Our DIY Kitchen Remodel-Before Picture and Inspiration

We are starting our DIY kitchen remodel, and I will take you through the process showing what all is involved with this remodel. I will be posting all the projects in a separate post.

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Plans

1. Paint the cabinets white.
2. Change all the cabinet knobs to chrome knobs and pulls.
3. Install farmhouse sink and new faucet.
4. Remove granite and install new quartz.
5. Add 2 lights over island.
6. Build a table with a zinc tabletop.
7. Install white tile backsplash.
8. Replace broken dishwasher with new dishwasher.

We will also be building a DIY kitchen table with a zinc tabletop. This will be our very first furniture project and we are going big. I had been eyeing a zinc table at my favorite furniture store in my town. This store is where I go to see what is current in home decor. The table in the store is $2500, and of course, I am building the table to save money but also because the table looks like something we can pull off.  Plus I want this table to be passed down to my children.

We always do our own DIY projects if we are able so that we can keep our remodels and projects within our budget. My husband and I try to save up the money for all our projects so that we will not be in debt and the way for us to help achieve this is to do the work ourselves. Of course, there are times we call in the professionals instead of doing a project that we are not capable of. We watch all the renovation shows so we know what can wrong.

We purchased our home in 2002, and that was 15 years ago. We had oak cabinets and gray Formica countertops (they were removed and replaced before this photo was taken). During the first two years that we owned the house, we changed the appliances to stainless appliances, and we removed the Formica countertops and had granite countertops installed. I wanted black granite because that was popular during that time. My husband and I went to the granite place and picked out the granite that we wanted from the samples that were on the wall. We set up a time for them to be delivered. We did not know that you should go out to where they keep their slabs and pick your granite and they never offered to tell us.

When the workers came and installed the granite, I looked at it and I told them that this is not what I ordered. This granite is green, not black. The installers asked me if I went out to the yard and picked out my slab, and I told them that I did not know that I could. I was so upset! We called the owner but we had no luck getting them to change the countertops so I have lived with this green granite for 13 years and it is time to change.

My husband and I painted the cabinets a cream color five years ago. In fact, it was our very first DIY project. We had no idea where to start with this project so we purchased the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit. The painted cabinets looked great and lasted five years but they are beginning to chip in places and they are starting to look a little yellowish. You can see the difference in the color if you look at the crown molding and the door compared to the cabinets. 

Inspiration Photo

by AGK Design Studio

I want a white and bright kitchen, and I have been pinning my dream kitchen for years now. I know that I want my countertops to look like white marble but white marble is very hard to take care of so I have been researching, and I am going with white quartz that looks like marble. Quartz is a man-made stone and it is gorgeous. It is very durable and easy to maintain. 

Our family goes to a large church with many small groups and they say that there is a small group for everyone. Someone told me about one of the small groups called “Sawdust”. They meet in a warehouse and the instructor lets us use his tools. He is very knowledgeable and really enjoys helping us with our projects. My husband and I decided our project would be trying to build a zinc table like the one I have been eyeing at my favorite furniture store. We are using table legs from Tablelegs.com and they are absolutely gorgeous. They are very heavy and well made. In fact, everyone that walks into the warehouse loves them! This table with these legs is going to be stunning. I will be posting the DIY zinc table instructions with step-by-step photos when the table is complete.

We have ordered the zinc, and we will apply it to the table in a few days.

My husband went out of town last week so I started on the remodel without him. There is no turning back now! I removed, deglossed, lightly sanded, and cleaned the cabinets. When he came home, we painted the cabinet doors with our HomeRight paint sprayer and spray shelter. We only painted one side because we wanted the paint to have a lot of time to dry before we painted the other side. We will finish the project this week, and I will post the process of painting the cabinets next. We have painted the cabinets at our beach house, lake house, and our house and I have figured out some ways to make this job much easier that I will post on my next blog post. You can follow me on Instagram @savvyapron to see more photos and Instagram stories of our remodel and sign up for my emails to get the latest on our DIY Kitchen Remodel.