Mini Kitchen Renovation

Recently we helped my good friend Leanne with a mini kitchen renovation.  I say mini, because we only replaced the sink, facet, countertops, backsplash and painted the cabinets.  This may sound like a lot, but it only took a weekend, and we worked within a relatively small budget. We have done a similar project at our lake house, where we poured concrete countertops, which was very cheap but labor intensive. 

The pic below is the before shot.  There were Formica countertops on the counters and backsplash, as well as some odd faux granite particle board covering the back of the bottom counters.  

I’m a fan of painting old cabinets like these because there is no amount of sanding and refinishing that will give them an updated look.  Backsplash, paint, hardware for the cabinets, and a new faucet and sink are all relatively inexpensive, especially if you are installing all of that yourself, but the main cost was the countertop.  We researched all affordable options and settled on raw butcher block from the Home Depot, that we stained and sealed ourselves.

As with any project, it starts with ripping off the old counters/backsplash and sink.  The doors for all the counters were removed for painting and then installing new hardware.

We replaced the old metal standard sink with a farmhouse sink.  When doing this it is important to understand that the original cabinets must be cut down using a jig saw.  

In the picture above, you can see the new sink is sitting on the counter.  Last fall, we installed a similar sink in our new laundry room.  We actually did the backsplash prior to installing the counters to protect the wood.  The cabinet paint was being completed while my husband was doing the sink and counters.  I recommend at least two coats of chalk paint and two coats of the top clear wax or lacquer.

In the picture above, you can see the counter seam that had to be puttied with liquid wood putty.  This dries a light wood color and then is ready to sand.  Unless you look really close, it is very hard to see the seam after the counters are stained and sealed.

Here you can see I used a Schluter edge around the corner of the back splash for a clean finished look.

After grouting the backsplash, calking the sink and bottom edge of the backsplash, new window blinds, light fixtures and cabinet hardware, we were done with our weekend kitchen renovation!

Final Pics