Kitchen Remodel: Post #2

The inspiration behind the forthcoming plan is threefold:

1. Late 1920's kitchens
2. This amazing remodel
3. Our budget of $1,500. Hopefully, in 7-10 years we'll have enough money saved up to bump out the back of the house and build the kitchen of our dreams, but right now we're working with what we've got and not losing sight of the fact that it's a band-aid covering up a giant dream of ours. With that in mind, making the space feel more like home is important, but spending tons of money on something that we're dying to rip out isn't very practical.

Speaking of: We'd love to rip out our old tile and refinish our hardwood floors and replace our white silestone counter tops with a light gray granite, but neither are in the budget at the moment so we're sticking with those basics and working around them.  Sure we've got a vision, but we're also clueless.  If you have a sense of style or an ounce of expertise that you'd like to share, we welcome your comments!

Because the kitchen is primarily an addition to the original home, a lot of the nice moulding that is present in the rest of our place just isn't there.  Our hope is that adding this 4.5" crown moulding to the room will bring in a little character:

 

We'll update our cabinets with new doors from Barker that are like the shaker-style doors of the 20s but with a little more detail, which we love. They were a total steal: new doors and hinges came to $477.19 including shipping. We're painting them the gray-green that you saw in this previous post and using our existing hardware:

I can't wait to replace the existing can light over the sink with the same pendant light we have hanging over the island:

We'll also be updating and refreshing a few things around the kitchen with paint and, if I find the right deals on Craigslist, possibly updating one or two of our black appliances. Here' what we think the order-of-events will look like:

1. Replace half-bath door. (more on that later)
2. Paint remaining base trim and doors to basement and backyard. (completed on 12/30)
   
3. Knock out odd built-out wall on top of fridge. (completed on 12/30 - This project gets its own post tomorrow.)
   
4. Knock out ugly shelf behind bar/island.
5. Patch dry wall. Determine whether or not we're any good at it.
1. If we are, center the existing pendant light over the island.
2. If we're not, wait for my dad to do it.
6. Prime walls.
7. Give the ceiling a fresh coat of paint.
8. Add crown moulding to the room.
9. Paint walls in a pale, pale gray.  
10. Remove existing cabinetry and hardware.
11. Fill in holes in cabinet frames from previous hinges.
12. Sand, prime and paint cabinet frames.
13. Prime and paint new cabinet doors
14. Add hardware to new doors
15. Hang new doors (this includes drilling holes in the existing cabinet shells - here's to hoping our level and patience are in working order that day!)
16.  Replace can light over the sink with a matching pendant.
17. Fix the tile under the fridge that broke during the switcheroo.
18. Have my mom sew some curtains (Dear Mom, Will you please help me make some curtains for my new kitchen? Thanks!).
19. Throw a party to show off our new space. Three drinks into the evening, begin thinking about the three remaining projects for the kitchen:
1. Replacing the island countertop with a butcher block.
2. Adding creative storage/shelving above the island where the previous shelf was.
3. Find the perfect rug.

So there you have it, folks. Our plan to personalize and update our kitchen into a 1920's throwback. We'll be updating this blog with lessons-learned and our small moments of success along the way so check in often and tell us what we're doing wrong before we turn into the worst episode of Holmes on Homes ever. I can't stand that guy.