Love your amazing transformation! Your pictures will be inspiring to the many people who are contemplating...or knee-deep in...a DIY project.

Clean, crisp, fresh, lovely kitchen!

What a great change! I can't believe you made that change for 5K!!! Ya'll need your own decorating show heh heh

If you'd left off the old picture, this would have passed for any extremely well done 50,000 remodel. Amazing job!

Awesome job, congrats, your cabinets looks brand new after you painted white.

That's just fabulous. Anyone can throw money at a project (well, anyone with money :)) but it takes true vision and dedication to create something like what you have for $5K. Even the stools are amazing--they fit perfectly, look substantial, and I like them so much more for learning the price :) Who would think of looking in a Christmas Tree shop for stools? (unless that's just the name and it's actually a furniture store?)

May I ask what wall color you used? The color over on the left--we see just a bit of it. TIA :)

The wall color is BM Crown Point Sand. It is from the Historic Colors and is one of my favorite, and most versatile, wall colors.

Beautiful just beautiful!

Really nice transformation. I dont usually like bead-board, but your use of it on the peninsula was perfect.

Amazing. You would never believe you could do all of that on your budget. Very impressive and such a beautiful, sunny, bright kitchen! Congrats.

it looks fantastic! very well done. I love the beadboard and stools. What granite is that? Everything is just wonderful!

Wow, that is one beautiful kitchen. Great job!!

Wow, that's Crown Point Sand? Wish it looked like that in my house :) Thanks.

The granite is Blue Pearl, although it is hardly blue....more black/gray/silver.
Thanks for all your kind words. As I said before, this forum was my inspiration!

The granite is Blue Pearl, although it is hardly blue....more black/gray/silver.
Thanks for all your kind words. As I said before, this forum was my inspiration!

Can I ask how you went from exposed hinges to concealed hinges? Did you need any special tools to drill or recess the hinges on the interior of the doors?

Fabulous!

Very nice, money saving remodel! I have Crown Point Sand in my kitchen, too! Love the color -- and it does look great in lots of different settings (my cabs are maple). Congrats and enjoy!

That is simply amazing and beautiful!!! I love what you did with the soffits. And most people take them out these days. You must be so happy every time you walk in there. Congratulations.

Holly,

WOW! You should be in a magazine. that looks terrific. I am always amazed at what DIYers can achieve and that too on a budget. It is one thing to spend 75K and get every little detail down but when you are on a budget, the outcome is so much sweeter :)

I love the way you created the "to the ceiling" look! How did you do that? You give me hope...

One word ~ Absolutelybeautifuljustgorgeousholycowthat'samazing!

you are a genius!!! congratulations. it is truly stunning and just amazing that you did this with $5K

Ditto all of the above . . . beautiful job! You should be very proud of yourself!

Wow, a "high end" look for only 5K! It looks so beautiful! That is what we would've done if our layout was functional in the first place. It wasn't...

It will be an inspiration to those who can't afford new cabinets/labor but has a small budget to update.

Enjoy!

Great job! And you were smart to take the time and deal with replacing the hinges. That's one of those details that really does make a difference. I think the soffit treatment is another one. I like beadboard, but a little can go a long way, and I think you got that right too.

I am inspired!! This is exactly what we want to do. Repaint cabinets and get blue pearl granite and new SS appliances.

I will take your advice on the hinges.

Can you give more details on how you painted the cabinets or a link that you used as a reference?

Incredible transformation!

Jodi-

FABULOUS! Please post more pics! Great job!

---Boxie

Absolutely Beautiful!
What brand paint did you use to paint the cabinets?

I used BM Linen White in a latex semi-gloss. My cabs were oak so I cleaned them with TSP and sanded them with one of those Mouse Sanders (you know it looks like a little iron?) The pointed shape of the sander was perfect for getting into the recessed corners of the doors. I used 2 coats of latex primer and sanded and caulked like mad. Then 2 to 3 coats of the paint. I used one of those small foam rollers most of the time, but on the last coat I used
a good chinex brush (recommended at paint store.)
I used cardboard boxes (like gift boxes)to elevate the doors wbile I painted so I could get the edges. I had a large table set up in my basement. It took 2 weeks and I worked on 6 pieces at a a time.
Here are more pics.

