Kitchen make over: granite counters & cabinets resurfaced

We called a contractor to get an estimate on our master bathroom. While he was there, just for kicks I asked him what it would cost to resurface our kitchen cabinets as well and change the laminate counters to granite.

We were pleased and signed on the dotted line. Let the transformation begin!

When we bought our home the dated kitchen didn't bother us. I loved the layout and the appliances (except the refrigerator) were new.

We did have lots of cabinet and counter space.

While the master bathroom renovation was going on, the crew got started on the kitchen. First, the counter tops went in. We chose a neutral granite called "Sunset Gold."

The new counters sparkled and even looked nice with the original color on the cabinets. But we knew it would really pop once the cabinets were a dark, rich brown.  We picked a color called "Perfect Brown" from Mohawk Finishing Products.

This project was even messier than the bathroom!

We had to move everything off our counters and everything inside our drawers and most of our cabinets. I should have taken a picture of the rest of the house where we put the contents of our kitchen - or maybe I'm glad I didn't!

The crew took all our cabinet doors and drawers to their shop to sand and stain. They taped off the frame of the cabinets and sanded and stained those at the house, of course. The smell was pretty strong so we stayed in a hotel the first night. We came home to a thick film of purple/brown dust all over the house. It was everywhere!

But you can start to see the color (below). Notice we still don't have a faucet! We went almost a week without a faucet. You don't realize how essential it is until it's gone!

Then the doors arrived! Starting to look like a kitchen again. A warm, new kitchen!

Ahh, finally!! All the doors were hung, the faucet was in, the mess was cleaned and the crew was FINISHED! We were left with a gorgeous kitchen to enjoy!

We wanted to make sure the counters were nice and neutral as to not compete with the strong style of the saltillo tile.

Have you forgotten what the kitchen looked like before? It's such a dramatic change!

We also had the rest of our cabinets stained in the house including the hall cabinets and guest bath. The new darker color really warmed up the house and went better with our style.

Overall, we are pleased with the new look. This whole process was really eye-opening. You can spent a ton of money updating your kitchen and bath, but if you do some research to find more affordable materials it can be done without breaking the bank. 

The cost of re-staining the cabinets was no where close to what it would have cost to demo the cabinets and replace them with new or even custom cabinets.

Granite can get crazy-expensive very quickly as well. We went with a pre-fab granite, which I didn't know existed. It came in pre-cut counter lengths which really cut down on the cost of installation. There were some pricier counters we were drawn to, but went with a simpler pattern that was more neutral.

Here's a recap of the materials:

"Sunset Gold" pre-fab granite counters 

Mohawk Finishing Products Ultra Penetrating Stain in "Perfect Brown."

In the last year, we have made some pretty big improvements to our home from the exterior paint to the updates in the kitchen and master bath. We have been taking our time on projects to improve our home one room at a time. 

What's on your to-do list for updating your home?

Master bath updates turn into demo, renovations

Ever had a small project grow into a major one? :)

We needed a new tub and some tiling done in our master bathroom. Next thing you know, we were hiring a contractor to redo the master bath - tub, tile, floor and cabinet resurfacing. Once we went "all in" we decided to update the kitchen as well (counters & cabinet resurfacing).

And, of course, what was going to take one to two weeks took... eh hem... four weeks. But in the end, it was worth the mess, dust and the money to have two major rooms updated.

Now, here's a look at why we needed the renovations.

 

The tub was settling, allowing water to puddle at the bottom and we had some water damage to the faux tile boards.

And while we're at it, the red floor and the honey oak cabinets were pretty dated.

When we started this process I thought it would be fun and easy to choose tile - from the floor tile, bathroom wall tile, and my favorite, the glass accent tiles. Wow, there are so many colors and types of tiles it was overwhelming!

We knew we wanted something neutral and after a few weekends at every tile store, Lowe's and Home Depot (multiple visits and samples bought) we had our winners. Despite the long search, Joseph & I do have similar tastes so that made it easy once we found something we liked.

Here is what we used (I'll put the names/specifics at the end of the blog):

So, of course, phase one of the project - demolition.

To decide which way to lay our floor tiles we laid them out on the concrete floor. I thought I wanted them up and down, but once we laid them out it was clear they looked much better positioned the other way.

Then the tile started to go in.

 

From there, the crew took all of our cabinet doors off to take them to the shop to sand them down and re-stain them a darker, more modern color. The crew lightly sanded the frame of the cabinets, taped them off and sprayed the new stain on. 

Did I mention everything was a mess?

And now, the reveal of the finished project with the before and after comparisons:

We love how it turned out!

Here are the details of the products we used:

Floor Tile:
12x24 porcelain tile called "Beige Travertino" from Home Depot
Grouted with "Bone"

Wall Tile:
9x12 Daltile Briton Bone ceramic tile from Home Depot
6x6 Daltile Briton Bone ceramic tile from Home Depot
Grouted with "Snow White"

Glass Accent Tile:
Jeffrey Court Cottage Ridge Mini Brick 12x12 in from Home Depot
American Olean 1/2-in x 6-in Delfino Sand Glass Tile Liner 

Bathtub:
Jacuzzi Soaker Tub (no jets)

Bathroom Fixtures:
Moen Branbury Collection

Cabinet Stain:
Mohawk Finishing Products Ultra Penetrating Stain in Van Dyke Brown

Because of the scope of this project and with everything going on in life, we knew we wouldn't tackle such a large project on our own. But it was really great to see each step of the process to give us an idea of how we could tackle a similar project in the future.

One thing we did do ourselves is paint our master bedroom to coordinate with the bathroom. Previously our room was a deep blue, but we painted it a khaki color called Garden Shed from Martha Stewart's line at Home Depot. I was impressed with the BEHR paint plus primer that covered the blue nicely with one coat and just some touch-ups.

Next up: the kitchen transformation!