Kitchen Reno Cost and Source List and Q & A

Welcome to the third of three posts about the kitchen reno!

If you want to catch up on the first two posts:

• the first one – the big reveal – is HERE;
• the second one – the one about the plan and process – is HERE.

Today I’m going to go through the cost of the reno and give you a list of where I bought or found everything. I’m also going to answer some questions I’ve gotten from you!

This post contains affiliate links, FYI. Please see my disclosure policy HERE. These links cost you nothing and help the lights stay on at HQ – thank you!

The Cost of the Kitchen Reno and Sources for Materials

Here’s the breakdown:

Sink: $12.00 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Faucet: Moen Walden faucet, $149.00.

(FYI – the price listed there is more than what I paid)

Shelves: Ikea EKBY JÄRPEN 46 7/8 x 11 shelves, cut to size, $24.99 each x 8.

Brackets: Ikea EKBY BJÄRNUM $10/2. 16 brackets total = $80.

Paint: Benjamin Moore’s Aura line, flat sheen, in Incredible White (SW7028), from my local Ace Hardware.

Chalkboard Paint: Rust-Oleum, $11.99, from Ace Hardware.

Lamp: $40 from HomeGoods.

Rug: $208.65, including tax and shipping; Regency I Area Rug – 2’6″X4’6″, Home Decorators Collection.

Clock: Ikea, Bravur $49.99.

Pitchers for storage of utensils: Free; shopped my own house. Originally the blue and clear one came from HomeGoods; the blue and white one is from a friend; the white one is from Ikea.

Pulls: 3″ cup pull in oil-rubbed bronze with copper accents, from D. Lawless Hardware. Thanks to D. Lawless for providing these pulls to me; I love them! D. Lawless has an amazing selection of hardware and Derrick is lovely. (Also, apparently his dog does eat pizza.) P.S. These pulls are currently on sale for $4.55 each (reg. $9.40!).

Electrician (to move the outlet that was in the cabinet to the wall): $125.00. Our electrician is On Call Electric in Atlanta. If you live here, they are awesome to work with and I can’t recommend them highly enough (they did not pay me to say that; I just love working with them).

Wire shelving (in pantry): $49.97 at Home Depot.

To see how to create a spice rack out of a vintage Coke crate, click HERE.

You can find soda crates like this at salvage yards, antique stores (although they are usually more expensive there), or at thrift stores.

Pantry Door: Click HERE for how to turn a regular old door into a sliding door.

Door was $1.99 at thrift store;

Hardware: eye bolts (3), $9.84; flanges (2), $20.42; pipe (cut and threaded), $13.54; nipple connectors (2), $3.16; 90 degree elbows (2), $3.84; casters (3), $9.57; 2 door handles ($33.96). Total cost incl. tax: $102.38.

Total Cost of Kitchen Reno: $1,072 (plus tax where tax was not included above).

Not too shabby for totally transforming the look of the kitchen!

Now, some questions I’ve gotten about the kitchen reno:

(1) Where are the cabinets now?

The cabinets – with one exception – are in our basement. As you all know, I can’t throw cabinets like that away and, while they aren’t the most high-end cabinets, they could be useful elsewhere at some point. The one cabinet that bit the dust I had to throw away. It was coated in cockroach poop (you’re welcome) and beyond repair.

(2) Where do you keep your dishes?

Our plates and bowls are kept in this rustic cabinet in the breakfast room:

I wanted to put the dishes in the breakfast room and lower to the ground so that the kids can help themselves to breakfast (bowl for cereal, etc.) and can get dishes out to set the table.

I bought the cabinet at an estate sale out in the country for $145. The door is actually an old window (swoon). Shocking that I loved it, right? (Note sarcasm.)

(3) Where’s the fridge?

Right here!

It isn’t much to look at, and I didn’t change anything, so I didn’t include it in the post. But there it is.

Relative to the rest of the room: if you are facing the stove, the fridge is to the right of the bank of cabinets with the stove, on the other side of the doorway to the dining room.

When we moved in, I took the doors off the cabinets above the fridge because the fridge blocked the opening of the doors! I keep platters and pans up there now.

(4) Does the stuff on the shelves get greasy or dirty?

Nope. The stuff on the bottom shelves, closest to the stove, are things we use pretty much every day. So they don’t sit around to get dirty. Also, I don’t do a lot of frying, so there isn’t regularly oil flying around the kitchen.

UPDATED: Kitchen Shelves – One Year Later: I reveal how I really feel about having open kitchen shelves one year after replacing the upper cabinets!

(5) How are the shelves easier to reach than the cabinets? They seem to be the same.

The shelves are placed lower than the bottom of the cabinets were. So, the bottom two shelves are easier to reach. I needed a step ladder to reach even the lowest cabinet shelf before; now, I only need a step ladder for the top shelves.

(6) Why no vent or hood at your stove?

We do have a vent; it’s a down-draft. You can see it in the middle of the stovetop.

(7) Did you really gain any counter space?

You betcha. When I removed the corner cabinet, which was just sitting on top of the counter, I nearly doubled the useable counter space in the kitchen. Perhaps this will help illustrate:

Now, I make dinner on this part of the counter every night. Yay!

If you have any other questions, please leave them in the comments below! I’ll be happy to answer anything.

Pin for shopping later!