WOW! This looks fantastic. I've painted kitchen cabinets in two homes now, so I can feel your pain on that one.

May I archive your kitchen in the Finished Kitchens Blog? If so please submit the FKB checklist so I can easily categorize your kitchen. Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB Category Checklist

This is amazing! You should be very proud! $5000 is anazing budget to pull this off! BRAVO!!!

gsciencechick, One more tip.....
As you can see, I had to change the cab pulls to knobs, so I had an extra hole to fill.
Instead of wood filler, you can use a dowel that fits ( I found them at the craft store) Mark off the length you need , cut the dowel, wood glue it in, sand and caulk.
HTH.

Holly - you really did an outstanding job. Congratulations on your beautiful kitchen!

How much remodeling experience did you have going into this project? Have you ever remodeled a kitchen before? Your solutions are just so well thought out and creative. I never would have thought to use beadboard the way you have!

Also, did you have a hard time finding blue pearl granite in that deep blue color(all that I've seen has been in a sort of pastel blue color)? Did the yard have to order it
special for you?

Also, how much time did this all take?

Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I HATE your kitchen. But don't worry, it's just jealousy. ;-) We had pretty much the same 'before' as you. Now we're already committed to a refacing for a lot more money and your solution is fantastic. We just didn't think painting the cabs could look all that great - we were wrong!

- D

Wow, what a transformation. Beautiful kitchen!

WOW!
What a transformation!!!!
You have done such an AMAZING job! I am speechless!

Holly, I have a couple of questions for you. I have bathroom cabinets in 1980's golden oak I'm thinking of painting instead of replacing. Besides the dowels to fill the old handle-holes, what else did you caulk? Did you use anything to "fill in" the oak grain or is the grain still visible (but just not noticable in the photos)? Thanks!

Having painted many doors with tricky trim in my time, I am so impressed by this job. The whole thing looks beautiful and I know what hard work this must have been. How inspiring!

It is simply beautiful! I love it! I never would have thought 5k...much more than that....Congratulations.

Awesome job! We're getting ready to sell this house to move to a house we're building. If we had the time/energy, this is what we should do to our kitchen before we list this house, but we have 2-3 times the number of cabinets and amount of counter, so it would be a lot more costly and take a lot more time (not to mention that we hate to paint!).

Congrats on a beautiful re-do! (Wanna come and do mine for me??) :-D

Patti

many hats,
I had to caulk the areas where the center panel meets the trim on the doors. You will see where you need to fill as soon as you prime. My cabs were arches and I had to fill the rough spots on the arch curve. If you really really, really look close you can see a bit of grain on the raised panels, but mostly the many coats of primer and paint seem to level things out. I did do a lot of filling/caulking but it was not that hard to do.
I worried about the grain on the oak, but believe me, once you change the hinges and knobs/pulls, the transformation will be so amazing that you will not notice it much, if at all.

This is such a fantastic job you have done! It is clearly proof positive that you need not throw wads of money at a design project in order to emerge with a truly good-looking, well-serving kitchen. Your creativity, hard work and determination are priceless. Congratulations!

Wow, excellent job. I think I have the same cabinets as you and you have inspired me to try to tackle painting them.

I can't believe you got your granite and appliances for $5k, that is fantastic!

Where did you get your pendant light?

Thanks for your reply Holly. You've inspired me to try and paint one of our smaller bathroom vanities....and if it turns out as well as your kitchen cabinets did then I'll be very pleased and may even do the larger vanity and some laundry room cabinets.... Thanks!!

Wow!!
Way to go.
Everything looks so sharp.
I cannot believe you got all that and did all that for so
little money.

How smart that kitchens looks.

It is a mega buck looking kitchen. Great taste. I can only add my applause to all the others. Fabulous. Bev

That is crazy fabulous!! Like I said in another post, I am amazed at those of you who refinish your own cabinetry!!

You're an inspiration to budget remodellers everywhere. You should submit your story to Budget Kitchens magazine. Beautiful work!