Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, the kitchen is finished!! Amen!
There were days that I didn’t think I would see the end of it, but thankfully, the kitchen is finally finished! It took longer than we anticipated, and I haven’t added up all of the receipts to see exactly what we spent, however, whatever the cost, it was still much cheaper than the contractor!
I am so proud of the fact that we did it all ourselves, and it has turned out exactly like I envisioned!
So, without further ado, here is the final reveal! 
Quite the change, isn’t it?
If you remember we bought a beautiful French Country Ranch home that was custom built in the 1970’s, but had not been updated since it was originally built.
The home has great bones and we love the architecture, but every single room will need to be updated. It still has the original flocked wallpaper and pink shag carpet!
We started with the heart of the home, the kitchen, which may have not been the most intelligent decision for two demo rookies!
The most extensive renovating we have ever done is painting and wallpapering.
Tackling a major kitchen renovation right off the bat, well, I just kept telling myself, “how hard could it be?”
We tore up the old tile floor with a jack hammer, which was quite the experience!
We scraped the popcorn ceiling. What a mess!
And we removed closets and cabinets to open up the space.
We patched and replaced sheet rock, installed new sub flooring, covered all the soffits with wood,
and added crown moulding to the ceiling.
We planked the ceiling with wood planks and then pickled them with a Minwax Pickling Stain, and hung a gorgeous vintage chandelier that was dripping with crystals.
We modified the old existing sink cabinet to hold a new double farmhouse sink with a beautiful, single stainless faucet.
We added recessed lighting into the ceiling, and added decorative trim moulding to both the old original cabinets and the new cabinets so that they would match and flow together.
We added new appliances, all of them close outs, and
we tiled all the kitchen walls, up to the ceiling, in white subway tiles with a light gray grout.
All of the cabinets were painted in Snowbound by Sherwin Williams.
The interior doors, island, and bar cabinet were painted a beautiful gray, Pussywillow by Sherwin Williams.
After the cabinets were painted, I hand glazed each one with Valspar Signature Antiquing Glaze in Asphaltum from Lowe’s.
It was very easy to use and a small jar did the entire kitchen.
We used the existing island cabinet that was original to the house and just added the decorative moulding and painted it.
I wanted a table extension added so that there was a small eating area with bar stools. So I drew a rough sketch on paper and hubby made one that slid perfectly under the lip of the island.
I didn’t know he was so crafty and neither did he!
Isn’t that planked ceiling gorgeous?!? One of my favorite parts of the entire room.
Notice the furniture legs on the bottom of all the cabinets. We added those as well because I love the look of furniture in a kitchen.
We added new cabinets under the windows to replace the cabinets that weren’t salvageable.
We bought stock cabinets from Home Depot, added the same decorative trim moulding to all of the doors, and once painted, they flow perfectly with the old ones.
We laid a wood floor using 5″ wide, handscraped oak, and we absolutely love it.
The inlaid brick circle in the breakfast room is original to the house.
This area was originally a huge double closet that we removed in order to add more cabinets.
We installed beadboard to the wall and installed three stock Home Depot drawer cabinets.
Hubby screwed them together, covered the seams, trimmed out the drawers and doors with decorative trim moulding, added wood and trim at the bottom, and then added the furniture legs.
We painted and glazed the cabinets and topped it with a black granite remnant from the marble company.
The upper cabinets are stock Home Depot cabinets as well. Hubby customized them by building and adding the shelves and wine rack in between.
The arch in each door is actually made from the old moulding off of the original cabinet doors.
We salvaged some of the old moulding, remounted it onto the new doors, and then cut the opening out.
A beautiful original feature to the home is diamond lead glass windows in the kitchen, so I wanted to tie that diamond pattern into the doors of the upper cabinets.
We found a barbeque grate (designed for bbq grills) at Lowes which was perfect.
We cut the grate in half, painted both pieces with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, and installed them in the opening in the doors.
My “dream kitchen” always has Carrara marble countertops.
Unfortunately, in our area it’s hard to find a stone company that sells it.
Most of the companies tried to talk us out of it because it’s a little harder to maintain than granite.
