Hi redrum,

Love the pictures of your progress. You've come a long way, bet that took a while to sift through old pictures and come up with the narrative. Really like the tile backsplash and the long table (what fun).

Especially like your nickname for the kitchen. I've used variations of that in more than one online username... Huge Stephen King fan here.

Best,

Oldbat2be

Wonderful job. I hope you had as much fun as I did when I built the cabinets in our first house. I drew the cutting plan for the plywood very precisely to scale for 4 x 8 sheets and took it to the lumber yard to have them cut the pieces. The saw guy peered carefully at it and stared at me. He thought I had drawn a picture of the finished cabs! Anyway, we used them for 20 good years.

I never dared to do tile, except for peel and stick vinyl stuff. Great work on the backsplash. And I LOVE the table.

Congratulations to both you and DH.

What a transformation. I love the redo, the way you tell the story, and the economy of it all. Thanks for sharing!

It turned out great! Well done.

Now I really wanna see the rest of this place!!! :)

Looks fantastic! What a complete transformation.

Your kitchen looks great! You should be very proud of yourselves for all the hard work and how it all turned out! I really like the tile work and the table is just wonderful!!! Enjoy for many years to come!!!

You did a great job -- it's so warm, homey, and cozy-clean. I love the reclaimed door-table and the shelves above your sink (great elephant!!). Really wonderful touches. Congratulations on a ton of work, amazing savings, and a fabulous result.

I may have nightmares about those old cabinets tonight, though!!

You did such a great job on the counter tile and trim. I would never had believed it was painted wood if you didn't say so. Enjoy!

Wow, you guys have some mad DIY skills! Those original cabs were painted like that on purpose?! You new kitchen is so much nicer, and that's a really nice faux finish on the wood, matches beautifully.

That is a great DIY kitchen! The faux painted trim is spot on with the tile. The kitchen table is wonderful! Your DIY elbow grease makes this kitchen extra special. Kudos to you!!!

As always, I simply can't read your REDRUM narrative without hunting down and watching THIS again.

You did an amazing job, with such a small budget. What a difference. That door completely creeped me out, but your table is lovely! That faux finish on the tile is perfect, it looks exactly like your tile.

Great job, I love it you are very creative.

Great DIY! Such a difference from the before to the after!

Wow! That is an amazing transformation! It's hard to believe that is the same space. Great job!

I bow down to you and your DIY craftiness. Amazing job. And stripping 7 coats of paint-that poor door had to have been suffocating under there! So glad you freed it!

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments. They are greatly appreciated.

Oldbat2be - The kitchen earned the nickname here and on facebook, so I figured it was right.

clarygrace - This is actually a project house. We will sell it (eventually). But I do enjoy the kitchen when we are there.

scootermom - Originally he was going to be a "Towel Elephant". But he is an antique cast iron bank and I decided I didn't want to put wet towels on him. I decided he would be a natural to hold up the cookbooks.

To everybody who commented on the wood trim - It was actually very easy. I started with some paint and thickened it with thinset, and brushed it on the molding. The top color was from a can of rustoleum. I spray it on a paper plate then dabbed a paper towel in it and dabbed on the surface of the trim. Then several coats of poly. I have had no problems with it. I have wiped it with a wet rag and even a scrubber pad. It is hard as a rock (no pun intended).

bahacca - Yes, I love the table. I would like it to stay with the house because of the history, and plan on offering it to buyers. But I will put a note on the bottom of the table that says "DO NOT throw me away". Call Barb - She saved me once, and she will do it again :)

It looks beautiful and you did it on such a great budget. Good for you! I would have thought you had spent 10x's as much.

I love the before photos, you just never know what is in the walls at an older house.

3K budget!??!?!

Unreal. You put me to shame. It's very inspirational to see how you put together something so nice (and completely ALL NEW - to you anyway) with basically no money! It's warm and inviting, and updated with the ss, faucet, and mosaic bs. It also looks very functional. Real wood cabinetry - you're doing better than I am!

Well done!

hobokenkitchen should have hired you instead of her GC. You are amazing, and the kitchen is great. It's so warm. I agree with you - the table is the best part, because it's meaningful as well as beautiful.

Congratulations on an excellent job and a lovely kitchen!

That is such an amazing transformation. Good for you for seeing the potential in the house and executing it on a budget. Very impressive!

Wow what a transformation! Great job it looks great!

This is so fun to see!
Thanks for sharing the process as well as the finished product. Beautiful!

About the budget...

I am calling it the Dave Ramsey New Kitchen Budget.
Necessity is the mother of invention :)

Seriously, this is a el cheapo foreclosure fix up, with every room needing renovation.

SOMEDAY.... I will do a kitchen for myself and I will blow that $3K out of the water :)

I highly recommend taking before, during and after pics to document the process.

I can't remember, are you going to rent the house or sell it? I don't think you are living there, correct?

Everything really turned out great, though the REDRUM kitchen will live on in infamy here.

I see you answered that above. Forgot to mention the table turned out fantastic!

