Our Kitchen Renovation Details, with Costs and Sources

It’s taken me a little while to put this post together, but I’m excited to finally give you an update on our kitchen renovation on a budget, with information on sources and costs, including the kitchen cabinet painting cost (we ended up having our kitchen cabinets painted professionally), and much more!

Once I began talking about our kitchen project over on Instagram, I started receiving questions about sources and costs, so I wanted to share what we chose, why we chose what we did, what we would have done differently, and some tips for planning your own kitchen renovation.

Here are a few photos showing what our kitchen looked like just a few weeks ago, with cherry cabinets, granite countertops, stone backsplash, stainless steel sink, and brushed nickel hardware.

And here’s the after:

Every time I walk in the room I can’t believe how much brighter and happier this space feels!

kitchen sources

Kitchen Renovation Timeline and Kitchen Cabinet Painting Cost

To stay within our budget, we kept our old layout, cabinets, dishwasher and refrigerator, so I guess this was more of a kitchen makeover than a full-on kitchen remodel. Here’s our renovation timeline:

1. Create a kitchen design board

Deciding on the look, feeling, and color scheme for this space was the most important step, because it helped me clarify my vision for our kitchen. 

Honestly, I don’t think our kitchen makeover would have happened if I hadn’t taken the time to create this simple kitchen mood board a few months before renovating:

Tile // Bar Stool // Roman Shade // White Lighting
Cabinet Pulls  // Wishbone Chair  //  Woven Lighting
Rug  //  Faucet  //  Sink  //  Table

Amazingly, the final look ended up pretty close to what I had in mind! I guess that shows the value of creating a mood board before you embark on any project–even if it’s just a Pinterest board filled with inspiration or magazine clippings glued to a piece of poster board. 

2. Install a new microwave

Part of my plan was to remove the microwave that was hanging over our old electric range.  Since Dave uses the microwave a lot, he wasn’t ready to let it go, so we compromised on the idea of an under-the-counter model. 

Dave was able to install the new microwave in an existing 24″ lower cabinet of our island by removing three drawers.

I kind of struggled with losing those drawers, but by shifting things around and organizing my kitchen a little better I was able to give them up with very little inconvenience.  And we love our new microwave–it’s so nice to be able to remove hot things without having to reach over my head!

Initially, I also wanted to remove the cabinet over the stove and add a big, wooden vent hood over our new gas range, but in the end it was much easier and less expensive to add a stainless steel under-the-cabinet vent hood (this one’s no longer available), and I’m happy with the look. Plus, we were able to retain some of the storage in the upper cabinet.

3. Remove the old backsplash

Dave tackled this project himself, and it was by far his least-favorite part of the entire process! Our old backsplash tile was firmly glued to the wall board, which meant that no matter what he tried (including heating the tiles and trying to pry them off one by one) huge chunks of wall board came off along with the tile.

Ultimately, he just cut out all the old wall board and replaced it, which meant taping, mudding, sanding, patching, etc.  In short, this ended up being a huge job, so you might want to think about hiring someone to do it.

4. Choose and purchase countertops.

I knew from the start I wanted quartz countertops for ease of care, but it took about two months of debating and shopping before I finally landed on “Lagoon” by Silestone.  At first, I thought I wanted something with more distinct veining, but since quartz countertops are manufactured and the pattern repeats, I didn’t want to take a chance on ending up with a stripe-y look on the island.  Lagoon has subtle gray veining, is simple, classic, and goes with everything, which I love.

5.  Purchase a new sink and faucet

We also had to have the new sink and faucet purchased and ready to go before the countertops were delivered because they all needed to be installed at the same time. Figuring out the timing of removing the old countertops, etc. was a little bit tricky, but thankfully we sold our old countertops, sink, and faucet on Facebook Marketplace just a few days before the new countertops were installed.

That meant we only had to wash our dishes in the bathroom for 3 or 4 days! 😉 Thankfully, Dave is super handy, so he was able to connect the new faucet and re-connect the garbage disposal once the new countertops, sink and faucet were installed.

kitchen sources

My new single-bowl white sink might be my favorite thing about this entire project (with the gold faucet a close second!).

I love being able to pile big pans in the sink–and the white color seems so much cleaner and fresher than our old stainless steel sink.  If you’re wondering whether our white sink shows stains, I use Bon Ami, a non-toxic powder cleanser, to keep it looking white and clean.

6. Paint the kitchen cabinets and kitchen island

Hands-down one of the best decisions we made during our kitchen renovation was to pay someone to paint our kitchen cabinets.  The small local company we used was wonderful. 

The cost of having our kitchen cabinets spray painted professionally was well worth it (see the total kitchen cabinet painting cost below) and they did a much better job than we ever could have!

They came in, taped off everything, removed the old hardware, cleaned all the cabinets, did a light sanding, primed, painted, and poly-coated all the frames, took our kitchen cabinet doors and drawer fronts to their shop to spray paint and poly-coat, and then installed them, along with our new pulls, just a few days later. 

I also had them spray paint the cabinets in our adjoining laundry room while they were at it.

By the way, we tried spray painting one of our brushed nickel cabinet pulls with gold/brass spray paint, since the old pulls were still in great condition, but it just didn’t look right. 

Thankfully, we ended up finding brass/brushed gold pulls in the size we needed (no patching or drilling new holes!) at an amazing price. The new pulls aren’t quite as heavy as our old ones, but once they were installed we couldn’t tell a bit of difference–and we love the updated look!

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use Benjamin Moore White Dove for the cabinets. White Dove appears on almost all the “recommended kitchen cabinet paint colors” lists I found over on Pinterest. 

