It's not much to show off, but it's what we had to work with. And it's pretty much done. We have some finishing touches, light molding, under cab lights, etc.

I tried to do a very subtle two tone color scheme with the cabinets. Looked good on all the sample boards I painted, and held up. But, in the end the lower cabs just aren't dark enough. And don't provide the contrast I'd hoped for. But, it's no biggie. It's 150 times better then the oak, so for now..I'm good. We'll repaint them soon enough. It didn't take much for us to do the boxes (we painted them ourselves) and my painter was pretty inexpensive (had the doors and drawers sprayed)

I'd love to replace the floor and appliances. But, it's not in the budget. (well, we are getting a new dishwasher, just not SS) And this is also a house I'd hoped to have been out of by this year. The market isn't in our favor :) So, I've been trying to make our cookie cutter kitchen more tolerable. I'm happy enough with it. If nothing else, burned out. Just to be rid of the oak cabs makes thrills me.

Thanks for everyone who advised me over the last couple years. I sooo appreciate it!

small breakdown

Counter top-belle noche, wilsonart high def ($800)

backsplash-cheapo subway tile from Lowes (200)

cabinets-$100 in paint, and $200 for painter dude to spray doors and drawers. uppers BM white dove. lowers BM baby fawn.
$30 for cabinet maker guy to cut out the middle of four doors, and $50 for glass company to add glass

knobs-$50 Lowes
drawer pulls $20 ordered on line

beadboard, molding, other building materials $100

before

now
favorite thing is how dh beefed up the moulding. so we no longer have that huge space above for dust collectors :)

after subway tile and counters

dh put beadboard along the back of the bar, and end of cabs

Makes me sort of wonder why I spent so damned much on mine!!

The cabinets look awesome, especially the glass doors. And the molding, too!
And the countertop is so shiny, I would never know that is not granite.
Very nice job!!

What color paint is that? I love it!

Great, great, great job!

Best wishes for a quick sale.

Nope, the house isn't for sale. We'd lose too much to put it on the market right now. But, our "3 yr plan" in this house, is going on 4..and it's depressing :(
We'd hoped to list last yr and be into something bigger. Oh well, could be worse.

Congrats!

Would you be willing to go into detail in regards to the steps that you took to paint your cabinets?

berry..hopefully I can keep things neat :)It's only been a couple wks. Quite often the cabs on the left are half empty, as they hold my every day dishes. So many people in the family, never stays full for long :)

Well done! Definitey get this one added to the Finished Kitchens Blog.

cawfee, the paint is BM Lenox Tan

Katie

And now I have to get that "Cookies Fix Everything" sign. :-)

Congratulations on such a huge transformation and would never believe it was done with such a miniscule budget.

LOL Ciana, and with a bunch of little boys. It's the truth! :)

I love the glass cabinet fronts -- especially with the canisters in them, the beefed up crown, the new paint and the cookie sign. I want one too! LOL

It only cost you $200 to have someone spray the doors and drawer fronts for you? Wowzers. I am going to see if I can find that kind of deal. I seriously am not looking forward to doing 70 of these things.

Your makeover may have been under 2K, but no one would ever guess that. That's why these kind of makeovers are really my favorite. So creative, so affordable, so smart. Congrats on a great, great job!

Job well done....now go eat some cookies! I bet a big weight has been lifted from your shoulders. It was so stressful picking out the paint color!

I also agree this one looks like you spent 10 times what you actually spent.

Bonus: They can be extremely eco-friendly (not much went to the landfill). Use "green" paints and replacement materials, and increase the effect, if that's your goal.

Enjoy, and enjoy the time and money you saved!

olesya, sorry..yes. Counter is laminate! We didn't have the money to do granite, and honestly wouldn't have in this house anyways.

And yea, my painter was cheap! At first he quoted me $320. At the time we were going with a different look. Going to do some distressing. And I believe a lacquer finish or something. When we changed to the white, no distressing..the job was fairly quick. Oh, and I supplied the paint which I believe originally he was going to.
I love the sprayed finish. It's nice and smooth, no brush strokes. The grain is still there, but I don't mind it at all. I didn't ask him to fill it or anything. There are some areas the grain is pretty heavy, and it seeped in pretty deep. Leaving little grooves. But, I hardly notice any more. I just see the over all result. NO MORE OAK! :)

kitchen monster, here are some pics of during.

all dh did was pop off old molding. glued, then nailed 6 inch MDF back where the old crown was. And use a little trim piece where the cabinet and MDF met. And added the crown back on.

The glass doors, and the new moulding are just genius!!!! I never would have thought of that.

Excellent, excellent job!

:-)

I have not spent much time on this forum for quite some time..and was here when you were agonizing over giving up your red kitchen...that I dearly loved...BUT, now I find this that you have done and it is SO WONDERFUL!!!!...and on such a low budget too...my kinda gal!

Phoggie