Kitchen Renovation on a Budget

My partner and I both love to cook. When we moved in to our Forever Home, we were left with a very dark kitchen and we knew that we wanted to brighten it up and get rid of the outdated cabinetry. Welllllll...a full blown kitchen renovation costs a ton a money so in this Instructable, I will give some tips and tricks on staying within your budget for modernizing your kitchen.

Changes we made:

1. Repainted the walls and ceiling
2. Added a hood
3. Cabinet upgrades (not replacement)
4. Replaced backsplash

Things we did not budget for:

1. Replacing Stove/Dishwasher/Refrigerator
2. Replacing the floor tile
3. Replacing the countertop

My intension is not telling you item by item how I did things. This is more of a here is where I had trouble as a DIY'er and how I overcame the challenges.

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a professional. I have never been a contractor, know, or have a family member who is. This is all done DIY so please keep that in mind when perusing and if you have any tips and tricks for folks who would like to follow suit, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below :)

gloves

eye protection

breathing protection

sturdy work shoes

screwdrivers

crowbar

rubber mallet

plastic / metal trowels for spackle / thinset or mastic

laser level

regular level

tape measurer

stud finder

clamps

saws

tile saw

scraper

mud / spackle pan

sanding blocks

painter roller(s) / pan

drill & bits

caulking gun

tile spacers

rubber float for grouting

grout sponge / scotch brite pad / microfiber cloth

wire strippers / crimper

voltage tester

grout

mastic

caulk

paint

TSP

sponges

towels

A good vacuum

painters tape

laydown plastic / paper

Schluter trim / edging (optional)

The video gives a little more detail here and there and reinforces what I mention in this Instructable. Enjoy!

An easy thing that adds a personal touch to your space is adding a fresh coat of paint.

We primed over the dark blue walls of the kitchen and chose a lighter, more neutral grey. This color has a hint of blue and brightened the space quite a bit just by itself.

We went with a semi-gloss interior paint since this is a kitchen and has the potential for steam and splatter (easy to clean is one of the goals for this kitchen).

I used painter's tape to protect the cabinetry, trim, floor, and doorways. This helped quite a bit to protect the ceiling from the walls, as well. My father in law never uses painter's tape, however, and told me about the "cutting in" method. Check this out as a work around against using massive amounts of tape and then having to remove it all later. Once I got the hang of cutting in my corners and trim areas, I probably saved time by not using tape. Basically, you load paint on the edge of a sash brush and gently force the paint into the corner without grazing it onto the surface it is butting up against.

If you go the painter's tape route, make sure you don't let the paint dry all the way. You want to remove the tape while the paint is still a little tacky. I did, and some of my fresh paint job got ripped off with it.

A fresh paint job is really nice but if you're cooking without proper ventilation, you may build up fine layers of grease and ruin your hard work in the long run...

We inherited an over-the-range microwave that would recirculated over the stove and back into the kitchen. The equipped grease traps on that thing were very small (in my opinion) and this caused the cabinets, drop down, and ceiling over the stove to get super tacky / greasy = yuck! Our laziness got the best of us because if you're not consistently cleaning grease, it gets close to impossible to clean after a while.

We knew in order to make a kitchen renovation work, we first needed to control our grease (as odd as that may sound)! I knew I wanted a proper kitchen hood and did some research on installation, sound, quality, and CFM. I should also mention that I have a gas range, not electric, not induction.

The rule of thumb seems to be that you want enough power based on your output: 1 cfm for every 100 BTU for gas.

150 CFM for each linear foot for electric (electric is less because the power output is generally less since you aren't burning fuel).

What you don't want is to go industrial in your commercial home, suck 1000's of CFM through the hood, and cause a carbon monoxide problem from your furnace. Commercial home hoods have a relatively low CFM rating for a reason!

As far as sound level goes, our old 850W Microwave OTR sounded like a jet engine when the fan was going and I disliked that so So much! So much that I would rather build grease up over time than use the hood feature. That is how loud it was. You may see decibel levels or sones rating. They both correspond to sound so do some research to suit your personal preference. Ours has a sones rating of 5.5. You could also get an "external" fan that is far removed from the hood. Generally, these have a fan in the attic and while these make for way lower sound pollution in your kitchen, they are much more expensive and you may need to look a hiring a contractor, meeting code in your area, etc. and this will add to your overall budget.