Plus, White Dove is the color our kitchen walls are painted, and I didn’t want to clash with that shade.

Kitchen island paint color

Choosing a blue paint color for the kitchen island was a bit trickier.  I searched Pinterest and Instagram for ideas, writing down all the shades I loved. 

Then I went to Lowe’s and had them mix up small jars of those colors and painted them on pieces of white poster board, which I then hung on the island so I could see how they looked during different times of the day.

Ultimately, though, I ended up going with “Distance,” by Sherwin Williams, recommended by our cabinet painter–see more on our kitchen cabinet painting cost below. 

sources

She’d used it in several other kitchens and brought over a sample for me. I immediately knew it would be just right for our kitchen.

It’s hard to see in photos, but it has a hint of grey in certain light. It’s a nice, classic blue–not too dark and not too light–not too green and not too purple.

I debated quite a while on whether to paint all the lower cabinets blue as well. And, honestly, sometimes I wish I’d just gone for it!

But I’ve always wanted a white kitchen, and we’ve lived with dark cabinets for the last several years, so white was an easy choice.   Perhaps I’ll try a totally different look in our next kitchen!

7. Install subway tile backsplash

For the backsplash, we went with classic white subway tile, another easy decision. I did choose a longer, 12″ version for a slightly different look. 

Choosing a grout color was much trickier, though.  I went back and forth between Mapei “Frost” vs. “Warm Gray.”

Eventually, Dave helped me out by making a test board on a piece of cardboard, attaching a few extra tiles and grouting them with both colors. That helped a ton and I ended up choosing Frost, a light gray.

8. Remove upper cabinets and install floating shelves

Finding shelves that weren’t overly rustic-looking was a bit of a challenge! After searching for a long time, I found these wood floating shelves. 

Each shelf holds up to 40 lb., so before adding anything to the shelves I weighed the dishes, etc., just to make sure I wasn’t overdoing it!

9. Kitchen Renovation and Cabinet Painting Costs

Since I always appreciate knowing how much it costs to renovate or remodel a space, I thought I’d break down the numbers for you, including the cost of painting kitchen cabinets professionally. 

Our kitchen is actually pretty small, which helped keep our kitchen renovation costs down when it came to countertops and kitchen cabinet painting cost (which was priced per door, drawer, and panel). And, of course, prices will vary depending on where you live. 

sources

Here is a breakdown of our kitchen remodel costs, including the kitchen cabinet painting cost: 

The cost of painting our kitchen cabinets professionally was $4100, which included painting our laundry room cabinets, as well.
Cabinet Hardware:  $100
Gas Stove: $1500
Range Hood (discontinued) $350
Under the counter microwave: $750
Sink : $350
Faucet: $500
Silestone Quartz Countertops: $3100
Subway Tile (plus mortar & grout): $200
Floating Shelves: $300
Gas line installation: $550

Total Kitchen Renovation Costs: $11,800

We were able to sell our old countertops, sink, faucet, stove, microwave and lighting through Facebook Marketplace for $1000, so our total kitchen remodel cost came in just under $11,000.

We could have saved quite a bit of money on our kitchen renovation by painting the cabinets ourselves, and we did think long and hard about taking that route.

Ultimately, I think we made the right decision to pay to have our kitchen cabinets painted professionally.  By hiring it out, the cabinets were painted within a week, allowing us to keep moving along with the project, which made the kitchen cabinet painting cost well worth it. 

If we’d tried painting the kitchen cabinets ourselves, who knows how long our renovation might have taken? I also have a feeling that the spray painted finish on our kitchen cabinets is much more professional looking than our results would have been!

However, if you’re thinking about a kitchen remodel and are pretty handy with a paint brush/roller/sprayer, there’s a good chance you could keep your kitchen renovation cost well under $10k by painting your kitchen cabinets yourself rather than hiring a professional.

10. Ongoing kitchen updates

I’d love to replace our tile flooring, but our guest and master bathroom remodel projects are next on the list, so a flooring upgrade might have to wait a while.

And here’s what our breakfast nook looks like after adding a new table, chairs, pendant light and rug:

nook sources

We also recently replaced the lighting with these linen and brass light fixtures:

light fixtures

Our kitchen renovation was a labor of love from start to finish, and I’m so grateful for my husband’s amazing DIY skills! After years of dreaming and planning, I’m so happy we were able to give our kitchen the facelift it needed, while also sticking to our budget.  

If you have any questions regarding our kitchen remodel, feel free to send me a message or leave a note in the comments!

shop the post:

Subway Tile // Cabinet Pulls  // Turkish Rug (similar)
 Faucet  //  Sink  // Pendant Light Fixtures
Shelving // Gas Range  // Microwave
Table  //  Chairs  //  Woven Pendant Light  // Round Rug //  Counter Stools

For more kitchen design ideas and inspiration, you might be interested in these related posts from Jane at Home:

2024 Kitchen Design Trends and Decorating Ideas
Modern Coastal Kitchen Ideas and Trends for 2024
The Best Kitchen Counter Stools & Bar Stools for Every Style and Budget
A Simple Guide to Mixing Metals in the Kitchen
A Simple Guide to Kitchen Cabinet Sizes and Dimensions (2024)
Popular Kitchen Cabinet Paint Colors for 2024
Choosing Pendant Lighting for your Kitchen
Affordable Oushak Runners for the Kitchen
Inspiring Kitchen Design Ideas to Inspire Your Next Renovation

Have a wonderful day!  xo jane