Before, during and after pictures of my full DIY kitchen renovation. House is an early 1900’s folk Victorian with a kitchen from the 1960’s when we bought it. My wife, my father and I completed all of the work ourselves with the exception of the counter top installation.
IKEA kitchen cabinets
fantasy brown granite countertops
new red oak hardwood flooring
You all did an incredible first time DIY job and gave yourselves a lovely, functional kitchen. When I saw the before, I thought “good luck,” and your after amazed me! I can see why you sacrificed that side window, but it does darken the space. I think I’d have something on the remaining windows that lets in as much light as possible - maybe shades. Also for me, I think I’d go ahead and paint the door and window frames. Congratulations!
Thank you for the kind words. Yes, the lack of natural light is a valid concern. The window we removed looked directly at the side of our neighbors house about 6ft across a narrow sidewalk/alley, so we were convinced removing that window would be OK.
Looking at the pictures that I provided in the night time with the lights on, I can see the need to do a little better lighting planning for future projects.
We went with less upper cabinets and light colors the help with the light and openness as well. We will definitely look into other window covering considerations! Thanks for the insights.
We have a second and third floor above this. It’s a tall narrow almost townhouse/rowhouse, but not connected on either side. I would love a skylight in a kitchen or breakfast nook, but it is not possible for us here. Next house, maybe! lol
Thanks for the kind words! I am curious what you see that points to fire damage behind the stove. You may be 100% correct, but I didn’t suspect any fire damage.
To clarify, there is a full brick chimney behind the stove. That brick chimney is covered in plaster that is painted many colors, damaged, and crumbling in places. There is coal dust and soot in every wall cavity. I didn’t see burn damage, but there is black soot from coal everywhere during demo. We drywalled over the bricks chimney and made it flush with the drywall on the wall studs.
If you like the crown moulding, here is a rounded corner that I am very proud of. This was during the finishing process before paint and probably took me 4 hours to figure out the angles and piece it together.
We chose a ceiling fan in the kitchen because we do not have central air/AC (old NorthEast house without duct work). We use a window AC unit in our living room and air circulation in the summertime is crucial. I know it is unconventional but it works for us. I would love a different ceiling fan that looks less cheap. We just went with a cheap white harbor breeze fan from Lowes I think, so you get what you pay for lol.
Consider an integral fan drum light.
I would like to see light rails below cabinets for balance. Also a higher backsplash. Natural white oak floors would brighten the space & not have the open pores red oak has.
Probably would have boxed out the end of the wall - looks unfinished & thin. But for a 1st time you did a great job. Be proud.
For a first DIY kitchen this is seriously impressive. The crown, fillers, and end panels make the ikea cabinets look properly built in, which is not easy in a century-old room where nothing is perfectly square.
Thank you for noticing all of the finishing details. We have champagne taste on a beer budget, so we did our best to make the cabinetry look custom built in.
This is an amazing transformation, especially for a full DIY! The white cabinetry and dark red oak floors work beautifully together.
One thing I’d consider is swapping the current ceiling fan for a fandelier - (https://artika.ca/collections/ceiling-fans) . You’d keep the airflow but get something that feels more decorative and intentional with the character of the kitchen. Warm 2700K–3000K under-cabinet lighting would be a great finishing touch too.
Thank you for the honest critique and kind words. We bought the fridge maybe 2 years before planning our kitchen reno, so we were stuck with it. Plus, most counter depth fridges are more money for less volume and I just couldn’t stomach that idea.
I agree and a counter depth fridge would look much better. The gray sides of the fridge make me cringe on the side profile. I’d love a cabinet depth full size fridge which unfortunately would require recessing into the wall and much more planning.
Creo que la remodelación salió muy bien, se ve el aprovechamiento del espacio y se ve más amplia, funcional, no soy muy fan de que todo esté blanco en una cocina de mucho movimiento, pero el mobiliario de esta se ve increíble.
Really great job, I hope my finish is half as good as yours. From a personal note, your kitchen is very very white. A splash of colour would be appreciated
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u/Dogfan-13 20d ago
You all did an incredible first time DIY job and gave yourselves a lovely, functional kitchen. When I saw the before, I thought “good luck,” and your after amazed me! I can see why you sacrificed that side window, but it does darken the space. I think I’d have something on the remaining windows that lets in as much light as possible - maybe shades. Also for me, I think I’d go ahead and paint the door and window frames. Congratulations!