top/freezer on bottom type. We chose a black refrigerator to replace the existing one.
Next up the stove/oven crapped out on us one night in the midst of dinner hour. Convenient. When our repair man told us that the parts that were needed would cost nearly as much as replacing it, that's what we did. Along came our black glass top stove/oven like we had left behind in our old house. Things were slowing coming together...
Earlier this year when we were doing some other minor improvements and we inquired with our contractor as to the cost of replacing counters, etc. The problem was I still didn't love our cupboards (or the hardware). Yet, still felt it was totally ridiculous to tear out perfectly good cupboards and replace them just so I would then be satisfied with a new counter choice. That's when he suggested that if we wanted a low cost option/change, to paint our counters. He picked up the brochure for the paints at a local hardware store and dropped it off. What did we have to lose?!
I am not going to lie... the idea of painting our countertops was sort of scary. What if we decided we didn't like it. What if we totally screwed it up. Once we decided to go for it, we had to be committed to replacing them if this painting project didn't come through for us. YOWZER.
Want more details on the paint we used, Giani Countertop Paint, or to watch the tutorial... check out the website here
And so it went... we cleaned down the counters, primed them as stated in the directions and finished the next several steps/layers. [If you decide to do this project - try not to get consumed with the look of each step. You must complete all the steps to see what it is truly going to look like.] Quite honestly, the end result was much better than I could have imagined. But why stop there... we tore out the bisque porcelain sink (two basins) and replaced it with stainless steel (large single basin) {not sure I would recommend that or would do that again if replacing.... it makes cooking/draining food difficult if you have a sink full of dirty dishes}; purchased new oil rubbed bronze pulls for the drawers/cupboards; and... replaced the bisque range hood with black.
FINALLY... everything came together! And, I actually started loving our kitchen. The cupboards even look better to me after the change in our counter tops.
So you're probably wondering why on earth I am telling you all about this? Simply because when we don't love our space we are less inclined to take care of it or keep it organized. AND... that you can make minor changes even on a small budget so that you, too, can love your space!
#KitchenTransformation #DIYKitchenUpdates #KitchenUpdatesonaBudget #InexpensiveKitchenUpdates #LoveYourSpace