The kitchen in this house was probably the most amazing transformation of this project. Since we funded the entire house renovation budget from our day jobs, this project seemed to take forever since it was one of the largest expenses. It was also the hardest to live without since we lived here during the renovation period. Luckily my handy dad was able to rough-in a working sink using an old lower cabinet, he set up plywood and cardboard counters, and even hooked up the dishwasher so we had a few creature comforts before the new cabinetry was installed, about 6 months after closing. (Click "Read More" to continue...)
This room probably received the most forethought and planning of any space in the house. However, I did a horrible job at budgeting before we purchased the house. I wasn't planning on gutting the space, but after we closed, we decided it would be the best way to go.
The initial demolition happened within the first few days after closing on the property. We had a pretty good idea of the order of things that needed to happen in the weeks before we could actually move into the property. The main items went a little something like this:
1. Remove wall between kitchen and dining room
2. Remove wall between living area and "den"
3. Repair, replace and refinish floors
4. Retexture walls and ceilings in common areas. Paint.
5. Replace dining room windows with a French door
6. Gut the kitchen
That seemed to work pretty well both in theory and execution. At last, we had a space to call "home."
In one of the photos below, you will see a rough sketch of the design plan that would be our template for the kitchen rehab. To get there took a lot of back and forth between my dad, my husband, and myself. We mocked up the island in multiple dimensions using old cabinets and cardboard boxes, living with each iteration for a few days before making adjustments. We used painters tape to mark out the pantry, cabinets, fridge and dishwasher locations. It took quite a few tries before we had it just right.
Something we didn't plan on was all the new electrical work required. The circuit breaker panel was originally in the kitchen, just to the left of the fridge. In order to install the new HVAC system we were planning on down the road, we'd have to upgrade the panel and reroute it to a brand new one on the outside of the house. But we'd also need to leave this panel accessible for any work we (or future owners) would want to do. Our electrician also discovered some hot wires that had been drywalled over in the ceiling (yikes!) when adding wiring for a 3-way light switch to the newly installed can lights. All-in electrical costs for the entire house reno were just shy of $8,000.
One piece of forethought that worked really well was moving the gas line from the old range location to its future location in the island. The $650 plumbing cost for that move wasn't in our initial budget. We also ran electric to the island before the floors were finished (my poor budget.)
Here's the rundown of initial vs final scope and budget for the kitchen and dining areas.
Initial Scope:
1. Paint cabinets
2. New counters
3. New appliances
4. Replace dining room windows with French door
Final Scope:
1. All of the above plus:
2. Demo all cabinets and replace with custom
3. Reconfigure kitchen, moving range to island (adding gas and electric to island)
4. Add new electrical panel, upgrade outlets to GFCI, add new outlets at counter
5. Add can lights, remove old ceiling fixture
6. Add wired speakers to living room
7. Add insulation behind cabinetry that backs to exterior wall
7. New sink and faucet
8. Design and add new floor transition between kitchen and dining room where wall was removed.
9. Move location of dining room light and replace fixture
Initial budget:
$12,000
Final budget:
$641 - plumbing of gas to island
$1,955 - electrical (1/4 of $7,821 total electric cost for reno)
$2,300 - granite counters
$3,825 - Samsung appliance package
$9,060 - Custom cabinetry
$2,200 - Floor refinishing and transition work (1/4 of $8,800 total flooring cost for reno)
$113 - Kitchen door pulls
$272 - Kitchen sink
$1,000 - Misc. supplies, faucet, lights, crown molding, etc.
------------------
$21,366
And although the budget almost doubled from the initial estimate, I think it was worth every penny. Our daughter had her first bath in that kitchen sink and ate her first bites of food in that kitchen. And boy, did I learn how to evaluate a kitchen rehab!
The initial demolition happened within the first few days after closing on the property. We had a pretty good idea of the order of things that needed to happen in the weeks before we could actually move into the property. The main items went a little something like this:
1. Remove wall between kitchen and dining room
2. Remove wall between living area and "den"
3. Repair, replace and refinish floors
4. Retexture walls and ceilings in common areas. Paint.
5. Replace dining room windows with a French door
6. Gut the kitchen
That seemed to work pretty well both in theory and execution. At last, we had a space to call "home."
In one of the photos below, you will see a rough sketch of the design plan that would be our template for the kitchen rehab. To get there took a lot of back and forth between my dad, my husband, and myself. We mocked up the island in multiple dimensions using old cabinets and cardboard boxes, living with each iteration for a few days before making adjustments. We used painters tape to mark out the pantry, cabinets, fridge and dishwasher locations. It took quite a few tries before we had it just right.
Something we didn't plan on was all the new electrical work required. The circuit breaker panel was originally in the kitchen, just to the left of the fridge. In order to install the new HVAC system we were planning on down the road, we'd have to upgrade the panel and reroute it to a brand new one on the outside of the house. But we'd also need to leave this panel accessible for any work we (or future owners) would want to do. Our electrician also discovered some hot wires that had been drywalled over in the ceiling (yikes!) when adding wiring for a 3-way light switch to the newly installed can lights. All-in electrical costs for the entire house reno were just shy of $8,000.
One piece of forethought that worked really well was moving the gas line from the old range location to its future location in the island. The $650 plumbing cost for that move wasn't in our initial budget. We also ran electric to the island before the floors were finished (my poor budget.)
Here's the rundown of initial vs final scope and budget for the kitchen and dining areas.
Initial Scope:
1. Paint cabinets
2. New counters
3. New appliances
4. Replace dining room windows with French door
Final Scope:
1. All of the above plus:
2. Demo all cabinets and replace with custom
3. Reconfigure kitchen, moving range to island (adding gas and electric to island)
4. Add new electrical panel, upgrade outlets to GFCI, add new outlets at counter
5. Add can lights, remove old ceiling fixture
6. Add wired speakers to living room
7. Add insulation behind cabinetry that backs to exterior wall
7. New sink and faucet
8. Design and add new floor transition between kitchen and dining room where wall was removed.
9. Move location of dining room light and replace fixture
Initial budget:
$12,000
Final budget:
$641 - plumbing of gas to island
$1,955 - electrical (1/4 of $7,821 total electric cost for reno)
$2,300 - granite counters
$3,825 - Samsung appliance package
$9,060 - Custom cabinetry
$2,200 - Floor refinishing and transition work (1/4 of $8,800 total flooring cost for reno)
$113 - Kitchen door pulls
$272 - Kitchen sink
$1,000 - Misc. supplies, faucet, lights, crown molding, etc.
------------------
$21,366
And although the budget almost doubled from the initial estimate, I think it was worth every penny. Our daughter had her first bath in that kitchen sink and ate her first bites of food in that kitchen. And boy, did I learn how to evaluate a kitchen rehab!
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