A Kitchen Renovation for the Books

7 months in the making and the day is finally here. Our kitchen renovation is D-O-N-E! I am doing a big ol’ happy dance… partially because I’m excited about the renovation, but also because I no longer have to cook in a half-finished kitchen. LOL.

Let’s get started by taking a step back in time…

Kitchen at Move-in

I remember thinking how uuugly this kitchen was when we moved in (I mean, compared to my dream kitchen – LOL). The cabinets had an outdated wood finish and everything was a blah-colored tan. The laminate countertops felt cheap and the black appliances were… dirty. Barf.

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The First “Renovation”

This was the state of our kitchen for the next 2 years. Definitely an improvement with a little color and a couple new appliances, but I still had a lot of sad feelings about the wood cabinets.

I didn’t have any craaazy requests for the kitchen. I just wanted some granite countertops, subway tile, white cabinets, and maybe some butcher block. Is that too much to ask?!

Apparently not! Over the course of 7 months, my husband worked his behind off to create this masterpiece!

The BIG Kitchen Reveal

Yaaaasssssssss Queeeeeen!

Jump to Shop the Kitchen & Kitchen Specs

Kitchen Renovation Tasks

1. Painted kitchen cabinets white (all that info is in this post)
2. Replaced outer countertops with granite
3. Framed the kitchen windows
4. Installed subway tile from the countertop to the cabinets
5. Extended the island with an additional 15″ cabinet
6. Installed paneling, faux columns, and baseboard on the island
7. Installed butcher block countertop on the island

Before

After

Before

After

The Kitchen Island

I’m so, so, so excited about our new huge island. The countertop is about 1.5x bigger than it used to be, so we can use it as a breakfast bar! We added a 15″ cabinet to the outside end and installed a trash can drawer insert to hide the trash bins. We wrapped 3 sides in the most easy-to-use paneling from Home Depot and installed some corbels for design purposes + support!

The Butcher Block Countertop

The new butcher block kind of feels like a pet. No joke! The wood has to be taken care of so it stays healthy and strong. We started by covering it in mineral oil 7-8x, and now we’ve switched to a butcher block conditioner that gives it a light waterproof barrier. The wood does not do well getting wet, so it’s been an adjustment to keep from setting wet dishes on it, etc.

Kitchen Decor

I’ve been on a mission to organize my kitchen, but I want to do it tastefully. I found some vintage mason jars at a local antique mall to hold my grains and cereals and I used a chalk marker to label them. It’s nice to have easy access to my most-used grains AND add some cute decor while I’m at it! If you’re in the market, here are some similar vintage mason jars on Etsy for a good price.

Also, how cute are the canvas signs?! I designed them myself and I’m selling the printable versions (as a set) on Etsy for just $5! The listing includes 4 print sizes + a transparent version for all your Cricut and Silhouette crafting. Seriously, a bargain! 😉

Little Upgrades with a Big Impact

There were a few little things we added in that also helped elevate the look and feel of the kitchen…

• Adding new, modern electrical outlet covers from Amazon
• Adding drawer hardware (knobs and pulls) from Amazon
• A heavy-duty, stainless steel paper towel holder from Amazon

Shop the Kitchen

Alright, friends. That’s a wrap! I’m so excited that I could finally share our kitchen renovation since it was a long time in the making. If you have any questions, feel free to leave it in the comments! Happy renovating!

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