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Sarah Jean Melito Blog

Kitchen Updates That Anyone Can Do

Our Home

17 Aug

I want to share with you all how you can update your kitchen by yourself and not break the bank!

So let me start by showing you what our kitchen looked like before we moved in.

Okay, I’m gonna be real with you guys. When I originally thought of this post and started to brainstorm, I was super excited. Then, when I went to go take photos today of our kitchen, I kept noticing all the little imperfections. The stains on the cabinets, the nicks in the floor, and the spaces where we didn’t put enough grout on the subway tile. Suddenly, I became discouraged. I thought about who would care about seeing our kitchen, it’s not magazine worthy. And who would care about the updates we did to our kitchen. We aren’t professional kitchen remodelers. We didn’t spend $25,000 on a new kitchen. But wait.

That’s just it, and here it is now. We didn’t spend $25,000 on a new kitchen, and we didn’t have to! I love our kitchen. I love every single thing we have done to it. Are there still a few things I want to change? Hell yeah I do! But, there are always things we are going to want to change about our home. We have many many years ahead of us and many projects left. A house becomes your home when you put work and love into it. What matters is what we can do and what we have done, and how much hard work we have already put into this place. Our kitchen updates cost us about $1,500 and we did everything ourselves.

1. Update the cabinet hardware.

I really do not like our cabinets. I want to replace the doors, but for now we changed the hardware on them. We got two 10-packs at home depot for $19.97 each. So this project cost about $40. Not bad, and I love the way they look. The hardware before was white and silver. Updating the cabinet hardware will give your cabinets a fresher look and make a huge difference. I also loooove this rug I found at Target the other day! & Can we talk about the mug rack I got on amazon for 39.99?! It’s smaller than the one seen in Fixer Upper, but it’s so cute and super cheap. I included the link below so you can check it out! 

2. Install an island.

I know what you’re thinking. Install an island?! I seriously looked everywhere for an affordable island. We searched so many websites and stores. Then, I stumbled upon overstock.com and they had this gorgeous kitchen island on sale here for $773.49! AND when you sign up with your email address, they give you a 10% off coupon code. It ended up being around $700 for the island and chairs! They got delivered in 5 different boxes, & Anthony and I put it all together within a few hours one night. An island will break up some empty space, create extra seating and counter space, and can be fun to decorate!

3. Add subway tile & open shelving.

This is something we were clueless on. We’ve actually been clueless on most of our projects. We looked everything up on YouTube. These are beveled subway tiles from Home Depot. They are sold in a box for $28. I believe we used 5 boxes, so we paid about $140. I can’t remember exactly how many we got, because as soon as Anthony finished, he saw that he used two different types of tile! One was the beveled and one was straight tile. So he had to take it all off, go back to Home Depot and buy more of the right tile. Some things go wrong when you’re doing projects. Sometimes they’re extreme, sometimes they are just set backs that cost you a few extra hours. Home Depot also sells the grout kits and tells you what you will need on the bucket. We used dark grey grout. The shelves are Ekeby Hemnes from Ikea. They were $15 each, so total $60 for the 4 shelves! Subway tile and open shelving really opens up the space and brightens the room.

4. Update the light fixtures.

I just adore this vintage pendant light we bought at Lowes for $119.00. There was a huge hole in the ceiling from the light that was there before. We found a ceiling cover for it while we were at Lowes and then moved the chain over so it would fit right above our island. Anthony is not an electrician. He shut off the circuit breaker and matched the colored cables together. It took a few tries to get the wires tied together right, but overall it was a pretty simple project. Updating the light fixtures will really pull your kitchen together. It can make or break a space! 
5. Repaint trim around windows and doors, & update window treatments.

The first thing we did when we moved in was paint all the baseboards, doors, and trim. It made a HUGE difference! You don’t realize it until you do it, but if it’s been a few years or you just moved into a new house; paint that trim and those baseboards! I promise you will notice how great it looks afterwards. I also bought some natural bamboo roman shades at Home Depot, which adds some texture to the kitchen too! Doing these updates are extremely cost effective as well.

Welp, that’s it for now folks! I am sure I will have some more updates for you guys soon. We are in the process of knocking down the living room wall, and rebuilding our pantry. We recently added white faux brick wallpaper to the pantry and will be putting in shelves. I will be sharing that with you guys soon too! Do you have any updates you’ve done to your kitchen that were relatively easy & didn’t break the bank? I would love to hear about them.

