Kitchens are the heart of the home. Is it time for a kitchen remodel? With these kitchen refresh ideas, you can do it without breaking the bank. Use your imagination to visualize new surfaces without replacing a thing,
The 70 Year Old Kitchens Remodel
In our last home, the configuration left something to be desired. And the surfaces were very old. That’s about 70 years old. We also wanted to convert to natural gas which meant that since we were hooking up to gas , we could have the gas line placed where we wanted it.
This meant that we could rearrange things a bit. The stove will go where the refrigerator was and the refrigerator will get a new home on an unused wall. The empty wall is between the powder room and the hall way.
The Refrigerator Wall
We built cabinets to surround the new home for the refrigerator. A drawer cabinet to the left with an upper cabinet as well as an over the fridge cabinet. Both sides of the fridge have enclosures to give it that built in look.
The result was a very functional use of a previously empty wall. It now houses the refrigerator as well as much needed storage and drawer space. And the icing on the cake is that it serves as a coffee bar as well!
The Stove Wall
The stove with the new gas hook up was located where the refrigerator used to be and a new slide out trash bin was installed to the left of the stove. What a convenience! Also, an over the range microwave/convection oven was installed.
The Sink Wall
The old sink was removed and the cabinet was cut down to accommodate a sleek stainless steel farm house sink. A new laminate stock counter top has been installed. As you can see, the flooring has also been updated with LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank).
The Former Stove Wall
Where the stove used to be, we expanded the counter wrapping around the corner and continuing to the door. So much more space! The new counter was placed on top of a new, open face cabinet for pots and pans. On the upper cabinet, where the hood vent used to be, we extended the cabinet down with a shelf.
Kitchens Cabinet Refresh
All of the existing cabinets are the original 70 year old cabinets that were built with the house. The doors were completely flat. I had the brilliant idea of updating them by simply applying a thin, 1/4 x 2 inch wood border framing each door. it instantly updated the cabinets to a shaker style look. Add fresh paint and new brushed aluminum pulls and there you have it.
Kitchens Refreshed
Finished off with new LED undercounter tape lighting. It was a lot of work but so worth it. All DIY except for the gas plumbing. So lets recap shall we? We built a fridge surround with new cabinets, new ceiling light, new LVP flooring, new farmhouse sink, new laminate countertops and retrimmed cabinets with new pulls. Oh, and the most expensive part, new appliances.
Current Kitchen Makeover
When we got our current home, it had a kitchen with good bones. Good quality KraftMaid cabinets. Nothing needed to be moved, appliances anyway. There was a peninsula style counter between the dinning room and the kitchen that we decided to repurpose.
The counter tops were a bright red and the only kitchen lighting was from an over the sink lamp, a ceiling fan lamp and two undercounter fluorescent lights. It may sound like a lot but trust me when I say it was a dark kitchen! The floors were old rolled vinyl flooring from the 70’s.
All of three appliances were on there way out and needed replacing and the dishwasher had to be replaced almost immediately. The stove and refrigerator followed soon. Again, the most expensive part.
Let the Kitchens Refresh Begin
First of all, we replaced the old sink with a new workstation sink and faucet. The kind that has all the accessories included such as a bottom grid, drying rack and cutting board.
Peninsula to Island
The peninsula that separated the dinning room from the kitchen got repurposed as said before into a kitchen island. The peninsula’s base consisted of two 36 inch wall cabinets side by side which made it 72 inches long with a depth of 12 inches. We placed the two cabinets back to back making the island base 36 inches by 24 inches right in the middle of the kitchen floor. With the counter being 72 inches long, it provided a substantial over hang for two bar stools.
Flooring
Before installing the island, we took the opportunity to install new flooring. The old sheet vinyl (pictured below on the right) from the 70’s had seen better days for sure. The new floor (pictured below on the left) is LVP (luxury vinyl plank). It’s durable and easy on the feet. What a difference!
Cabinet Hardware
It is amazing what changing cabinet hardware can do for a kitchen! Without doing anything else, changing door knobs and drawer pulls can change the entire look of the kitchen. With so many styles and types available, the choices are almost endless. They are very easy to change and sometimes require drilling new holes. Our selection is shown below.
Counter Tops Upgrade
With everything else coming along, it was time to upgrade the countertops. The bright red counters that we had been living with had to go. Bright red might work in some kitchens, but now ours.
We chose to go with a neutral color granite. It was the second biggest cost in the kitchen refresh. For the island, Jamie wanted to go with butcher block.
After the new counters were installed we had to do something about the outdated backsplash, It was very dated white tiles with random floral tiles. We decided to go with a white brick which turned out incredible.
Cabinet Painting
If you have good cabinets, why change them at a huge expense? Paint them! You can choose any color that you want and make it your own. Painting cabinets gives the impression of new cabinets and with the new hardware, it’s a total game changer.
We used a special cabinet paint called NUVO for durability. A Blue called Tidal Haze, my favorite, is the new color.
Lighting is Everything
As mentioned before, the kitchen was very dark in my opinion. Lighting needed to be addressed! We removed the two florescent lights that were under cabinet and replaced them with new LED tape lighting. It provides a bright consistent light across all of the counters.
Over the sink was a dated fixture which we replaced with a barn style sconce with a bronze finish. And over the island, where a fan once hung, we installed tree pendant lights. The big difference came when we installed the LED tape lighting above the cabinets, out of sight, that washes the ceiling with light. It’s not dark anymore!
The Dishwasher Find
It’s our second one and we love them. We installed one in our previous home and decided to upgrade with the kitchen refresh. It’s the dish drawer from Fisher & Paykel. It’s two dishwashers in the space of one. You can run one or the other or both at the same time. Heavy load on the bottom, delicate load on top or any combination. How cool is that? Check them out here:
Kitchen Makeover Complete
With all the changes and upgrades, the kitchen is everything it should be. A comfortable, functional and beautiful place for cooking and gatherings. Remember, the litchen is the heart of the home!
When thinking about your kitchen, you may not need the works. You may only need to do a couple of things to freshen things up and satisfy your desires. We hope that you got some ideas and inspiration. Let your imagination take you there and see what’s possible.
You should see what we did to our bathrooms, check it out here:
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