Installation I was very fortunate with. It should go without saying but make sure the model you get fits your current situation. We removed the previously installed OTR microwave. This was held in place underneath by very long screws ~12-inches as well as from the top via screws that were removed from the upper cabinets. This left the back mounting plate (pic 1 & 2) exposed and needed to be removed as well. The previous house owners already had a vent to the outside that went horizontally out of the kitchen (pic 3 & 4). Some hoods will vent horizontally, vertically, or have an option for either. This left us with merely replacing the microwave with the hood.

The new hood's grease traps are large and dishwasher safe, which was another nice option. I just followed the manufacturers instructions for installation with the help of my partner (pic 5 & 6).

We could not afford replacing everything! A different option we chose: update the doors and drawer faces and keep the original framing. After all, the frames would be easier to clean than the intricate doors and they were still nice and sturdy.

We found a company online that was a suitable and affordable option where we sent them the measurements for replacement doors and drawer faces (pic 1) and they sent us the cut and finished products (pic 2 & 3) via freight. We went through a correspondent to ensure our measurements were correct (I think we facetimed 3-4 times) and made the order in the color we chose. The doors also came pre-drilled for hinge installation to ensure they were at a 90-degree.

With that in progress, we took the associated paint swatch to our local hardware store to have it color matched (pic 4 & 5). We went with a mid-grade satin gallon of paint. We did not go cabinet grade because we were only doing the frame and not the doors and drawers. Had we only repainted the original doors as opposed to replacing them, then we would have gone cabinet grade. I felt comfortable with this option but in hindsight, I only used maybe a quart of the gallon in total for the whole kitchen cabinetry. And that included two coats (pic 6 & 7).

TIP: If you have one of those "fake drawer" faces that hide your sink basin, it may be very difficult to remove/reinstall. I had to get a special 90-degree ratcheting screwdriver to get the screws off. I am pretty sure I got several hand cramps manipulating this thing. It was a pain (pic 8).

A popular brand of standard hinges we needed were Blum for 1/2-inch overlay (pic 9 & 10). These are what the company pre-drilled for so that was nice that they made the recommendation. I had 23 doors so that meant 46 new hinges. When the hinges came from the big box hardware store, they came with the hinge and screws. However, the pre-drilled holes on the doors arrived with the use of a dowel as opposed to a pilot hole for a screw. I thought they performed the wrong operation and I was in trouble. But I wound up ordering a 100-pack of dowel hinges and the associated 100-pack of screws (pic 11). Pound them in with a rubber mallet, screw in the hinges (pic12), and pound them flush and they were ready for installation.

First, I wanted to ensure the messy job of getting the backsplash done was complete prior to installation!

This is a the section that was the most nerve racking to me, especially having 0 experience laying tile. But I did it, and so can you with a little planning. The big thing for me was learning the process (obviously) but really just removing the mental block, stop procrastinating, and start. Hopefully, the following will help empower you as well :)

The old finger jointed style backsplash looks nice...for someone else's home. For us it didn't fit since it was dark & hard to clean. When we replaced the OTR microwave, they left some of the older square tile behind the mounting plate and I actually liked that more than what they had installed.

When removing backsplash tile, I was told to not use a claw hammer since it could damage the drywall (if you are gonna to that anyways it is a moot point)! I paired a crowbar with a drywall knife and worked my way around the grout/edges to carefully peel up the old tile. Slow and steady was the method since I do not like replacing dry wall (pics 1-9). The demolition was the easy part working from the edge but when I got to a corner I was stumped (pic 10). I didn't want to use the crowbar since I was afraid it would blow a hole in the unreinforced drywall. Luckily, the finger grooves of the old tile allowed me to take one single piece out of a middle section (pic 11 & 12) and work my way from the top down (pic 13 & 14) and not from the side. In retrospect, I could have started from the opposite edge but I didn't want to move my fridge nor did I think of that until it was too late...

If you are trying to save the installed drywall, smooth out the leftover thin set from the old backsplash because the last thing you want is to show imperfections in the new tile. I can see how the old finger joint type tile I removed can be nice to "hide" those types of imperfections but my new tile is flat and light. It would show peaks / valleys which is not good. I took a 4-inch heavy duty scraper (pic 18) to bust out the large high points. Low valleys can be filled in by spackle. The name of the game is flatness. I used my industrial roll of butcher paper (pic 19) to allow as a laydown for easier clean-up. I checked for high and low spots in the dry wall with levels and circled spots that needed to be filled or sanded down. I sanded / spackled (with the help of my daughter) and rechecked after the spackle dried. Repeat until satisfied and for me that was in the range of <1/16th of an inch (pic 20 - 30).

