Our Budget Kitchen Makeover
Hi everyone. It’s been a minute. Frankly, it’s been difficult to write, create, or even function properly with everything going on in the world these past months… the hurt I feel for humanity never seems to get the chance to heal. The drive to write about our homes withers as these awful, heavy events transpire one after another. At the end of most days, it feels like our homes, our personal sanctuaries, are the only safe things we have. I certainly feel more privileged than ever to have this place of my own.
Our lovely home underwent a bit of a transformation recently:
I had known for a while that our black kitchen (see post about that here) wasn’t really working. While I may love living in almost complete darkness, Ben certainly did not. We really don’t get much natural light in the kitchen, and the current layout doesn’t allow for too much extra lighting. I’ll admit, sometimes it may have been a little difficult to see.
The kitchen as it was until May of this year.
I loved the mood. It was a moody mood that felt… moody. And no, I’m not above making a SpongeBob reference on this blog. I’ve vowed that I will surely find another room someday to paint black. Of course I was able to keep the color I loved so much in the room (the cabinets are now painted the same color the walls were: Sherwin Williams Iron Ore).
So what exactly did the little budget makeover entail? Let’s get into it:
The Floors
I’ve followed Chris Loves Julia for years now. Their modern cottage is my forever dream home. I love everything they do, and Julia has such a nice presence online. So when she announced they were collaborating with WallPops to create an affordable flooring line, I nearly lost my damn mind. I had ALWAYS visualized checkerboard marble flooring in our kitchen. Always. But I knew that with our current budget we would never be able to afford it.
I stayed up the whole night prior to the release, only to find out that it was actually dropping at 10 AM. It sold out almost instantly, but we were able to get our order in! You can tell they put a lot of time into developing the variations and creating a the realest possible marble look. They were simple enough to install, except for the pieces that had really complicated cuts. We were able to finish it easily in a weekend.
Disclosure: the tiles are luxury vinyl peel and stick. Anyone who knows me understands that I have a deep moral opposition to vinyl. I think anyone who is planning on buying vinyl products should watch the documentary Blue Vinyl. I believe in making informed decisions when it comes to what we purchase and what we put in our homes. I was able to soothe my conscience by making a pledge to offset my carbon footprint in other ways (planting trees, working on eliminating my single-use plastics, and only purchasing clothing from sustainable or secondhand companies).
The Walls
Painting over those black walls was actually super upsetting for me, but it did help knowing that I was covering them up with my favorite off white: Benjamin Moore Pale Oak. I remember the sun setting as I applied the second coat, and the wonderful orange and pink hues dancing off the drying paint, feeling a real sense of peace and comfort. Painting your walls is a spiritual experience!
I went with the matte finish from BM, which is the creamiest paint I’ve ever used. It’s a little bit hard to clean, but for me it’s so worth it. When something happens to the wall, I just grab my brush and paint right over it.
Now the room feels a little too light for me, but I have big plans to keep adding to it over time! Eventually I think it’s going to feel really balanced. It just needs some color and antiques.
The Cabinets
The other big change in the room was the cabinets - and I still can’t quite believe I’ve painted them twice now. Anyone who has painted cabinets before knows how painstaking the process is. I actually loved them in the color they were before (Sherwin Williams Downing Earth), but in order to bring forth the new kitchen *vibe*, they needed to change. They look great in Iron Ore, and the aged brass oval knobs are something I’ve dreamt of forever! I’m mildly obsessed with them. We may eventually change out the black cup pulls, but I think for now they actually look pretty good.
Keep it moody!
The Curtains
Another exciting update was the addition of these black velvet curtains. As soon as I saw the floor coming together, I immediately envisioned black velvet drapes. I would be so happy in a room with nothing but velvet window treatments and a checkerboard floor. I genuinely don’t need furniture.
Since the budget for this project was nonexistent, I ordered all of the window accessories right from Amazon. I’m not a huge fan of shopping there, especially for home goods, but when you’re in a pinch it really can’t be beat. Here’s the link to the curtains, along with the curtain rod and rings. I loved them all together, and if I had a much bigger budget I would have made the same choices with better quality.
It may not be my dream kitchen, but I think it’s getting about as close as it can be with the existing architecture in the house. We have to find a way to be satisfied with what we have, right?
Until next time,
Nicki
