Kitchen - Before and After

When we purchased our house we purposefully bought a "fixer upper" because we wanted to make it our own.  Since then we have removed wallpaper, taken down walls, built built-ins, and tiled floors to name just a few of the projects.

Our Budget Friendly Kitchen Update:

AFTER:

The kitchen felt closed off from the rest of the house, especially while cooking due to the cabinets above the peninsula

So we took them down...

After:

Additionally, the walls between the kitchen, mudroom and back family room separated it from the living space...so we took them down too

MORE AFTER & DETAILS:

Views from the kitchen into the family room:

There were two walls separating this space before - one behind the built-in bench and the other in front of the wet bar...now it is open!

Views from the family room into the kitchen:

Now you can see into the kitchen from the family room - the kitchen is not as closed off and separated anymore

A Few More Before and After:

 We removed the old desk below and replaced it with a pantry cabinet

We removed bifold doors (far right above) and created a more decorative storage nook

Pantry and Decorative Storage Nook:

The kitchen table and lamp in the foreground of this photo below

Were replaced with built-in storage bench seating and a new chandelier

 We have changed the table that has occupied this space several times...below is the current table.
To see the diy post on this table click here: DIY Square Pedestal Table

The top of the benches lift for storage of items not used very often

We cleaned...before the kitchen was a mess!  We found a few dead mice behind appliances...yuck!

All the light fixtures were replaced:

To see how to update a chandelier by painting it see: Painted Chandeliers and Light Fixtures - DIY

We reused all the hinges and as many cabinets as we could - I like the character of the old hinges, but we changed all the knobs

 We also updated all of the appliances, sink, faucet, backsplash and countertops.  We left the original tiled floor.

So there it is!  Our budget friendly kitchen update!  We saved the most money by reusing our cabinets and floor and by updating our appliances but not moving them.