But if you get it honed and sealed (seal it once every year thereafter) then it’s perfectly durable.
Over time, it will take on a patina that one only sees in the old French patisseries.
We finally found a stone company that ordered the Carrara for us and I am so happy with it.
I looked at dozens of white granite but just kept coming back to the Carrara marble.
I love it and it’s exactly the look I wanted.
All the cabinets received new oil rubbed bronze hardware from Lowe’s.
I’m painting all the exterior doors, as well as trimming all the windows, in black.
It really gives the space an elegant look, enhancing the design of the home.
All of the woodwork and trim received coats of white paint and all of the old cream colored switch plates were replaced with new white ones.
The walls in the breakfast room were painted a beautiful shade of gray, Agreeable Gray from Sherwin Williams.
I’ve been hoarding this fabulous buffet for awhile, knowing that it was perfect for this long wall in the breakfast room.
It was originally a large dresser in a French Provincial bedroom set.
This piece was pretty ugly when we found it at an estate sale, but I knew the look I wanted, so it got a gorgeous makeover with layers and layers of paint.
If you want to see the before and after post on the buffet, click here.
Taking down walls really opened up this space.
The breakfast room is now one of my favorite spaces with it’s circular wall of windows looking out over the patio.When you step in our kitchen door, this is what you see!
See the brown door on the left in the above picture? It is one of the original doors that leads from the breakfast room out onto the patio.
I didn’t paint it because I am going to replace it with a french door. It’s an odd size so we are still looking for a salvaged door to replace it with.
The breakfast room is now the perfect spot for my family heirloom farmhouse table.
The table belonged to my grandparents, who bought it when they first married in 1901.
I don’t know if you can see it, but it has a fifth leg which is right in the center of the table.
I found the perfect barstools on Overstock.com and they were covered in lovely white linen which I left on the seats.
But to give them more of a French feel, I replaced the linen on the back with antique grain sacks.
Looking back, I have to say that the hardest part was getting the old tile floor up. It would not come up!
Even after using a jack hammer to break up each tile and grout line, we still spent days on our hands and knees with a pry bar and hammer working the rest of it up.
In the process, a lot of the sub flooring was damaged and had to be replaced.
The other challenge we had was the crown moulding cuts. Even with the right tools, sometimes it just didn’t match up correctly.
It was frustrating to say the least, but we learned that there isn’t much that caulk and wood putty won’t fix!
The nastiest part of the reno had to be removing the popcorn ceiling. It wasn’t hard, just really messy.
Unfortunately, every room in this house has it and will need to be scraped.
But the planked ceiling in the kitchen/breakfast room looks so amazing, that the mess was well worth it!
During the months of renovation, not one time did hubby and I mention the “D” word, although murder was mentioned a few times!
We definitely got frustrated with each other along the way, simply because we can both look at the same thing and see it in completely opposite ways. The end result was usually the same, but we both wanted to take completely different routes to get to the end result!
We learned very quickly that we had to stop and communicate what our individual thoughts were!
I don’t know how many times we said, “This is how I see it, how do you see it?” That helped us to get on the same page, and I know that going forward, as we move into each room renovation, it will become easier. And hubby is a quick learner, he has practiced over and over saying, “Yes, dear.” He’s definitely a keeper.
It’s taken us over eight months to complete this kitchen reno and it has been worth the journey! I know now that there really isn’t much hubby and I can’t do.
All you need is determination, the right tools, and youtube videos!
Oh, and Pinterest for inspiration! It has been so much fun to finally be able to decorate this beautiful space!
Thank you for following along on this time warp renovation!
Next up is renovating the family room!
After the kitchen, it should be a breeze, right? I mean, really, how hard could it be? Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Cindy
Love, love love the results of your renovation! I would sooo love to do that to my 40 y/o kitchen but I have always been afraid to paint my wood stained cabinets. Could you please do a vlog on the step by step process you did to accomplish such beautiful results? Thanks
Wow what a beautiful difference! Love it
I am almost at a loss for words. I am having so much fun looking at each room! I am so glad you put some close ups of decor details too. That is one thing I always enjoy seeing. How fortunate that you have your grandparents table!!!!!!!!! 8 months is a LONG time to live with a reno but it sure was worth the wait. You 2 are a GOOD team!