Talk soon friends!
-Sarah

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Comments

  1. Brenda Nelson says

    July 13, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    Looks great until you used faux brick

    • TheBelMontRanch says

      July 13, 2016 at 3:50 pm

      Hi Brenda! I think it looks great too, thank you so much! Not sure where you spotted the faux brick as I haven't put it up in this post or on my blog yet. Did you see it on my Instagram? It's in my pantry and looks really cute ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Janet W. says

    July 13, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    What brick? I see tiles.

    • TheBelMontRanch says

      July 13, 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Hi Janet! I think she's referring to me mentioning the faux brick, which will be going in my pantry and looks really cute! I posted a picture on my Instagram, you can find me @thebelmontranch if you're not already following me~ Thanks for following me and my blog xoxo

  3. Jeanieq says

    July 14, 2016 at 12:29 am

    Another place to pick up a kitchen Island is Craigslist. We found one for around $60. I painted it black and we put a larger top on it so we could add bar stools. I don't recommend black paint. It shows more dings and dust than white paint does. I think I will paint it a light turquoise in the near future.

    • TheBelMontRanch says

      July 14, 2016 at 6:49 pm

      I didn't even think about checking Craiglist for an island! What a great idea ๐Ÿ™‚ I would love to see it painted turquoise, how fun. You'll have to share it with me once you complete it!

  4. Unknown says

    July 24, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    I LOVE it!! I'm curious where did you get the cup rack? and is that a bread box? I'd love to find one of those big enough!! super cute!

Meet Sarah

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dutch baby pancake ๐Ÿ˜ very easy to throw in the dutch baby pancake ๐Ÿ˜ very easy to throw in the oven, do some chores and in 25 min breakfast is done! 

ingredients:
1 cup flour 
1 cup milk 
6TBS butter 
6 eggs 
1tsp vanilla 
1TBS honey 
dash of salt 

directions: 
Preheat oven to 425, put butter in cast iron and put in oven until it melts. meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add batter to skillet when oven is preheated and let cook 25-30min. Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup and berries ๐Ÿซ 
Have you ever made a Dutch baby before?!
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#homesteading #homestead #homesteader #wannabehomesteader #selfsufficient #selfsufficiency #urbangardener #surburbanhomestead #chickenlady #homesteadersofinstagram #homemakers #homemakingmomma #gardening #canningandpreserving #fermenting #sourdoughbaking #foodfromscratch
Although Iโ€™m a full believer in using the resour Although Iโ€™m a full believer in using the resources you have and working with what you got, of course I dream of selling our little >1 acre homestead for a life in the country ๐Ÿ’ญ๐Ÿ’ญ๐Ÿ’ญ Someday๐Ÿฅฐ

#homesteading #homestead #homesteader #wannabehomesteader #selfsufficient #selfsufficiency #urbangardener #surburbanhomestead #chickenlady #homesteadersofinstagram #homemakers #homemakingmomma #gardening #canningandpreserving #fermenting #sourdoughbaking
This is such an easy way to make sourdough pasta! This is such an easy way to make sourdough pasta! No fancy pasta attachment required. 

INGREDIENTS: 
-3 cups of flour (I used freshly milled white wheat)
-1 cup starter (discard is fine) 
-4 eggs 

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place everything in mixer and until dough smooths out. Or create a well with flour, add eggs and starter and mix on the counter. 
2. Let dough ferment for at least 30 min. 
3. Divide into 8ish sections, dust counter with lots of flour, then roll as thin as possible. 
4. Use a pizza cutter to cut pieces as desired. Make sure to be using lots of flour so nothing sticks! 
5. Lay on a cooling rack or hang to dry for at least 30 min. 
6. Boil water, add salt and once boiling cooking for 6-7 minutes. 

We enjoyed this pasta in a tomato pesto chicken alfredo, it was so good! 
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#homemaker #sourdough #sourdoughrecipe #sourdoughlove #sourdoughstarter #sourdoughdiscard #sourdoughclub #sourdoughpasta #homesteadmama #homesteading #homesteadlife
Once youโ€™ve had these sourdough cinnamon rolls, Once youโ€™ve had these sourdough cinnamon rolls, you will nottttt go back ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ An absolute delight. Recipe coming to my blog & YouTube channel soon ๐Ÿ˜ 
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#sourdough #sourdoughbaking #sourdoughclub #cinnamonrolls #cinnamonrollsrecipe #homesteadmama #foodie #homemaker #homemade #foodfromscratch #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #sourdoughcinnamonrolls
Halfway along-ish and we chose a name for our litt Halfway along-ish and we chose a name for our little guy while in Arizona! 

Jaxson Jeremy ๐Ÿฅฐ  middle name after my dear cousin who passed last year. 
We canโ€™t wait to meet you bud๐Ÿ’™
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