Kitchen of the Week: A Bright, Inviting Upgrade for $6,400
A Montana couple uses their renovation savvy to update their kitchen while keeping the original wood cabinets
Ashley and Mike Carpenter bought their first home about two years ago in a big tract-house development just outside Bozeman, Montana. While thrilled, they began eyeing the gloomy kitchen and its basic off-the-shelf finishes. “The darker cabinets with the beige-greenish wall color made everything very shadowy and dark,” Ashley says.
With a budget of a little under $6,400, they set out to brighten the kitchen with small but significant projects.
With a budget of a little under $6,400, they set out to brighten the kitchen with small but significant projects.
After: The couple tackled the renovation in two phases. Their first goal was to brighten up the kitchen by painting the walls in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. They added shiplap-style wood planks — also painted in White Dove — to the peninsula and installed lighting underneath the cabinets. Then they took a break to consider what to do next. “We wanted to see what everything looked like and use that to come up with design decisions for the rest of the project,” Mike says. The second phase included replacing the countertops, adding a backsplash and replacing the sink.
To keep costs low, they didn’t touch the layout, move any plumbing lines, add windows or remove the angled peninsula, which Ashley liked anyway.
Mike used to work in the construction industry, and they felt confident about tackling most of the project themselves. At times, they educated themselves by watching videos and reading tutorials online.
The shiplap feature consists of 1-by-6 pine tongue-and-groove boards installed right over the drywall with finish nails. They then primed and painted the raw wood in White Dove.
Flush-mount ceiling light in oil-rubbed bronze: Light Blue USA via Amazon; adjustable round wood-and-metal stools: Cost Plus World Market; find industrial-style bar stools
See how the couple built the wall accent
To keep costs low, they didn’t touch the layout, move any plumbing lines, add windows or remove the angled peninsula, which Ashley liked anyway.
Mike used to work in the construction industry, and they felt confident about tackling most of the project themselves. At times, they educated themselves by watching videos and reading tutorials online.
The shiplap feature consists of 1-by-6 pine tongue-and-groove boards installed right over the drywall with finish nails. They then primed and painted the raw wood in White Dove.
Flush-mount ceiling light in oil-rubbed bronze: Light Blue USA via Amazon; adjustable round wood-and-metal stools: Cost Plus World Market; find industrial-style bar stools
See how the couple built the wall accent
Ashley originally considered painting the cabinets white but held off. The medium-stain cabinets keep things warm and inviting. “We’re glad we didn’t do it,” she says. “That was the benefit of doing the project in two phases. We were able to step back and look at the white walls and shiplap and see that white cabinets would have been too much.” In a last-minute decision, Ashley decided to replace the round silver cabinet knobs with oil-rubbed bronze pulls. “That made all the difference,” she says.
They hired a professional to install the white solid surface countertops and are glad they did. “The installers came in and mapped out the whole kitchen with laser measurement tools and still had to do on-site fabrication because of the complexities of the angles,” Mike says. “That was really money well-spent.”
Hi-Macs countertops in Arctic White: LG Hausys via Home Depot; cabinet pulls: Cosmas via Amazon; find oil-rubbed bronze pulls
They hired a professional to install the white solid surface countertops and are glad they did. “The installers came in and mapped out the whole kitchen with laser measurement tools and still had to do on-site fabrication because of the complexities of the angles,” Mike says. “That was really money well-spent.”
Hi-Macs countertops in Arctic White: LG Hausys via Home Depot; cabinet pulls: Cosmas via Amazon; find oil-rubbed bronze pulls
The Carpenters’ biggest undertaking was installing the backsplash, which they had never done before. After watching online tutorials, they jumped right in. It didn’t go so well.
“It looked bad,” Mike says. He overdid the caulking line between the backsplash and the countertop. “I cut the tube of caulking too far down, and the bead was too thick,” he says. “There was just too much. I was trying to scrape it and make it look clean, but it was just too goopy.” So they ripped that part out and started again, this time using the right amount.
