If you’ve been following along on our recent house hunting journey, you know how difficult is was for us to snag a house. If you’re not up to speed on that whole process and want to read a little more about the crazy housing market out here, check out my post about competitive housing markets.
Long story short, we made multiple offers on a number of houses, eventually some above asking price, before we finalyyy went under contract. I quickly learned that we were no longer looking for the “perfect house”, we just needed any house. Well, not any house. I had a specific area I wanted to be in, but still. Homes were going up for sale every day. And unfortunately, usually going under contract that same day.
One house in particular had a beautiful white kitchen. I was sooo set on that house. I got obsessed with each house we pursued, but I definitely got a little bitter when that one fell through. I think the sellers ended up getting a better offer – ugh. Still a little bitter I guess. That house had the kids’ bedrooms on the first floor and the master on the top floor, so it really was meant to be that we didn’t get that house. It wouldn’t have been ideal with 3 littles.
Anyway, our realtor found a house that hadn’t hit the market yet and we jumped on it. We offered a little more than the asking price, crossed our fingers and wore our underwear inside that night (kidding about that last part, though I considered it) Anyway, we got the house! All bedrooms were on the same floor. (a must – duh!) The views were amazing! It was ours and we got to work on it right away, specifically in the kitchen. Here’s what we were working with the day we closed on the house:
I didn’t hate the kitchen, but I knew it had so much potential. We made some changes to our last house’s kitchen, too. Our cabinets started out this same color and we went with darker cabinets and a dark backsplash. We already had fairly dark hardwood floors. It wasn’t terrible, but I do wish I had thought about how there was only one window in there, so there wouldn’t be much natural light coming in that space.
So this time, I didn’t make that mistake again and we went lighter. The biggest change this time was our cabinets and it was also the cheapest! We used the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations Light Kit. One kit costs about $80 and is supposed to cover up to 100 sq ft. We ended up getting away with one kit BUT we figured out about halfway through that we should have been using a primer first. Sounds like common since, right? We followed the directions on the kit, though, which said to use the deglosser then start painting with the kit’s paint. (which by the way, DOES need to be tinted at the store you purchase it from). I definitely recommend picking up a good primer from the store when you buy the kit and doing at least one coat of the primer and two coats of the kit’s paint, depending on how dark your cabinets are to begin with.
*Also! The kit comes with an “antique finish” clear coat. We SKIPPED that part and went straight to the protective top coat. Adding that “antique finish” turns your cabinets a little off white/yellow tinted, which may be what you’re going for, but I wanted plain stark white cabinets.
It’s a long process but ended up being so worth it! We also replaced the floors with new tile that looks like hardwood all throughout the first floor. We also added a subway tile backsplash, big lantern pendant lights and a few new appliances. We love the final look!
(I have a blog post on these DIY Window Treatments – super easy!)
And I hope we don’t flip any more kitchens for a while!
If you have any questions, comment them below!
