Kitchen re-do.....done?

So I really did have better intentions of blogging more this year, and well as you can see I have it's been a while...

I have been abundantly blessed in my job this year. The real estate market is gradually picking up and interest rates are still so incredibly low. It has been a blast helping people sell a current home and buy a new home. I wish I could put into words how excited I am when I see "that look" on my clients face when they walk into "their" house. It's like the desire to do cartwheels tempered with the prospect of making a offer that crosses their faces at the same time. It can almost make me giggle. Then comes my favorite part...the negotiation. I LOVE IT! So, if you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell please pass my name along.

I wanted to share a bit today about another question I get quite often...

What should I upgrade in my house? How much should I do?

I am always happy to come have a look to determine what needs done and how much they should do, but before I make any recommendations it is beneficial to first find out what is being done in the rest of the neighborhood. Even if the purpose isn't to sell, over-improving your home is usually not wise. Don't get me wrong there might be something you spend more on for personal taste or comfort but in doing so remember you may not recoup the expense when you do decide to sell.

So, Superman and I decided our 20 year old kitchen needed some updating...

In November...

The week before Thanksgiving...THAT I WAS HOSTING!

Yep, crazy!

We are almost done with everything we were planning to do. But it seems there a few loose ends that still need tied up. Like painting. Ugh Painting. The walls need a fresh coat and so does the new trim. But before we can do all of that we need to sand and caulk all the baseboards and around the doors. We have yet to find the time to accomplish these tasks. I am hoping to get on it before summer. Wish me luck...

For now I would like to share with you are journey. In pictures...

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the whole kitchen before we began. We were so excited to get started it seems. But, as you can see we started with a basic builder standard kitchen. Oak/Veneer cabinets and a laminate counter top that was chipping badly.

We started our search with wanting to take out the soffit and put in 42" brand new cabinets...but then the budget wouldn't allow it. I pulled a couple of current listings in my neighborhood and a few houses that have sold recently to see how others have upgraded their homes. At the time I didn't see any with all new cabinetry so we worked another plan.

I love the look of the 42 inch cabinets and we came up with an idea to get that look for a mere fraction of the cost. Bead board and moulding! Here we are getting started.

 We added some chunky moulding to finish off the look.

Next we removed all the doors.

 And started painting.

 Remember when painting cabinetry it's better if your doors are real wood. Be sure to sand them lightly and wash them down. ALWAYS start with a primer. We did one coat of primer and three coats of high gloss paint. They are easy to wipe down and stand up to all the cooking I do.

 We then primed and painted the bead board, moulding, and framing around the cabinets. Now, the ends of our cabinets were veneer and I don't know if you've ever attempted to paint veneer or not...but it's a pain and not entirely successful.

So much like the soffit, we "capped" each end with bead board and painted it.

Here, you can start to get the idea. And all the junk we keep in our cabinets. When we installed our microwave hood we found that the cabinet was too big and we removed it.



 We put the doors back up with new hinges (yea the brass is gone)

Phase 1 complete!

We added some brushed nickel knobs on the cabinets and super chunky drawer pulls. It's really starting to come together.

A few years before we invested in new appliances so we could spread the spending out. And then last year replaced all the flooring on the first floor of our home. We, as you can tell are big on DIY projects. But, I walk through a ton of houses on a monthly basis and have come across some DIYing gone wrong. If you can't do the job and have it look REALLY close to a professional job. That means, take your time, do the proper prep work. Allow each coat of paint to dry before adding the next coat. Pre-drill the holes before attaching the new hardware so you don't scratch the paint. And make sure that if there is a job or part of a job you cannot do, hire the right person to get it done.

Next up...Granite! Can't wait

If you are thinking of doing a renovation especially in the kitchen or bath please give me a call and can talk about return on investment.