I just came across your kitchen and it’s absolutely gorgeous! We are about to repaint our cabinets with Snowbound and I have to know what sheen did yall use? They are convincing me at Lowes to get the new Valspar cabinet enamel in snowbound but it is semi gloss. Which paint of SW did you use? I hate that there are so many different kinds and then they recommend the Valspar!! Ahhhh!!! Thank you so much!
Thank you Barbara! We used a semi gloss finish on our cabinets. I have recently used some of the Valspar paint in the SW colors, and I’m very impressed by it. I don’t think you would be disappointed at all by using the Valspar, and Lowe’s now mixes all of the SW colors!
Thank you so much for the reply! Okay perfect, yes they said they would mix the SW color! Did you apply any other topcoat like polyacrylic? We have a crazy 2 year old so I’m thinking I need all the protection we can get. 🙂 Have a blessed day!
Barbara, we didn’t apply any kind of topcoat, however, we did give all the cabinets two coats of paint!
Would you mind talking about the furnace/heater grate in the floor. We have an old one that’s 29in x 36in. The manufacturer’s grate is unmentionable. Custom iron only seems to come smaller. What did you do there? Thanks.
The grate in the kitchen floor is for the air return and isn’t very large, only about 12″ x 16″. We were able to get a black iron grate to go into it until we can have the return relocated to another area. I wish I had a better solution for you but because of the size you’re dealing with, I’m not sure what you could do without having something custom made.
You are a wizard! Great Job! It’s beautiful!!!
Thank you Allison!
WOW…what a joy it must be to live in this beautiful space everyday and certainly more special that you did the work yourselves. 🙂 Definitely one of the most beautiful kitchens I have seen and I have been looking constantly the last few months for inspiration for the remodel of our kitchen.
Thank you so much Sybil!
Oh l just wanted to let you know how lovely your kitchen is now! Each detail was executed beautifully! Congratulations on all your hard work, it really paid off and you must be enjoying it immensely. Congratulations, and here’s to years of happiness!
Oh wow!!! That is a truly stunning transformation!
Thank you Sacha!
I have never commented on a home make-over project before, but this is the most gorgeous DIY kitchen I have ever seen! Your vision, creativity, and talent are incredible. It is a breathtaking room. Thank you for providing so much detail about what you did, too. It’s very inspiring. I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labor for years to come!
Thank you Stacey! Your kind words mean so much, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!
What is the name of your floors? They are gorgeous!!!
Thank you Gita! The floors are wide planked, hand scraped, oak hardwood, purchased from a local floor manufacturer, Versailles Hardwoods.
I have been looking for the perfect update for our kitchen and this is it. I love it! What type of wood are your cabinets? Did you brush or spray them? Did you prime them first? If so, what brand did you use? Did you nail or glue the trim on the cabinets? I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I’m anxious to get started. You and your husband definitely have a “gift.” Thank you so much for sharing that gift!
Thank you Darla! Our old kitchen cabinets are made out of maple. We brushed the paint on after priming all of them with an oil based primer from Sherwin Williams. I’m not sure of the brand. We actually glued {Liquid Nails} and nailed the trim on the cabinet doors. I’m a little paranoid about things coming loose, so I lean toward “overkill” when it comes to things like this….at least hubby thinks so! But he humors me when I say, “Did you glue that before you nailed it?!?” Good luck with your kitchen!
pickled…you can always go white later can’t undo white….
Can you tell me what brand and color of stain you used on the ceiling? We just planked our ceiling and I am wondering if I should stain or paint. Thank you.
Hi Karen! The pickling stain we used was Minwax White Wash Pickling Stain from Lowe’s.
I am usually adverse to pickling stain (as so overdone in the late 80s early 90s, but I have to say that your ceiling looks great and really fits into the over all design. Job well done!
Thank you so much Michael!
Hi.Your kitchen is amazing! Just beautiful. I have been looking for a statue like you have on the buffet with the bread board, silver bowl and scale. Can you tell me what it is called. I have searched for vintage statues, french vintage statues Can you please help? Thank you so much.
