If you didn't already know, I had a slow leak that caused the particle board supports of my cabinets to turn to sawdust. . . . Here are a few of the photos of the progress of everything. I'll do a complete before and after post as soon as the after is finished!
I decided to remove the upper cabinets since I basically had to rip the wall apart. I will have classic farm-style open shelving installed for storage. I will be using antique Victorian cast-iron shelf brackets I bought several years ago that I have been holding on to. Being a pack-rat does pay off! I bought a lower-end dishwasher because I couldn't afford one with all the bells and whistles--actually I couldn't afford it at all, but it was almost the same price as the 24" cabinet that I would have to put there and gets the job done! I asked for a discount and low and behold I got 10% off nearly everything I had to buy for this project, that plus 6 months no interest on my Lowe's card helped me finance this! On top of everything, they had a deal to purchase a gift card in the amount of your purchase, then make your purchase using the gift card and they would refund 10% of the price on the gift card at a later date to use on a future project--that alone saved me $90.00! Altogether I ended up getting 20% off on nearly all of the supplies!
To save money, I re-used my sink, faucet, and counter top. I purchased those when I moved here about 2 years ago. The extra deep sink was $5.00 at a yard sale! I opted to cover that wall in beadboard for a vintage feel. What makes it even better is it is the cheaper option when it came to repairing drywall! I got a lot of my trim at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore--at ten cents a foot it is 90% or more cheaper than the hardware store. I also used the same switch plate covers and fancy wall sconce that matches the chandelier in the room.
Because I wasn't replacing the upper cabinets, I had to come up with a cleaver solution to vent the stove--though not finished yet, you can see lovely cottage style vent hood I will have! It's amazing what scrap lumber and beadboard can do! I see these in high dollar gourmet kitchens and now I have one for next to nothing! Once everything is finished I will post the results! Stay tuned!
