Simple Ways To Customize An Outdated Kitchen On A Budget

It’s reno time! Join me for a 6-week journey as I share simple ways to customize an outdated kitchen and how we plan to do it all on a budget.

*This post is generously sponsored by Jeffrey Court Tile. All opinions shared here are 100% my own. This post also contains affiliate links for your convenience. To learn more, you may read my Disclosure Policy. Thank you for supporting my blog and the brands I truly love!

My BIG NEWS

I’ve been keeping a secret. Those of you who follow along on Instagram stories may have seen me sharing some teasers. Now I can finally tell you what the BIG NEWS is.

I was selected as one of 14 finalists to participate in the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge, sponsored by Jeffrey Court, Frog Tape, and Wagner Spray Tech. This is the sixth season of the challenge, which invites designers and DIYers to renovate one room in their home using tile provided by Jeffrey Court.

The twist? All of the renovations have to be completed in just six weeks!

Each week I’ll be sharing our progress with you. I hope you’ll follow our journey as we take you along from demo day all the way to the final reveal.

I’ll be sharing more details on my social channels, including how you can vote for your favorite reno at the end of the challenge! So let’s get started!

Simple Ways To Customize An Outdated Kitchen On A Budget

For the challenge, my husband, Kirk, and I plan to customize our outdated kitchen while working on a budget.

I’m excited. And honestly a bit nervous. Tackling a kitchen reno in just six weeks is no small task. But we’re up to the challenge and can’t wait to transform our 1990s builder’s grade kitchen from drab to fab!

For week one of the Jeffrey Court challenge, I’m going to share with you what our kitchen looks like currently, some inspiration for our makeover, and what we hope to accomplish over the next six weeks.

Our Home Style

Over the years, we’ve tackled home improvement projects of all sizes from simple hardware updates to a DIY bathroom vanity makeover.

There have been successes. And big ‘ole fat failures (See our master bathroom update story for a good laugh.)

Through it, all my style has evolved from traditional to farmhouse, and back again. I love to mix the old with the new, and for years I struggled with how to define what it is that I seem to be drawn to.

Recently I stumbled across the definition for modern cottage style and it fits me to a T! This style blends thrifted or vintage pieces with traditional details and classic lines.

Our home has been (and still is) a work in progress.

But now that I finally feel confident in my style and what works in our home (and what doesn’t), I can’t wait to give our kitchen a modern cottage makeover.

Kitchen Inspiration

Before creating a design board, I spent some time scrolling Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.

There are so many dreamy kitchens I could have spent hours looking at them. These are some of my favorites.

Our Kitchen Before

To appreciate the “after” you have to see the “before” first. This is the current state of our kitchen, and it’s as basic as they come.

It’s perfectly functional as far as kitchens go. It’s just not our style.

The gold oak cabinets, the cream-colored laminate countertops, and the mismatched appliances all make the space feel tired and dated.

The kitchen doesn’t get much natural light and it can be hard to photograph. (All of the gold oak also doesn’t help!)

Other than our back patio door, this is the only window in the space. I’ve got some plans to help lighten things up by giving both the fixture and the trim a facelift.

We’ll also be upgrading to a brand new sink and faucet. The current dual-sided sink is shallow and makes it hard to wash large pots and pans.

I’ve dreamed of making this change for such a long time. I can’t wait to show you what we have picked out!

I mentioned the laminate countertops. Here they are in all of their glory. Next to the oak-colored cabinets, the counters are one of the things that I like least in our kitchen.

I would love to install new marble or quartz countertops, but have you seen the cost? Yikes!

It’s expensive, and not in our budget right now. So instead, I have plans to update our counters on the cheap with the help of just a little bit of paint and a DIY counter transformation kit.

For this challenge, we’ll also look to update these old barstools and breath some new life into our kitchen table with some paint and new chairs to match the barstools.

Renovation Plans

We have a BIG and ambitious project list for our six-week challenge. Here is everything that we plan to do:

• Add a fresh coat of paint on the walls and paint the window trim
• Install a new cordless blind
• Update our existing light fixtures with a new pendant and a new chandelier
• Purchase a new stainless steel microwave to match the rest of our recently upgraded appliances
• Replace our old barstools and kitchen table chairs with some cottage-style barstools and dining chairs
• Paint the laminate countertops to replicate high-end quartz (without the high-end price tag!)
• Hire a plumber to install a new sink and faucet
• Add a tile backsplash

We also want to replace the flooring, paint our cabinets, and add some hardware to match the new fixtures and faucet. Someday.

As much as I’d love to tackle ALL of the things, my husband and I both have full-time jobs, so I have to be realistic with how much we can get done in such a short time. Most of the renovations will be done on the weekends and late at night. But this challenge is a great way to kick-start our plans to fully customize our outdated kitchen and to do it on a budget.

Our Tile Selection

I’m so excited to see all of the pieces of the plan come together, but I’m honestly most excited about the new backsplash that we’ll be installing.

This is the Jet Stream Mosaic pattern from Jeffrey Court and it’s the tile that we’ll be using for the challenge.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

I love the neutral color and the classic herringbone design. It’s a simple way to customize our outdated builder’s grade kitchen without blowing our budget. It’s also the perfect blend of vintage meets modern that will give our kitchen that cozy cottage vibe that we’re going for.

Kitchen Design Board

To achieve the modern cottage look, the updated kitchen will include a lot of neutrals mixed with warm brass and wood tones.

Here is a design board I created that shows all of the products we plan to use throughout the challenge.

Simple Ways To Customize An Outdated Kitchen On A Budget

We have a big list and a lot of work to do to customize our outdated kitchen, so wish me luck! The goal is to stay on time and on budget…keep your fingers crossed for me that we can do both!

Next week we’ll begin the demo and painting, so I hope you’ll come back to see our progress.

Xo,

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