Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

It's no secret that my kitchen cabinets were screaming for a remodel.  The early 1990's kept calling and asking for their honey oak cabinets to come back.  I am thrilled to have oak cabinets gone forever and welcomed new white, modern, clean cabinets with open arms!

First, lest we forget how far we've come....

Here is the kitchen prior to us purchasing the home- in the summer of 2010.

Ugh, right?  You can see more of those pics and the incredible floor remodel (prior to our move-in) here.

Because funds were limited, we removed the wallpaper and painted the walls to match the open family room (which was also painted prior to move-in).  

That helped a lot, and then my kitchen looked like this....

In July, I met with a painter who gave me a very reasonable quote to paint the cabinets.  Based on her quote, I had to save $1000 more than what I already had.  We did not have any wiggle room in our budget, and I have a separate account for my Etsy sales, consignment store sales, and other random side-job type things I do (none of which make a lot of money).  I told my painter that I would work hard to save the money and hoped to call her in two months or less.

So, I started listing items in my Etsy shop, and thing started selling.  One of the biggest lessons I have learned about selling on Etsy is that the more you list, the more you sell.  Keeping your inventory up will almost always guarantee more sales.  At one time, my inventory was close to 100 items, and it has dropped a little since then, but 100 items is my goal.  My Etsy sales accounted for the single biggest contributor to my $1000 goal- nearly 40% if I remember correctly.

I also sold kids clothes, toys, and other items at a local consignment sale, Boutique for a Week.  This sale helped me earn about 30% of what I needed for the cabinets.  I made bridesmaids gifts for a friend's wedding- that was another 15%.  I also purged some books and sold on Amazon- another 10%.  I made another 10% from Google Ads, and things started coming together.  

By September 1, just seven weeks after my meeting with the painter, I had all the money I needed to call her and set a start date!

She and her team arrived on a Monday morning, and worked tirelessly until Friday afternoon.  I was incredibly pleased with the quality of work and professionalism she displayed.  If you are in Orlando and would like the name and number of such an outstanding painter, please email me.

I'll stop talking now and let these amazing photos speak for themselves!

The cabinets coordinate perfectly with the pull-out kitchen pantry my husband made.  My  magnetic spice organization is still working wonderfully for our family!

The paint color is Clear Moon by Behr.

The kitchen light deserves an entire post, but my dad and my husband are  responsible for this amazing transformation.  Also, this photo give a glimpse into our family room, which underwent an incredible transformation about two years ago.

I really like the clean, white look, but am adding pops of green as I can.  Green curtain, green shag rug (Target), green baskets on the microwave (also Target).

Before the white cabinets, I thought the countertops were so dated.  Now that the cabinets are updated, the countertops don't look nearly as bad.  In fact, I think they match the floor well!

Next to my mixer is my recipe binder (Target), which I use daily.  I talked about how meal planning has helped me survive working full time in this post.

Another pop of color- not green, but pink flowers from a friend's garden.  I try to keep either flowers or a candle on the stovetop.

This print was found on Pinterest, and is available as a free download here.  The frame is from Target (big surprise!).

Barstools are from Wal-Mart.

Through the door you can see my laundry room, which was remodeled last summer.  You can also catch a small glimpse of my sewing room, which was remodeled last summer as well.

I absolutely love this kitchen!  It turned out so much better than I imagined, and I couldn't be any happier with the finished product.  It was absolutely worth all my extra work to save towards my goal.

Anyone else had any home projects lately?  I'd love to see!  Leave me a link in the comments if so.