Hi Everyone and good morning!
OMGosh...it feels awesome to be back behind my keyboard blogging away after being away for the past week, and boy do I have a doozy of a post to share with you today! Myself and Mr. Rosemary Lane, along with our kiddies and my sister Kim, spent a fabulous week at the Jersey shore soaking up the sun and enjoying family time together. We were so lucky that my dear sweet friend Donna invited us to use her family's newly purchased beach home for a full 10 days.
However before any visitors could come to the beach bungalow, Donna and her hubby spent the better part of the summer bringing their 1978 charmer into the 21st century. And the biggest challenge was that of updating the kitchen on one incredibly thin dime. I am not kidding you when I tell you that this kitchen could have been the poster child for the entire 1970's with its harvest gold counters, dark brown Formica cabinets, orange painted walls and mismatch appliances.
Take a look at the photos from the property's MLS lisitng...
Pretty dated right? This room is enough to make anyone run scared at the mere thought of purchasing this home, that is except for my friend Donna. Talk about fearless...when was the last time you saw anything so unbelievably ugly let alone contemplate taking it on as a budget renovation? And the budget was tight one, but with a little ingenuity, a lot of elbow grease and one creative vision, this heart of the home was given stainless steel appliances, new wood flooring, a center island and granite counter tops.
But how could that be...right???
I mean we all know the price of new appliances especially stainless ones. And granite counter tops demand a pretty nice penny too.
Well it was done and here are the photos to prove it!!!
Of course the first thing to do was to paint over the oh so very loud orange walls with a much more soothing gray color using Valspar's Premium paint. This driftwood gray color was also used throughout the main living area and hallway.
(Tip: Using a uniform color in adjacent rooms helps to make the entire interior of a home seem much larger.)
The refrigerator, dishwasher and range hood are all the same appliances you saw in the listing photos. Yup not kidding you in the least, they've just been painted with liquid steel to look like stainless. Since Donna felt the previous stove posed a safety issue for the house, the decision was made to replace it with a new stove and oven.
And instead of going through the time and expense of ripping out all the dark brown cabinetry, Donna painted them using a kit she bought specifically made to paint over Formica. She then bought all new cabinet hardware.
The center island was fashioned using the microwave cart left by the previous owners, along with particle board covered with a granite looking Formica. Feet were added to the island to raise it up a little and for style. and the entire base and legs were painted black. A finished edge still needs to be added to the island top, but with that said the entire project was done for just $100.
A new flooring laminate with an interlocking system was laid right over the old 1970's floor...no glue or nails needed. The kitchen is actually a pretty good size and the floor extends into the adjacent laundry room, so given the fact that there was a lot of floor space to be covered the price of the flooring was really pretty reasonable...it came in at about $900.
Some cute open shelving was also added to the space along with new window treatments.
Donna and her hubby built the kitchen's farmhouse style table and then last week yours truly painted the skirt and legs and stained the top. The tabletop was cut from a larger piece of pine Donna purchased at Home Depot along with 3/4 round strips to bull-nosed the edges. Mr. Rosemary Lane cut and attached the 3/4 round to the table with an air gun and compressor. The six chairs were another thrift store find for only $50. They are slated to be painted white with a new fun and funky colored fabric for the seat cushions.
And finally the last big ticket item added to the kitchen was the new counter top finish. This again was painted on right over the old Formica top using a faux granite paint kit by Giaini. This was my project for the kitchen and I am still in shock over how fabulous the counters turned out...they really do look like granite! To see this transformation up-close and personal, just click here.
Donna also painted the tile back splash with a special tile paint in which she added a little sand to for texture.
The breakdown...
The new stove came in around $500.
Kit to paint Formica...$79.95 by Giani
New cabinet hardware...$52
The Center Island total project cost...$100
The leather-topped stools were picked up at a thrift shop for $10 each.
The total cost for the new laminate floor came in at $900.
Farmhouse table project...$130
Six chairs for the kitchen table...$50
Open shelving and dishware...$25
New window treatments...$30
Faux Granite paint by Giaini...$69.95
Back splash paint...$25
Total cost for kitchen makeover...$2071.85 not including tax and shipping for those items bought on the internet.
Here's a side by side look...
Here's a side by side look...
The kitchen came out looking fabulous and my oh my what a charming space. 21 Rosemary Lane was thrilled to be part of this transformation and we want to thank Donna and her family for allowing us to share the experience.
Hope you all are enjoying these last few weeks of summer before the kiddos go back to school!
Have a great day!!!
XO
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