Choosing budget materials also helped keep their costs low. Using basic subway tile was a cost-effective way to lighten the kitchen and add visual interest through pewter-gray grout applied in thin lines.
Ceramic subway tile in Fresh White: Jeffrey Court via Home Depot; see more white subway tile
See how to add a kitchen backsplash
“It looked bad,” Mike says. He overdid the caulking line between the backsplash and the countertop. “I cut the tube of caulking too far down, and the bead was too thick,” he says. “There was just too much. I was trying to scrape it and make it look clean, but it was just too goopy.” So they ripped that part out and started again, this time using the right amount.
Choosing budget materials also helped keep their costs low. Using basic subway tile was a cost-effective way to lighten the kitchen and add visual interest through pewter-gray grout applied in thin lines.
Ceramic subway tile in Fresh White: Jeffrey Court via Home Depot; see more white subway tile
See how to add a kitchen backsplash
The Carpenters replaced all the appliances as they found good deals. They got the fridge on Craigslist from a builder who had slightly dented the appliance when installing it.
Short on DIY skills? Find a kitchen designer near you
Short on DIY skills? Find a kitchen designer near you
After: The white paint, backsplash and countertops significantly enhance the available natural light.
Get the pros and cons of popular kitchen countertop materials
Get the pros and cons of popular kitchen countertop materials
To get the new apron-front sink to fit, Mike had to cut into the existing cabinets and build a base to support its heavy weight.
Bradstreet II sink and faucet: Sinkology; browse more farmhouse sinks
See how the Carpenters installed the farmhouse sink
Bradstreet II sink and faucet: Sinkology; browse more farmhouse sinks
See how the Carpenters installed the farmhouse sink
After: As part of the kitchen project, the Carpenters also painted the dining area and added new furnishings, such as a farmhouse-style table and a jute rug. Ashley removed the shades from the original light fixture and added decorative LED candle bulbs.
The shelves were another DIY project. The couple bought 1-by-8 pine boards from a local hardware store, stained them dark walnut to match the kitchen cabinets and hung them on brackets.
Budget Breakdown
Countertops: $3,400, including installation
Sink and faucet: $699
Backsplash: $162
Shiplap: $137
Paint: $36.98
Kitchen light: $96.99
Cabinet lighting: $66
Bar stools: $312 for four
Cabinet hardware: $143
Refrigerator: $400
Microwave: $278
Range: $647
Total: $6,377.97
More
How to Refresh Your Kitchen on Any Budget
Ideas for Refreshing Your Kitchen Without Remodeling
Other Resources on Houzz
Get kitchen design ideas
Find a kitchen designer
Browse kitchen products
The shelves were another DIY project. The couple bought 1-by-8 pine boards from a local hardware store, stained them dark walnut to match the kitchen cabinets and hung them on brackets.
Budget Breakdown
Countertops: $3,400, including installation
Sink and faucet: $699
Backsplash: $162
Shiplap: $137
Paint: $36.98
Kitchen light: $96.99
Cabinet lighting: $66
Bar stools: $312 for four
Cabinet hardware: $143
Refrigerator: $400
Microwave: $278
Range: $647
Total: $6,377.97
More
How to Refresh Your Kitchen on Any Budget
Ideas for Refreshing Your Kitchen Without Remodeling
Other Resources on Houzz
Get kitchen design ideas
Find a kitchen designer
Browse kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Ashley and Mike Carpenter, who do renovation projects around town and maintain a blog called Joyfully Growing
Location: Near Bozeman, Montana
Size: 196 square feet (18 square meters); 14 by 14 feet
Before: There aren’t any windows in the kitchen, but windows from a dining area opposite the peninsula bring in a bit of natural light that the Carpenters wanted to play up more.
They wanted to keep their budget as low as possible because they knew that in their neighborhood, which has really similar homes, a big kitchen update wouldn’t exactly be a great investment. “With a $50,000 kitchen update in this area, we wouldn’t see half of that in the increase in value of our house,” Mike says. “And besides, we wanted the kitchen to kind of match the rest of the house, which isn’t fully renovated.”