I have been updating my mom’s house one room at a time for the past year, and it was finally time to tackle something big – the kitchen! Most of the rooms in her house just needed some fresh paint, new curtains, and de-cluttering, but the kitchen was a whole different story. EVERYTHING in her kitchen needed updating, but with a limited budget it was tricky.

This is what I had to work with – see what I mean?!? The linoleum was originally white when I lived here as a child, but over the years it had yellowed. The cabinets were in pretty good shape, but were grease-stained and faded, and don’t even get me started on that horrible cabinet hardware!

The popcorn ceiling was really uneven, and the air vents were stained, as well as the ceiling near the vents.

The countertops were really old and pieced together, the white kitchen sink was all scratched up, and I had no idea what was happening on top of the counters – there was just random stuff everywhere.

The biggest issue for me was that EVERYTHING was white! White walls, white countertops, white cabinets, white floors, white appliances…

As you can see, her kitchen definitely needed help! I had been doing her easier rooms first because this kitchen was just so overwhelming, and I had no idea where to even start. Also my mom isn’t used to change, so she was just as overwhelmed.

Mom and I sat down and talked about what she liked and didn’t like about her kitchen, and came up with a game plan. She really likes white (obviously!), so we decided to keep a good bit of white in there, with some subtle shades of gray on the walls and curtains, and add some color and texture on top of the counters.

Even with a game plan, it was still overwhelming, so I decided to just start at the top and work my way to the bottom. I hand-scraped the popcorn ceiling until it was even, painted it with a fresh coat of white paint, and spray painted the air vents white so they looked new again. This was very time-consuming, but it made a HUGE difference! Even though the ceiling was the same color as before, having it clean and bright made the entire room look bigger and more cheerful.

She wanted to keep her white cabinets, so I painted them a fresh coat of white and replaced her hardware with something more modern.

The fresh paint made the cabinets look new again, and the new hardware made a HUGE difference! This was also MUCH cheaper than buying all new cabinets.

Next I painted the walls. I talked her into a light gray, something subtle but that was NOT white!

I put two samples on the wall for her to choose from, and she chose the lighter gray. It ended up perfect. I gave all the trim a fresh coat of white paint, so the gray really stood out against it, but it was such a light shade of gray that it wasn’t too much of a change for my mom.

She had a lot of framed prints on her kitchen walls, and I talked her into letting me replace them with some other things that would add some texture and warmth to the room, like this basket and metal medallion.

Next came the countertops. I can paint, decorate, do minor handy work, etc. but I am definitely not a professional installer, so we went to a local countertop place to complete the next phase of her kitchen remodel. She was nervous to stray from white, so we found a white stone that had just a bit of gray swirling through it. We went with quartz countertops instead of granite or marble, because quartz is much cheaper and has hardly any upkeep. They also replaced her scratched white sink with a stainless steel sink, and we got her a new faucet that was bigger and more modern than her old one.

Next I took EVERYTHING off her counters, made her choose what she couldn’t live without, and tossed everything else. I mixed in her old stuff with some new things to give her countertops some color and texture, but not too much so that it didn’t look cluttered.

When I showed her the “before” pictures, she was amazed how much cleaner everything looked now without so much junk on the counters.

Now the only thing left to do were the floors. Again, I’m not a professional, so I just helped her pick them out, and my brother-in-law installed them. I told her she needed something that added warmth and texture to the kitchen, since everything else in there was white or gray. I suggested a wood laminate, and she picked one that had some gray tones in it since the walls were a light gray now.

Now all the white in her kitchen isn’t so bad, because it’s anchored with this beautiful new floor.

She was so excited about her “new” kitchen that she decided to even update the white appliances to stainless steel to match her new sink!

This room took quite a bit of planning, and definitely more than one weekend for me to complete, but look at the difference in the before and after pictures!

My mom is so happy when she walks into her kitchen now, and that is what matters. Our home SHOULD make us happy.

If you are unhappy with your kitchen, but don’t have the time or the budget to completely remodel it, consider small changes instead. Just changing your cabinet hardware out, decluttering your countertops, or even putting out a new dish towel can make a big difference in the appearance and feel of the room.

Next comes my mom’s living room (which currently has pine wood paneling!), so stay tuned for another room transformation!

Thanks y’all!

– Nikki