Re-Revamped Kitchen- Less than $300

So...as it usually goes, in the middle of adding to our kitchen something on Pinterest or another DIY blog change my course.

So hubby, my ever so supportive victim...uh yeah I mean partner in crime, gladly obliged me. :) I am so spoiled, but shhh don't let him know that I know that. ;)

Anyhow, We had done a lot of DIY to our basic builder grade kitchen. Let's see, hmmm:

1. painted the walls
2. painted the cabinets
3. painted the countertops
4. new dishwasher
5. new stove
6. added an OTR microwave
7. new fridge
8. new floor
9. new ceiling light
10. added under-counter lights
11. added molding at the top of the cabinets
12. added an additional cabinet to the right of the sink
13. added a bridge (with lights above the sink)
...uhh I am pretty sure there is more but I can't think of anything else right now, actually I am kind of tired after typing that :/

This is the kitchen the day we moved in. Of yeah I forgot our awesome contractor buddy added a cool arch on to this half wall, that was one of the first big projects after we moved in. 

This is partially through the list above (you can kind of see the arch on the right)

Here is mid-light bridge project.

Ok so now you are all caught up here is the deal, I need to change A LOT!!! I love the barn red, but my house is so dark (not a lot of natural light) so it is either change the wall or change the cabinets (but we totally love the cabinets black) so the walls have got to go.

And the countertops, oh the countertops...just basic formica blah cream colored countertops that I painted to "look" like granite (this was my first attempt at countertop painting and I think they turned out pretty nice). Problem is I am over it. I found a great tutorial on the Breakfast For Dinner blog and decided to go for it.

Of course we can't ever do things the easy way so we had to beef it up. While hubby is working on the counters at our friends house (they are letting us use their garage since ours is full of my many other projects)... I got started on the cabinets. We love the color but I needed to redo them. The cabinets were the first thing I tackled after we moved in and I was a true novice at painting wood things so I didn't use the right finish. Needless to say a couple of years later they looked, well...pretty crappy.

And so it begins (sorry for the blarring lights I took the pic at night so I needed them on)

Another before shot

Before- excuse our dinner on the counter :)

The GRAND plan:

1. Redo the moulding above the cabinets (needed to be done after adding bridge and additional upper cabinet)
2. Paint Walls
3. New faucet and sink
4. New countertops (wood)
5. Add hardware to cabinets

Hubby is ready to put in the new moulding (needed to replace the old moulding since we added the additional cabinet on the right of the sink).

Hubby and his buddy putting up the moulding, I will add...that this was a HUGE triumph since we are horrible with cutting crown moulding. Gotta love these guys they worked so hard to figure it all out and manage to get the outside and inside corner cut. I think it turned out pretty darn good. 

See the pretty corner ;)

My oldest even volunteered to help me...on her senior ditch day!! What an awesome kid!!! 

Day 2- finish inside of cabinets and paint outside of cabinets

Yep I used nothing but spray paint for this project (Valspar Paint + Primer in semi-gloss), messy but looks so much better than when I used a roller and a brush. But I did use Polycrylic as a top coat to add some protection.

Wasn't so worried about taping off the wall since we are going to paint it anyway.

I ran the shop vac while I was spraying and it helped to eliminate a little bit of the fine mist/dust and the odor that happens when you spray paint. 

Let's take a quick break from the paint portion of the project...this is what hubby is working on for me, the countertops. We purchased 2x10's (this picture is for the sink side so we used 2- 2x10's and a 2x6 to match the existing size of the counter.). Hubby used a biscuit joiner and a lot of wood glue to attached them together. Once all that is dried and filled he also attached several "mending plates" to each joint for stability. 

This is the long side cabinet (where the sink goes) and our buddy Randy (sorry Randy)

I used ProBond wood filler to fill the joint gaps since it is supposed to be stronger and it contains real wood bits and its stainable. 

The plan for the counters is to join all of the boards, putty, sand stain and poly like crazy- hopefully giving it the look of one solid piece of wood. I will tell you one thing... these are going to be some super strong counter tops (they are freakin' heavy!!!!). **Added note- the putty was stainable but was much darker than the wood, so you can see the seam- but they still look awesome. I knew I was kidding myself that it would look like a solid piece of wood for the money we spent and the process.

Cabinets are painted and so are the walls
(except for the area right above the existing counter tops- I will take care of that later)

I love that my red buffet stands out so much more against the beige walls. I never thought I could be more in love with this piece of furniture but I totally am!!

A little trick my mom taught me. Wrap rollers and brushes in plastic wrap and put in the fridge while waiting for the next coat. It works like a charm and will stay soft and wet for days. 

Back to the island counter top... Each piece was joined together with biscuits, wood glue and several mending plates. I then puttied the seems (you can still see the seems but the putty at least get rid of the ridge/valley so no food, etc will get down there.)

Here we are all sanded and ready for stain...so exciting!!!

I stained and poly'd the bottom first .  I used 2 coats of Minwax Special Walnut and 1 coat of Minwax Espresso. Then 3 coats of poly. I chose not to sand in between each coat because I wanted the poly (Polycrylic- my new favorite protective coating)  to build up a thicker coat. I did sand really well between the last 2 coats (sanded with 220 grit then finished with a 600 grit).

First coat of stain on the top, this pic makes the stain look more reddish than it is 

This is a more accurate representation of the color (this is after the first coat of polycrylic).

4th coat of poly (still wet)

Final coat. I rolled the final coat so that I could pull the lines from one side to the other. I used a nappy roller for paints and stains. My "painter" friend taught me a trick to eliminate the fuzz that can happen- he said to run the roller over a piece of tape several times. It seemed to work I don't see any fuzz. Now just to wait the 24 hours before we can put the bad boy in the kitchen. I am soooo freakin' excited I can't wait to see it in place. **Another added note- I was so disappointed...the roller left stipling :( so it feels crappy and looks crappy. So we had to sand it with 220 and then 600 and do an additional coat. Just another lesson learned, I need to stop trying new things when something is working well. 

Ok, so while waiting for that to dry let's check out what is going on in the kitchen (they took these counters out to use as templates since they require much more precise measurements/cuts)... Now I can paint the rest of the walls

While they were fixing the sink (needed new ball valves) I decided to start painting down to the cabinets. There will be a line (from the top of the old cabinets) from the many layers of paint, etc over the years. But we are planning on doing a backsplash so I can live with the line for a while. 

It turns my stomach to waste this precious space in the kitchen (this whole corner is just an open hole) but to make use of it we would have to replace cabinets to fit a lazy susan.

and no more counter tops :) YAY! One step closer.

**At this point the final poly coat is still drying (needs 24 hours before it is ready) and all the pieces have been cut for the counter tops (and put together). The small piece that goes to the left of the stove is completely sanded and now has been stained and the 2nd coat of poly has been applied to the bottom.

My plan is to complete the 3rd coat before I go to bed and then in the morning I can flip it and start on the top. Once this piece is done it can be put in place, but we have decided to wait to install the island top so that they don't have to worry about hitting it while dry fitting the longer, sink piece. So the island will actually be the last piece installed.

We also decided to get the long/sink piece and the piece that goes to the right of the stove put together with mending plates and then install it. Once installed I will putty the joint and sand then stain and poly.

This would actually be a fairly quick project if it wasn't for all of the dry time...but I know it will be totally worth it!

So now for the finale!!! Here is a side by side by side comparison of the kitchen from the day we moved in, the way it was for 2 years and the new look.