DIY Kitchen Renovation: The Plan

Let’s Get To It!

In partnership with The Home Depot

We are renovating our kitchen!!! I know I’ve teased this a bit over on stories, but guys, it’s officially happening… and I can’t wait to take you along every step of the way. This is a BIG project and we’ve spent every spare second this past month working on a “plan”. To be honest, our house is small (which we love), so a kitchen makeover is practically a full home renovation. We are reworking MAJOR parts of our kitchen, rewiring just about everything, building custom cabinets, and did I mention taking up all of our “Florida” tile and laying down wood floors?! Whew! Thank goodness we will be calling in some experts for the flooring and a few other risky projects, for the most part, you are looking at these two (Ryan and I) to get the job done!

Our house is 19 years old and we have yet to touch our kitchen. We’ve redone the entire backyard, built decks, and furnished most of the rooms, but we haven’t done a THING to the kitchen. Truthfully, I think it intimidated us. It was just one of those projects about which we kept saying “nah, we’ll let the next owners fix this.”

But the more and more we fall in love with our little bungalow the more we really want it to feel like ours.

This kitchen has served us well over the years. We’ve hosted everything from Thanksgiving to Easter, cooked countless meals, drank wine on the counters with girlfriends, hosted bridal and baby showers, welcomed our church community group of 30, and much, much, more!

This has been the heart of our home and I am SO grateful for this space. So it felt like it was high time to give it the love it deserved!

Home Depot Services We’re Utilizing

So far The Home Depot has been our very best friend. We are there 1-2 times a day on the weekends and at least once during the week! But we’ve utilized so many of their amazing services like their Mobile App, Locker Pick-ups, and Color Matching. OMG so many paint samples to show you.

• App Tutorials (there are thousands of videos to do just about anything. This drywall one really came in handy!)
• In Store Pick-up – When you know what you want, this is the way to go. We have used this tool for months, literally! When building the deck, paneling the porch, and now the kitchen. There is a curbside option at select stores until 6 p.m. (you can stay in your car!), in store lockers (if the item is under a certain size and in stock), and service desk pickup
• Favorites Lists in Mobile App – It’s almost like a Pinterest board for home renovations. We set up lists to collect our top choices for appliances, flooring, tools, plywood & trim, and countertops. It’s ideal and saves you from have to search and research for the same item you loved.
• Paint Color Matching – they are matching our yet to be revealed “green” paint, and I’m so excited to show you!
• Mobile App – Is so fun to dream from your couch ; )

Inspiration & Notes

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

So, let’s get into it shall we?! I have so many things to share, and so VERY many decisions to make… and I can’t wait to get your input! But I thought I’d start with our “vision”. Right off the bat Ryan and I knew we wanted to something charming and cozy… the more research we did the more we fell in love with the idea of painting our kitchen cabinets blue or green. Something that felt warm and inviting.

Reinforcements

After we established some kind of vibe we brought in our friend Stacie Flinner to help us. Ryan and I both have strong taste and vision, but sometimes I just feel like we need someone to be a tie breaker or to tell us “not this, THAT!” So we brought in reinforcements. Stacie and I met a few years ago on Nantucket and have stayed in contact for years. Both Ryan and I love her aesthetic and knew she’d be the perfect person to help our vision become a reality. I keep telling Stacie that she’s our kitchen counselor… because literally she is!

After weeks of compiling images in a Pinterest Board (feel free to follow along) we felt like we could really share our ideas! Above are some of the images that inspired our color pallet, design, and texture. I together the images we loved and once I saw them in one place I realized, WOW we really do have a vision.

The Plan

Once we decided that we were in fact going to remodel the kitchen I dusted off my old Interior Design skills and drew up a few simple CAD drawings of our existing kitchen. Ryan needs spreadsheets and I need pictures.

This has really helped us visualize the project and feel like we are heading in the correct direction even if at times it can look and feel like complete chaos! Ha!

We’ve marked this thing up more times than I can count. But we’ve officially landed on something great.

Free Project Sheet Download:

Download Free Project Map Here!

The next thing we did was map out an excel spreadsheet of the official plan and dates we need things done by. If you’ve ever done a major renovation then you know, sometimes the chicken can’t come before the egg! And for us, our flooring removal and install are our BIG DATES as noted in red.

Here’s a free blank project sheet for you to download and use for your own projects. I have to tell you, nothing and I mean NOTHING feels better than crossing something off this list.

The Before, Our Kitchen

… And this officially brings me to our “before” photos. Welcome to our kitchen! Let me break down the official plan for you:

• Raise all upper cabinets by 1.5 inches. (The sweet women who built this house was 4’11”, and Ryan is 6’2″!)
• Remove backsplash
• Install new drywall (eek! see photos below – we didn’t plan on replacing the drywall, but had to learn really quickly!)
• Run electrical for under cabinet lighting.
• Replace stove, dishwasher, and sink.
• Retrofit cabinet for new sink.
• Move over-refrigerator cabinets forward & build enclosure
• Add top and bottom moulding to cabinets.
• Paint cabinets and add hardware.
• Remove microwave and add hood.
• Demo kitchen island and rebuild.
• New counter tops and backsplash.
• Remove tile floor and install wood.
• Window treatments & light fixtures.

I know the list is long, but we just keep telling ourselves “one day at a time.” We’ll get it done, we always do! Thankfully, Ryan is incredibly handy and really talented when it comes to woodworking and electrical. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good team! 😉

But the thing I’m THE most excited about is the kitchen island. Our current island has always frustrated me in the layout… it was never quite “right” if you know what I mean! I can not wait to see this come to life over the next few weeks!

Next Steps:

Our next step is to officially finish demo and settle on a kitchen island reconfiguration. I feel like we are getting closer to actually starting to make some magic happen!

Ordered So Far

We are still in the demo phase, but we have placed an order for a few things and most of it has already arrived – like our kitchen sink (OMG, it’s SO pretty!), new stove, hood, and dishwasher! I can’t even begin to describe how great new appliances are. Ours were 20 years old, and wow have appliances come a long way! ha!

Ordered and Ready for Install

Wish Us Luck, and Follow Along: @ashleybrooke

P.S. We are apart of a group of DIY Bloggers/YouTubers that are all working on projects throughout the year, so you’ll have to pop over to the #THDDoerProject to see everyone’s progress! Also, if you are working on a DIY use the hashtag #DoersChallenge so we can follow along!

Stay Tuned:

Kitchen Remodel Posts & what’s coming soon:

Choosing Cabinet Paint Colors

How to Case in the Refrigerator

Choosing Counter Tops & Flooring

How to Reconfigure Your Kitchen Island

DIY Under Cabinet Lighting