One Room Challenge: Budget Makeover Kitchen Plans

Yall, I have been so excited for this day to come.  It’s the first day of the fall One Room Challenge!  It’s time to makeover a room in our home in 6 weeks and I. Am. Ready.

This is my fourth time to do the ORC. We did the reading room last spring, the exterior last fall and the playroom in our old house a couple years ago. It’s one of my favorite times to blog. So many awesome designers. So many awesome makeovers. This time I’m really excited though. This time I’ll be making over our kitchen. But wait THERE’S MORE. It’s not going to be a big, high dollar makeover. Unlike the full gut job we just did in the girls bathroom, this makeover will be us, using what we have and as little money possible to get the biggest transformation possible. It will include lots of painting, DIY projects, leftover supplies from other projects, Facebook Marketplace and other secondhand purchases (and sales to offset the money spent). Low budget makeovers are my fave and I really want to show that a smaller budget does not have to sacrifice style.

The other thing that I’m doing that I’m super excited about is the sharing of this makeover. In previous ORC’s I saved most of my content for the weekly blog posts. This time I’ll be doing most of it in real time on Instagram Stories so if you don’t follow me there, now is the time. I plan to make weekly or project based recaps/tutorials via video too.

Ok, now that you know how this one will be different, let me show you what we’re working with:

one room challange before: green countertops, outdated wallpaper, galley kitchen
This was taken 3 weeks after we moved in. I couldn’t handle the wallpaper anymore so I slapped some paint on it and this is where it has been for the last year.
one room challange before: green countertops, paint over wallpaper, galley kitchen

Over the summer I took the doors off some of the cabinets to test how we’d feel about open shelving. There isn’t much storage in here but instead of griping about that, it’s really just a matter of having less. Keeping only what we use.

one room challange before: remove cabinet doors or open shelving, green countertops, paint over wallpaper, galley kitchen
one room challange before: green countertops, paint over wallpaper, galley kitchen

I actually love this kitchen. I don’t mind that it’s a galley. I’m happy that it’s closed off from the living room. I wouldn’t keep the floors and there are some things I’d move around if we were gutting it but for now its great!..Just needs to be prettier. More ‘us’.

ORC inspiration: open shelving, marble counters, vintage print

Here are some images that have inspired me as I plan the space:

via Grit and Polish
ORC inspiration: marble counters and backplace, vintage cottage feel
via Remodelista
ORC inspiration: raised cabinets with shelf underneath
via Chris Loves Julia
ORC inspiration: open shelving, wall mount lighting
via McGee and Co.
ORC inspiration: dark counters, light flooring, golden cabinets
via Studio Shamshiri
ORC inspiration: open shelving, dark counters, golden cabinets, cottage
via Hayman Design

Here’s what I’ve got for my design so far:

budget kitchen makeover with second hand finds. Vintage, cottage kitchen

I tried to have my cabinet color squared away but I really have to wait until the green countertops are concealed…It’s too hard to tell but here are some I was considering…

and here’s my beautiful, (surely to scale) drawing of the window side of the kitchen.

Finally, here’s the to do list:

remove soffits
patch wall and ceiling
paint walls
raise upper cabinets
build backsplash
feather finish countertops
square off cabinet doors
build shelves
hang shelves
build refrigerator surround
install fb marketplace dishwasher
install fb marketplace microwave
build microwave surround
degloss, prime and paint cabinets
attach interior mount hinges
install cabinet hardware
paint floor tile grout lines
style

That’s a lot but a lot of it can be done by me during the week. I hope. It’ll happen. I can’t wait to take you along for the ride.

Browse my picks (*affiliate links) by scrolling the images below:

Make sure and keep up to date on what the featured designers are up to. And the other guest participants here.

Come back next week and make sure you’re following on Instagram. It’s gonna be so fun this way!

Thanks for reading, friends!

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.