Our DIY Kitchen Remodel

Like most couples do, we began looking for homes while John was away playing baseball and I went home to home by myself with my trusty camera hoping and praying that the photos would do each home justice. John was awfully trustworthy sending me on this mission alone! Although I had our {my} dream pinterest home envisioned in my head with perfectly light grey walls, crisp white trim, brushed nickel hardware, beautiful chandeliers and rustic wood floors, I was realistic knowing that much of that list was not going to either fit in our budget, or be found in our preferred area.

I could look past most things, knowing I could either re-build it, fix it, paint it, or just call my dad.

One thing that made me cringe despite all of the above was honey oak. I HATED honey oak. Shortly into our home search my realtor and I stopped at our last house of the day, and immediatly when we pulled into the driveway I knew it was our home. It just FELT like home. Then we opened the door and the home was COVERED in honey oak!! I felt like the only thing NOT honey oak was the ceiling. Ok I'm exaggerating, but still. Somehow I still LOVED this home. This has got to be the one if I could look past all the honey oak!

Shortly after we moved in, ok immediately, my DIY list started to grow! I debated over and over about painting all the honey oak in the house, and then decided to just live with it... for now. In the mean time I had to do SOMETHING about all this honey oak, so I decided to start with the kitchen. I had painted cabinets in the past at our old condo, but wanted to do these with stain because they were such awesome quality cabinets I wanted them to last forever. Here is the kitchen BEFORE.

 

 

After much pinteresting I decided to go with General Finishes gel stain in Java. After cleaning all the cabinets with Dawn, the sanding began! SO much sanding! This part was NOT fun but it is important to ensure it lasts! Once they were all sanded and wiped down with tack cloths it was time to STAIN! Here are some photos of my life in shambles! (not only was our kitchen a disaster zone, but all 52 doors and drawers were spread out all over our basement!).

 

I kind of freaked out after the first coat because it was super streaky and ishy looking, but I stuck to the plan and completed 3 coats, and topped it off with a coat of gel poly (also from General Finishes). I'm SO glad I did because I just LOVE the after!

 

 

 

 

We also did the backsplash DIY and got an amazing deal on granite counters and new appliances! This whole project took me about 2 months working 2 jobs at the same time. 

 

Slowly but surely we are making this house OUR home! And nothing better than doing it YOURSELF and on a budget!! :)