Thank you Tylor! The statue is an old cement praying angel statue. Once used in the garden, it is very timeworn. I found this piece at an estate sale several years ago. Every once in awhile I find something similar on EBay and I have them for sale every now and then in our online shop {www.edithandevelyn.etsy.com}. However, I don’t find them very often!
I just found your blog and will take days to go back and read every entry! What an amazing job you have done! Lots of great ideas! I tried to follow you on bloglovin but couldn’t find you!
Thank you Lynne!
Absolutely stunning! You both must be so proud that you did it all yourselves. This is one of the nicest kitchen renovations I’ve seen in a long time. Your home has some lovely details like the leaded diamond pane windows and the circular brick breakfast area. I’m curious? you’re calling this a ranch style home. I thought ranch style homes didn’t have an upstairs? Your foyer and staircase are stunning! You truly have the gift for putting together the French look! Everything flows beautifully and your color palette is divine!
Thank you Sandy! I think the correct term for our type architecture is Country French Ranch. At least this is what an architect told us! Thanks so much for following along!
We are redoing our oak cabinets. I am using the same colors as you did hope my looks as good as your do!!
Ruth, I am sure they will look wonderful! It’s amazing at the change that paint can make! Good luck!
How did you put the stain on the cabinets?
Hi Ruth! I actually applied the glaze with a small artist’s brush from Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. I didn’t want the glaze on the entire cabinet, only in the small detailed areas around the trim. I just added the glaze with the small brush and then immediately wiped the excess off with a slightly damp rag, leaving only the glaze down in the details and edges of the trim. Hope that helps!
I’m afried I can’t put the stain on rite?
You guys are amazing! Wonderful job on the ‘nuts and bolts’ and just beautiful decorating. Coming over from “No Minimalist Here” blog.
The kitchen is beautiful! We are in the midst of a renovation ourselves and are making choices daily (for me the hardest part!!) Could you provide the style #s for the Delta faucet and the cabinet hardware? Thank you soo much! Great job.
Michelle,
I will dig through my {mountain} of receipts and find the style numbers for you. I should have something in the next few days!
Michelle,
The hardware is:
Liberty Hardware, #142976, 3″ Ashley Pull, Bronze w/gold highlights…..we bought them from Lowe’s. And as a tip, if you are being in a large quantity, ask the department head for a better price, they will usually give a better deal!
The sink:
Delta #4197-DST, Cassidy single handle pull out, Polished Chrome
Hope that helps!
I just searched for 2 hours on Hometalk trying to find your kitchen then finally put in kitchen with lots of windows and found it again! I had seen it awhile back but didn’t read where you were for some reason. It made me laugh as I was from Mayberry too. I loved what you did and actually tried to analyze for quite a while where your kitchen was located in your house due to the windows on both sides and breakfast room facing the back. Still can’t figure it out. After reading your post again you stated you were in Springfield. I nearly fell off my chair as that is where I am from and we share the same name and I also have old rosaries! Serendipity! I love what you did to your kitchen!
Absolutely Beautiful… A lot of sharp intricate details that truly iced this cake!!! As my grandmother used to say, “This is Top Notch…”
Love those two lamps on the buffet! Where can I find some like those?
Hi Dena! I recently picked up these Italian lamps at an estate sale. One has a slight crack in the base, but it didn’t care because they were so fabulous!
I wouldn’t change one thing. Fabulous job!
Thank you Melly!
Wow, wow, wow!
Thank you Anita! You and your beautiful home have been such an inspiration for me!
Simply elegant! So peaceful and lovely. We, too, are in a very slow kitchen renovation. Yours is what I dream of. Is your farmhouse sink vintage or a reproduction? Where did you find it?
Hi Em! The sink is a new reproduction. We ordered it from Lowe’s and we have been extremely pleased with it! Good luck with your kitchen renovation! There were days that I didn’t know if we would ever finish!
Your new kitchen is absolutely gorgeous! I know that you appreciate it even more so because you and your hubby did it yourselves. Great job!!
Amaizing!!!!
