80% of that renovation was done by our own hands. The only parts that we contracted out were carpet install (because seriously, $100 to Lowes to install our carpets is a NO BRAINER), granite install, a little bit of exterior paint and electrical work in the kitchen. Everything else from cabinets, hardwood and tile flooring, paint, plumbing, landscaping, dry wall.. you name it.. was all done by us, with the help of friends and family along the way. We didn't have prior experience in a lot of these things, but youtube videos and a healthy relationship with your local hardware store goes a long way :)
I'm going to start off with our kitchen.
That's what we did on Day 1.
Then we started using blue painters tape to map out where our cabinets would be.
And our peninsula with raised bar.
Then our cabinets arrived and Adam began his install.
Then came paint.
And uppers, which had under cabinet lighting.
And granite with full height backsplash. We were so in love with this color!
And then.. the final product.
Some of my favorite features that we had in the kitchen were a dedicated KitchenAid mixer cabinet (to keep the mixer off the counter but easily accessable)
And a faucet over the cooktop.
Adam made custom corbels for under our raised bar that matched the pulls on our cabinets too.
The kitchen was definitely a labor of love. We spent close to 7 months without a cook top - I cooked every night on a Coleman propane camper style cooktop. Adam spent countless hours under the house reworking plumbing when we moved the sink from an exterior wall to an interior wall. We grew angry and frustrated when we realized that our kitchen designer was taking us for a ride and was not going to come through with his promises and jerked us around. We learned so many valuable lessons as homeowners and a married couple.
Have you ever thought about doing a renovation, or any upgrades in your existing home?
How did it go for you?
“80% of that renovation was done by our own hands.” – This is a great achievement for all of you. Home renovation is a real challenge for all. Surpassing all the problems and emotional stress every time something goes wrong is already an achievement. What's more for you? In my opinion, what you’ve done is a great idea. Leave all the tough job to the professionals such as roofing, plumbing, and so on. And take the job you can accomplish. - Monica Ryan @ VillagePlumbing.com
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful, I know it was a lot of hard work, but your end results look like a renovation on HGTV. We are working slowly on some renovations here, right now we are working on my quilting room. I can't help much due to medical problems but we will finish sometime. Enjoyed your pictures. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I am pretty impressed with the HUGE change! We are going to be buying a home when we move to Washington state this summer, and seeing things like this, makes me just want to buckle down and start home searching now. And most of the work was done by you guys? Im floored-- I hope we don't get in over our heads!
ReplyDeletelooks like an awesome kitchen. you did a great job.
ReplyDelete