Kitchen remodel- before and after
Since my regular blog readers saw some photos of my kitchen in mid-remodel and had to listen to me complain about all of the sanding and staining and polyurethaning, I figure it’s only fair that I share the before-and-after slide show now that it is finally finished.
We completed this remodel on a tight budget. We did not want to remove the cabinets entirely because we didn’t want to spend that much money on a house that is not our “forever home” and may never sell for enough to justify all that work. But we wanted to give the cabinets a new look without simply slapping a coat of white paint over the old, scuzzy finish. So we got ourselves roped into sanding down the lot of them, restaining them a colonial maple color and adding new hardware.
We also got a new laminate counter, ripped out some old, fugly fake brick back splash and had a new tile back splash put in. We replaced the sink and outlet covers. Still need to find a new light fixture for above the sink, replace the old ceiling fans and do some touch-up painting, but you can see that it’s quite the makeover! Thanks for the advice along the way.


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That looks great Lindsey! I really like the tile and the new color of the cabinets. I’d give my right arm to have that much counter space.:)
What a nice remodel! An old rental home we once lived in had a kitchen very similar to your old one, and we didn’t like it a whole lot. If it looked like what you now have, we might have kept renting the place! The only thing I dislike about our current kitchen is that it’s home to our only phone jack, so we have to have ur DSL router in the kitchen, above the fridge.
That was a ton of hard work, Lindsey, but the end result is beautiful! You and Howard did a terrific job. I love your tile backsplash!
It looks beautiful. You all did a great job!
Congrats, Lindsey! It looks great.
Thanks, guys!
Looks great!!!
I can relate on the polyurethaning, that was my job when we remodeled. Your kitchen is great! I love the tilework. Good Job!
You and Howard did a fabulous job on your kitchen. I think it is beautiful. Love that you kept your old cabinets.
Looking great. Makes mine look even worse now. I have the same cabinet and have thought of painting or stripping and staining them. It also looks like you have the exact same stove.
I am very impressed!
Mike, I’ve seen a lot of those cabinets in houses around Roanoke, and most of them are either original or painted white. You can tell it’s the same ones because of the flat shape of the doors. If they had been faceted like newer cabinet doors, I might have tried harder to convince Howard to paint them. As it is, I doubt if there are many other sets like ours now!
Mike, I think our cabinets look a lot better stained than painted, however it was a ton of work. I would do it again, but dang it was a pain. Also, if you do sand these type of cabinets be careful! The doors are actually pieces of wood pressed together, so if you sand too much you will go through the top layer and into the next and it will leave a scar.
The place I rented when I first moved here had those exact cabinets stacked up in the basement. I think they are very common in Roanoke.
This remodel looks great and the tile is fantastic. Your sweat equity paid off. Did you get any of your stuff from the Restore Habitat place?
I checked the Habitat store on Salem Avenue repeatedly, hoping to find a cabinet I could place on the other side of my stove. Our kitchen was built for a bigger stove so that made it all rather complicated. I never found a replacement cabinet so we went with the tiled wall.
Thanks for sharing this experience. Great job!
Congratulations on your blog award as well! Lindsey Rocks!
Aw, you are too kind, Sandi.