Ahhhhhhhh! So much to share this 3rd week of The One Room Challenge!
This post is sponsored by The Cabinet Door Store and Amerock Cabinet Hardware. All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands we truly love.
The kitchen makeover has moved from full on demo-mode to “I’m starting to see a kitchen take shape”. And I love it!! The new cabinets are in and the countertops are finished. You guys won’t believe the before and afters of these countertops! It is truly incredible! But first let’s take a quick look once again at the before shot of the kitchen….
As I mentioned before, my big goal was removing that peninsula that juts out. It made the kitchen feel so crowded and closed in. I went back and forth on whether or not to tackle this…wondering if it was getting in way over my head. But I have the most awesome neighbor in the world and he offered to help me tackle it! Once the cut was made in my countertop, I knew I was all in! Not turning back now….
Why didn’t we just remove all of the countertops? I’m trying to keep my costs down as much as possible with this project. We all know kitchen renos can be crazy expensive! So, my plan was to keep our existing countertops and add a new cheap countertop, butted up against the old one, for the new layout of the cabinets/sink. Then I would refinish all of the countertops, giving them a marbled look. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll share the transformation in just a bit. But first it has to look really bad before it looks good….
The new footprint for the layout of the cabinets/sink is taking shape….
We have our sink again. That was rough. Haha! And, notice the contrasting countertops?
To say I was a bit nervous about how this was all going to work out, is an understatement. I had visions (and nightmares) of having to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have a professional come in and recreate the entire space. It was nerve-racking! But when I started to see it take shape, I began to breathe again. Starting with the countertops. This, obviously, was not the look I was going for. 🙂
With a little Bondo and sanding, I was able to mold these two countertops together. Here’s a look before I sanded….
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And, after I sanded….
Not too bad! Of course, that’s still not the look I’m going for. We’re getting there, I promise. 🙂 But first, look at all of that open space! Yes! This is what I’ve wanted, practically since the day we moved into our home, 15 years ago.
I decided to tackle the cabinets before finishing up the countertops. I knew I would be walking all over them, while adding the toppers to my existing cabinets, and wasn’t quite ready to finish them yet. To give the ceiling more depth and the cabinets more of a finished look, I added toppers all the way around. (Blogpost coming this summer, on how I did this)….
Almost done…
Just need to add the trim…
And paint…But first, my new cabinet doors and drawer fronts from The Cabinet Door Store arrived and were ready to be installed! (Full blogpost on the cabinet door installation here). Out with the old dated cabinet doors….
and in with these beautiful Shaker Style doors….
WANT TO KNOW HOW TO ORDER THESE SAME DOORS? HERE’S THE LINK
All installed just in time for the “frosting” to arrive. What’s the “frosting,” you may be asking? The hardware!
But before “frosting” the cabinets with these beauties! (Do you know the movie reference? Haha!) I couldn’t wait any longer to finish these countertops. One more look at the before…
And here they are now….
Isn’t that transformation incredible!? Wondering what the Bondo spot looks like?
Can’t even tell these are two different countertops. Or that there’s Bondo under the epoxy and paint. Here’s a quick look at the process. (But I do have a full blogpost on how to do this, here. And I’ll be releasing another one this summer on this project too.)….
First step: Primer….
Second step: Paint on the veining…
Soften it up…
Add the epoxy and watch it shine!
Let’s add the hardware…
Amazing how this beautiful hardware from Amerock  changes the entire look of the kitchen! It truly gives it that finished look!
WANT TO ORDER THIS SAME HARDWARE? HERE’S THE LINK
With so much more to come, that about wraps up week three of the One Room Challenge.
What’s on the agenda for next week?
**New tile backsplash
**New center island build
Can’t wait to share it all with you and how far this kitchen has come! But if you want to catch it all in real time, be sure to hop over to my Instagram stories!
MISSED THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO WEEK 3 HERE THEY ARE!
Until next week,
Happy Building, Friend!!
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TOOL USED TO INSTALL CABINET HARDWARE
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Easy DIY Living Room Updates on a Budget
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