The previous backsplash also just kind of stopped on the wall and looked very amateur to me. No border, no accent tile, just bare tile. If you terminate behind an appliance like the refrigerator, no worries, right? I didn't want my tile by the doorway to just stop so I got some Schluter aluminum trim, cut it to length, and got those pieces staged (pic 31-33) for the new backsplash!

Measure your layout and order your tile. For example, my entire area was 24 square-feet + 10% for a buffer. My sheets of tile I purchased were 12 x 12-inches so I just bought 3 boxes of 10-pack. Having extra extra was fine but I didn't want any store surprises like a box with 9 good sheets but the middle one was shattered, you know?! Besides, I took any leftovers that were in good condition back to the store and got my money back, a win win.

Everything I was hearing, reading, watching, said that you want to leave a 1/8-inch gap on top and bottom of the where the backsplash will stop: Schluter trim, countertop, bottom of cabinets, etc. The other key item is your ledger board location. This is a level piece of wood that acts as your starting point for laying tile which is generally the focal point. You could make this somewhere else like the sink, another key appliance, or simply some other area where you want your eyes to focus.

The next bit of planning involves how your tile will ultimately lay, i.e. the focal point. If you take your time to plan (pic 1) and get help to do dry runs (I had my partner hold up sheets of tile with me) to see where to start, where I could avoid cuts, and where I couldn't avoid cuts, it really saves on down time. Minimize making multiple tile cuts because it made me nervous being a novice, it would take time, it would look "amateur" having a lot of tiny cuts either by the countertop or under the cabinets, and, me being me, I would find it annoying doing cut after cut. I also figured that if I was going budget on this project, less cuts = lower costs (i.e. less sheets of tile I would have to buy / touch up).

Dry runs helped immensely but the thing that worried me the most was cutting tile for spots around outlets (pic 2). The last thing you want to have laid all your backsplash tile only to have to chip/grind portions away to make room for the outlet cover. I came across a very good YouTube video by the Stud Pack. They took a little piece of spare 1/2-inch plywood, took their outlet cover, and cut the block to remove 1/2-inch. They call it the Groutlet (hilarious & handy). For example, my standard two outlet cover is 3-1/8 x 5-inches, therefore, my groutlet block was cut to 2-1/8 x 4-inches (pic 3). This gets screwed into place where the actual outlet would get screwed in to. I can then cut/lay my backsplash flush to the groutlet and not have to worry about reinstallation of the cover afterwards. And you know what? It worked like a charm! Even for my triple cover meaning an outlet cover that was 2 switches and 1 double outlet (pic 4 & 5).

Obviously, cut the power prior to manipulating any home electrical: BE SAFE and verify power is removed prior to servicing!!!

I found that you have two options for substrate when laying tile: Thin set or Mastic. I chose mastic since it was going on the wall. It would seem you would not want to choose mastic for a space that has the potential to constantly get wet, like a bathroom floor for example. I had all my tools for laying the backsplash, mixed the mastic, laid down butcher paper to help with post-job clean-up, and went to town being careful & methodical. I bought one of the 500-pack of tile spacers to help keep a consistent 1/8-inch spacing throughout. Having another person or team of people would make quick work of this however I was a one man army. I placed a thin layer of mastic on the freshly leveled wall, a thin layer on the back of my tile (it was held together with mesh, by the way), and place the tile wiggling it into place and placing slight pressure on the wall. You don't want to hulk smash it into position but firm pressure was sufficient. I used a wet tile saw to make my cuts where it was needed. The whole process going solo took me about a day's worth of work (pic 6 - 15).

I let the mastic cure for >24 hours and, with the help of my wife, we got the grout in with the help of a rubber float (which is like a rubber trowel). Placing grout is (in my opinion) way easier than laying thin set / mastic. Remove all your tile spacers, grout the tile to fill the voids, spread it like cake batter, and wipe away excess. What we did for clean-up was, while the grout is still setting, use a damp scotch brite pad to get the "big" chunks, followed by a designated damp grout sponge to get the bulk of the clean up, and finally a damp microfiber cloth to get the "haze" off. They don't have to be dripping wet (in fact they shouldn't) but freshly wrung should suffice. This three step clean up process was easy to perform and didn't take away a lot of the grout from the voids you are aiming to fill. You don't want to remove the grout in between your tile since that would defeat the purpose. Some haze may still develop as it sets over time but you can go over with the damp cloth again to sparkle it. Grout done.