Your new kitchen is superb. Your details make it so unique. Carol
Oh WOW……..what a fabulous job, I am totally in love with your new kitchen,every single piece of it is delicious…..thanks for sharing.x
Lovely, lovely and oh, did I mention lovely?
HOLY COW – THAT IS LOVELY! I REALLY want a new kitchen. Kind of need it because the cabinet where the sink is kind of warped a bit after a pipe burst/flood. This is just gorgeous and going in my inspiration file.
Ana
Holy crap this is amazing!! When I saw this on hometalk, I thought the photos were “inspiration photos” from a magazine or something. Are you SURE this is your first major renovation?? Looks like you’ve been doing it for decades!
If there’s a word more perfect than perfect, that would be the word to describe this. Congratulations!!! This is epic transformation and design – and taste!
Thank you for the inspirational images. My son is getting married next May and the theme is French Country. I had a look at your Etsy store looking for a pair of tall candleholders or pricket sticks. Do you have a customer wish list? If so, please put my name down for a PAIR of tall candle holds. Also, I absolutely love the lamps on your kitchen buffet and assume they are new. Could you tell me where you purchased them?
Looking forward to your reply.
Pat Dickinson
Hi Pat! Thank you for your kind words! The lamps on the buffet aren’t new, I found them at a recent estate sale. They are made in Italy, and though not very old, they are probably from the 60’s. Congratulations on your son’s upcoming wedding! We actually just recently sold an amazing pair of pricket sticks from a New York estate. I will definitely be on the lookout for a matching pair and will let you know if we find some! Best,
Cindy
Cindy – it’s absolutely stunning – I love it! That original brick floor is amazing. You and your hubby did a stellar job!!
Absolutely positively STUNNING!!!! I have to tell you, I LOVE the brick in your breakfast area…..it is sooooo gorgeous!
~Des
Cindy, it’s just perfect…You two are going to take at least a week or two off aren’t you? Tell hubby “hello” for me. Oh, and your pics are gorgeous, too! I’ll be watching for your house in one of my magazines…
judy pimperl
Thank you Judy! I don’t know about a week or two, but definitely a couple of days!
That is simply, by far, the most beautiful kitchen I have ever seen. It was worth your blood, sweat and maybe a few tears. Far above so much of what I usually see. Kudos
Okay, I knew you two were wonderful and talented and meant to be together!!! I seriously want to hire you to come re-do my space!! Do you work for food? Absolutely beautiful…
For your food??? Absolutely!! Thank you for your sweet, sweet words, we miss you so much!! One of these days, I’m going to surprise you and visit! Love ya!
You didn’t talk about the brick on the nook floor, was it original or did you install
I LOVE that detail!
The circle of inlaid brick was original to the house.
I just saw this on Hometalk; I am amazed! This is gorgeous and I can’t believe you and your husband had never done anything like this before. You have beautiful taste and I love everything you did!!
Thank you Patty! It’s true, this was our first renovation project…..which was probably why it took us 8 months to complete! That and the daily naps and cocktails!
Wow…what a transformation! It is so beautiful in so many ways! Enjoy!!!
The kitchen is absolutely stunning. Ya all should be very proud. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. !
Wow! What an amazing transformation! I remember seeing the gorgeous buffet you showed awhile back and had no idea of the beauty that would surround it! You have truly out done yourselves! Won’t be long until a magazine comes calling, if they haven’t already! I don’t see one thing I don’t love. Amazing job! Congratulations! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Cathy 🙂 the crown winner!
Thank you so much Cathy!
Everything is so beautiful! Can’t believe you both did it all by yourselves! We are doing some updates in our kitchen right now and we are getting a lot of help so I admire your ability to do such a great job yourselves! Really could use your help! I love the Carrara marble but we ended up going with a Quartz that resembles it and I think it will be pretty but it’s still not the real thing. Hubby wouldn’t budge on that one. 🙁 I look forward to seeing more of your renovations in the future! Blessings to you!
Just gorgeous! I love everything you done to create a beautiful space.
I love everything about it. l
STUNNING!! – Karen
FANTASTIC, and breathtakingly beautiful!! What an amazing transformation, you really did a great job!!