5 KITCHEN UPDATES BEFORE A REMODEL

I was ready to divorce my husband over the decision about the stove in our kitchen remodel. But eleven seasons of Frasier taught me the argument was likely not about the stove. It was about the sink. :0)

Or, it may have had something to do with our youngest child leaving for college. Truth? It has been a relatively smooth process. I attribute much of this to my patient husband and to the five budget-friendly projects we did before the more costly kitchen remodel.

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5 IDEAS BEFORE A KITCHEN REMODEL

We joked about the decisions surrounding the addition of a farmhouse sink and the relocation of a gas stove. But it was a relatively smooth process. And, I attribute it to the fact we completed these 5 ideas before we dived into a full kitchen remodel.

1. PAINT THE ISLAND

Kitchen islands are the focal point of the room. Before our remodel, I painted my kitchen island a dark grey.

We loved it so much that when we remodel our kitchen we decided on grey cabinets and posts to make the island look more like a piece of furniture.

2. ADD OPEN SHELVING

Where do you stand on open shelving?

My thoughts on open shelving are: be careful what you wish for.

Open shelving can trick you into thinking you want your plates and platters on full display on a shelf.

Until you decide you don’t want everyone to see your scratched plates and logo coffee mugs. It is exhausting and expensive to keep shelves in pin-worthy shape every day.

Here is my DIY open-shelf tutorial.

But DIY open shelves like these farmhouse shelves cost under $50.00 They are a great way to test out open shelving before committing to a cabinet demo and electrical

3. PAINT LOWER AND/OR UPPER CABINETS

Painted cabinets are an option if you have the skills, space, and patience to form an assembly line of cabinet door fronts.

Between the island and the cabinets, it makes sense to play with paint colors. Do you like all the cabinets the same color? Do you want the top and upper cabinets to match? We ended. Elliott thought I was taking photos of him.

4. CLEAR OUT SELECT CABINETS

Our architect suggested we clear out select cabinets before we commit to a kitchen remodel. Her rationale? We may not need all the cabinet space we think we need. Or, if we decide to reconfigure the kitchen layout we should have a trial run of where we want storage.

Does that make sense?

It was great advice for us. It forced us to evaluate the need for 14 medium size glass storage containers with 8 lids. And, it made us rethink if we really need to store our glass beverage dispenser in the kitchen when we only use it 2-3 times a year.

When my pseudo-contractor (husband) dragged his feet on removing this wall (because we would lose a few upper-level cabinets) I moved the conversation forward. How? I removed all the dishes and the microwave in the upper cabinets to make my point.

The half wall between the kitchen and dining room came down that weekend.

5. TEST OUT TILE WITH PEEL & STICK or PAINT

I thought my husband was going to lose his mind when he saw the faux white brick stones on the kitchen backsplash. Surprise! The truth is he was more afraid that this was a permanent solution for our kitchen backsplash. #suburbanmomprobs

I purchased faux white brick stones similar to these. I knew what I wanted for my kitchen counters, but I did not know what color or style I wanted for a backsplash. So I purchased a roll of faux brick peel-and-stick wallpaper. It gave me time to stick it and forget about it as I puttered around the kitchen.

An easier idea is to paint the back of the backsplash in a tile color you have already pinned to your Pinterest boards.

I did not realize how these 5 ideas before the kitchen renovation would come into play when we actually made the financial commitment to update our 20-year-old kitchen cabinets and counters.

THESE ARE FUN TOO!

CHECK OUT THIS BEFORE AND AFTER BATHROOM REMODEL 5 KITCHEN SINK IDEAS BEFORE THANKSGIVING HOME TOUR REMODEL BEFORE + AFTER