Finally I had to caulk the 1/8-inch gaps between the cabinets and countertops (pic 16). I used the same brand caulk as the grout since it came in the same color. Spread the caulk in the gaps, remove/smooth the excess, and let it set. reapply as necessary. Caulking was easier than grout, in my opinion. Now marvel at your creation. If you took your time to level the drywall and didn't glob on the thin set/mastic, you should have a nice smooth NEW backsplash! <sigh of relief> (pic 17)

Door hinges are on and ready for installation (pic 1).

Predrill your holes to allow for the pre-described overlay (mine was 1/2-inch) and drive your screws in. I leveled my double doors with the help of my partner and installed the first one. I left a 1/16-inch gap between the doors. The nice thing about he Blum hinges is that you can adjust the vertical/horizontal plane they fall on with adjustment screws. Following the manufacturer's direction was quite simple and got those tiny imperfections corrected (pic 2-4).

Doors were knocked out one by one (pic 5) and now I need the handles to be installed. For reproducibility = jig creation (pic 6)! I did this quite simply to allow 1 jig to drill holes for a left handed door and a right handed door whether it is above or below the countertop. Basically, the guide holes are drilled on a scrap board that has stops for the side and bottom of the door. I drilled the holes with the jig clamped since holding it by hand introduce some wiggle and that doesn't make for good level handles (pic 7 - 16).

Drawer face installation needed some troubleshooting in my case. If you have modern drawer faces that are easily removable, then simply swap them out. Mine were dovetailed faces and Not easily replaceable (pic 17). It was suggested to me that I would need to update my drawer boxes and slides. 7 new boxes and 14 slides would have added to our budget tremendously. I needed a different solution so for the first drawer face I cut off the existing face with a saw. After I put a new board in place and screwed my new face on (pic 18). This worked but upon doing so I got another idea. I measured the existing slides I had and tried to pushed back the first drawer box as far back as it could go (prior to screwing the face on). There was tolerance for me to use the old existing drawer faces and all I had to do was trim down the edges (pic 19) and screw the new on in place. So that is what I did for the remaining 6, thus creating my own low budget "drawer box" solution. The only issue I ran into was getting longer screws to reach the handle but that paled in comparison: $5 on a box of screws versus $500+ in new boxes and slides. I will take it!!

For the drawer handles, no grand jig here. Simply measure the center where you want the handle, drill, and screw into place, checking for level.

One thing I had installed in the old backsplash was a magnetic knife bar (pic 1). I prefer these over a knife block that takes up valuable real estate on your countertop. Using a masonry drill bit, I slowly drilled into my new backsplash to minimize any potential cracking. That is the last thing I needed at this point but luckily all was well. Once the two holes were drilled, I gently pounded in the anchor and I got my knives back on the magnetic bar.

Under cabinet lighting needed to be replaced as well (pic 2). The one we had by the countertops was a bulky fluorescent strip which we updated to LED ran via USB. The other light I replace was above the sink. The old one was hardwired, bulky, and required two 60W lightbulbs. The updated one was still hardwired but a flat LED bar and has a dimming feature. The installation was a breeze with the aid of the provided instructions.

Eventually we want to replace our black appliances to stainless steel but the stove, dishwasher, and fridge are in good working order and don't really need replacing. Not yet anyways. I am sure a really good sale will change our minds. We also would like to keep the gas range but have a double oven. Dreams

Last thing to fully update our kitchen would be the floor tile. I don't know why they chose floor tile with intricate designs (read: crumb city)? Again looks great, hard to keep clean. I would like a nice, flat, easy to clean floor tile but again that would be for the future.

Some folks may wonder what was my bottom line cost-wise? New hood, microwave, cabinet doors and drawer faces, cleaning/painting, and backsplash (incl. materials) was all <$3,000 USD. Take that and compare to only whole new cabinets and there is no way you're getting <$3K. <5K was the overall goal and $3K was the stretch. It took a little over 2 months working where I could during the week but most was performed on weekends. All done ourselves, no contractors unless you count the company we paid for the new doors/drawers but still way less expensive.

I hope this gives you some tips, tricks, hacks, ideas, whatever you want to call it to get started/inspired to update your kitchen. I love to cook but doing so in a dark area did have an effect on me but having a bright welcoming kitchen is so much better.

If you are reading this and you see something that is blatantly wrong/dangerous, please let the community know in the comments below so that others may learn from it. Thanks for making it this far!!