As soon as we walked into the kitchen during our initial house tour, we knew it needed a kitchen makeover. We discussed how the 36” wood cabinets on all four sides, and the peninsula, which blocked immediate access to the dining space and the sliding door to the back deck, all made the room feel very restricting.
There was also the issue of the appliances; they were old and damaged. Plus the stove was too close to the fridge. It actually violated code!
While we weren’t in love with the porcelain floors, they were in decent shape and we realized that replacing the tile wouldn’t add value to the house.
One of our goals was to make the space more feng shui, providing easy access to the dining room and the sliding door to the back deck. We also wanted to maximize storage space by having the cabinets reach the ceiling.
We waited for holiday sales to order all new appliances from Lowe’s. Then Luke drafted plans for the kitchen remodel. We shared that draft with our contractor, Glen Mitchell Contracting, and brought it with us to Affordable Granite & Cabinetry. They produced an AutoCAD rendering for the kitchen layout and showed us various countertop options (quartz and granite). To make the porcelain tile work, we decided to go with a white quartz with minimal design and white kitchen cabinets.
Donating is rewarding…
We don’t like to contribute to unnecessary waste if possible. It was very appealing to us to salvage the old kitchen cabinets. They were in great shape and it was obvious to us that someone would be able to use them. Also, it’s expensive to junk kitchen cabinets.
Keeping this in mind, Luke used his favorite power drill to remove each of the cabinets.
Through some research, we discovered that Habitat for Humanity of Newburgh was happy to take the old cabinets and could resell them at Newburgh ReStore. It’s a great local resource that resells household items in good condition and then uses that revenue to help build or renovate affordable homes. They even drove out to our house to pick them up.
It’s a win-win for everyone!
The final kitchen makeover results…
Glen Mitchell Contracting and his team installed our new kitchen cabinets. The chrome colored drawer handles and sink faucet ordered from build.com match perfectly with the stainless steel appliances we ordered from Lowe’s.
We have open shelving for plants and other colorful items. We even got lucky acquiring two gray cushioned stools for the island from friends that tie everything together.
There is even shelving built into the kitchen island for cookbooks, which has helped start many conversations with guests about eating gluten-free (Joanna has celiacs disease).
Lastly we visited West Elm and found the perfect expandable dining room table (seats up to 10 people), super comfortable chairs and a matching rug.
We’re so happy with the kitchen makeover results! Everything now feels lighter and brighter, inviting and more feng shui! It’s such an inviting environment to have friends and family over for meals.
2 responses to “Our Kitchen Make Over, Going From Ordinary To Amazing… ”
This is such a fantastic transformation and it looks lovely and so spacious. Way to go- I really appreciate learning about Restoreas well. Can’t wait to see more!
Thanks for the positive feedback Paula! Restore is such a great resource.