Wow! What a transformation on an incredibly tiny budget! I am so impressed! You did a fantastic job. I LOVE what you did with the table. Just beautiful.

I can't help but wonder if the person who faux painted those cabinets (and obviously spent a lot of time doing it!) actually stood back and said "That looks great!"

gsciencechick - Planning on selling it. We just come up and stay on the weekends.

Poohpup - The next door neighbor told me the previous owner asked her to come over to look when she painted them. The neighbor was horrified, but said the owner was so proud of herself.

I do understand she was probably trying to brighten up the kitchen.

I love it!

"I do understand she was probably trying to brighten up the kitchen."

In a Stephen King sort of way. lol

Love the transformation, and that door-table is just fabulous!

It's kind of crazy how the kitchen seems so much brighter now, even with dark cabinets and backsplash. We did not add any windows.

We did enlarge the opening to the living room which helped. But I suspect it is because the morning sunlight comes in the window by the table and now hits the wall with the pantry and laundry closet, and bounces back into the room. Before it would have hit the cabinets on the sink wall.

I wish I could say I planned it that way :)

Barb, I can only imagine how horrified the neighbor was when she saw her faux handywork. lol

What a tremendous transformation. Well done!!!

I love your new kitchen. Very nice job!

Hope you called paranormal investigators before demo.

Honestly, I had so much fun reading about and looking at your reveal. Almost made me want to DIY my own kitchen, so I drank a couple glasses of wine until I came to my senses.

I think your faux painted tile trim is possibly the coolest thing ever.

Did you see the faux job she did in her bath? Check out her shower tile fix! Very clever.

"Hope you called paranormal investigators before demo."

Ha ha, no they weren't in the budget.

Funny story; Our granddaughter was about 3 when we bought the house. She was afraid to come down the stairs from the second floor (Very tight and dark). One day she sat on the top step crying for someone to carry her down. I was at the bottom encouraging her to come down herself. My DH took a broom stick into the kitchen and tapped on the ceiling. She heard this noise coming from the bedroom. She got down those stairs in an instant :)

As for the faux molding. A neighbor came over to see the new kitchen a couple weeks ago. He stood leaning against the kitchen counter. After a while he commented on how much he like the tile counters. DH asked how he liked the trim, and explained that it was wood. He said "What? I thought it was tile!"

Thanks for all the compliments on my faux trim. I always wished I had inherited some of my Mother's artistic ability. I guess it just came about in a different form.

And yes, the tile in the bathroom will look familiar ;)

SUCH a fun travelogue -- thank you! I do hope you're really proud of yourself: I'm proud of you! It's really amazing. Yes, I agree about your mother's artistic-ness outing itself.

I love following through the old pictures. When we moved into my house 16 years ago there was a drop ceiling propped up by moldy coke cans littered with rat turds, etc. So gross, so miraculous ... and so in my memory alone. I was so horrified I took no pictures. Geesh. Underneath that drop ceiling was a beautiful window only ... I think that's gone now too. *sigh*. mistakes. Thanks for documenting the history.

wow. Those cabs are freaky. How would anyone do that and go "I like it!". IT LOOKS LIKE BLOOD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!".

If you'd have only torn it out and left it, that would have been an improvement.. but your new kitchen looks great and I love how much you've DIY'd. Even drywall? Ugh.

Good thing I work nights or I'd be having a nightmare about those cabinets right now.

Wow! You and your husband sure are talented! Amazing transformation. Please do NOT let my DH see your budget. I can't believe you managed what you did for that little money!

Amazing! DIY is tons of work and sweat, but also the most satisfying.

I need you. Bring your dh. A summer vacation in AZ is awesome. There's a free place for you to stay here. Camping with a/c and indoor plumbing. Sort of.

I had never heard that term REDRUM before, and we just visited the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park and saw it written in an attic stairwell. Now I know the story!

"I had never heard that term REDRUM before, and we just visited the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park and saw it written in an attic stairwell. Now I know the story!"

Ok, I think THAT would freak me out!

desertsteph - OMG, don't you dare tell him that. He would want to do it, but there is too much here on his to do list.

Also a few more pictures.

Here is a closeup of how the trim turned out.

And a close up on the floor. This is Allure "White", thought I don't know why the names it that. It is grey. So easy to put down, and easy to clean. Ooops, looks like I need to sweep :)

Wow! Amazing transformation. Congratulations! Your faux painting is perfect and I agree that uncovering the old door was worthwhile. What a great table. Enjoy!

Amazing job, Mrs. Torrance! ;)

What a beautiful transformation that I cannot believe you achieved with that budget! Amazing!

I love how you "rescued" the door and made it your dining table--how perfect!

Your faux tile trim is genius! It is an absolute match to your tile counters; I am so impressed with your mad skillz!

You must be so *relieved* to have such a beautiful kitchen--one that does not leave you standing slack-jawed staring at its *cough* uniqueness or have visitors run from it, screaming in terror. ;)

Congratulations!

I just hope the potential buyers who see it in the Spring feel the same way :)