I am so excited to be sharing our bright and classic kitchen remodel with y’all today. This has literally been years in the making. Sometimes when finances and time get in the way you have to wait a little longer than you’d like to get projects done. When I did a poll on Instagram it seemed pretty evenly split between people that only wanted before and after pictures and people that wanted a detailed tutorial of how we redid our kitchen cabinets. So I’m doing a little combination of the two and just briefly describing how we refinished our pre-existing wood cabinets in our kitchen. Keep reading for details and pictures of our kitchen remodel on a budget.

kitchen remodel on a budget

The before pictures in this post are screenshots from the previous listing, that’s why they’re a little blurry. Yes, our kitchen was really dark before. Dark and brown. Grungy, old linoleum flooring, brown kitchen cabinets, off-white walls and ceiling, and cream-colored tile countertops with awful grout. We also inherited some fancy-schmancy curtains on all the kitchen windows. She was a really beauty of an eighties kitchen.

It should be noted–if I haven’t said it before on here–I did not want this house when I saw it. It was probably my least favorite of all the houses we looked at. It’s not that I don’t have vision and can’t see the potential in a space, I just think that I have a realistic idea of how much time and WORK it takes to make the vision become the reality. So yeah, I didn’t want this house. There seemed to be nothing of redeeming value to me about it. It was way too much work and I knew that Mike and I didn’t have the time for it. I’m honestly not sure how Mike even talked me into it the first place.

| Read: Master Bathroom Remodel |

All that being said, it has served us well over the years. It’s been a happy home and we have poured a lot of love into it. This kitchen remodel on a budget is the perfect example of how it’s going to pay off big time. With all the sweat equity we’ve put into it it, it has more than doubled in value since we bought it.

read more kitchen updates here:

Part 1 of the kitchen remodel

Part 2 of the kitchen remodel

repainting kitchen cabinets

Disclaimer: if you have children or are just busy I don’t recommend repainting your own kitchen cabinets. It is not hard, but it is time consuming. We called a few companies that advertised that they repainted cabinets. However, when we talked to representatives over the phone we found out that they refinished them a completely different way. If we had been able to find a company that would have repainted our own cabinets (which are solid wood and in good condition, they just didn’t look very nice) we would have done that instead. Don’t go into a project like this thinking you can bust it out in a weekend!

1: wash cabinets (boxes and doors) down with a degreaser

2: fill any holes or large cracks with wood filler

3: remove all hardware, lightly sand with a fine grit sandpaper and clean off sanding dust

4: prime cabinets (boxes and doors)

5: finish with at two coats of paint

Repainting the kitchen cabinets was definitely the biggest DIY aspect of our kitchen remodel. We had my father (who is a general contractor) help us with a lot of the other parts of the kitchen. Meanwhile, professionals contracted with Home Depot installed the countertops, which we bought on sale.

We really wanted to brighten up the space which is why we decided to paint them white over a different color. Additionally, I also wanted the kitchen to have a nice classic feel to it. That’s also why we went with a timeless subway tile over something like a mosaic backsplash.

I look back over everything we did to our kitchen and I kind of can’t believe it. It doesn’t even look like the same space! It’s not surprising that it’s probably tied with our master bathroom for my favorite room in the house, and they’re both the spaces that have seen the biggest change!

Have you ever taken on a major home renovation yourself? What was the hardest part?

Find more fun home projects on Pinterest!

Follow along with our new home remodel projects:

Vintage Comic Book Bedroom

Mermaid Bedroom

Laundry Room Makeover