Country kitchen remodel on a budget

As a woman who is always updating something in her house I knew I needed to update our kitchen without blowing a bunch of cash.My husband was away on military duty and I wanted to surprise him and get this project done before he got back. My first notion was that I wanted to tear out the big counter and move stuff around and build a island,then at last minute I changed my mine.I bought some laminate sheets at the local home improvement store along with all the necessary supplies (glue,roller ,dowel rods,etc). I also bought a gallon of paint to paint my walls and a white kitchen sink that was on clearance because I was tired of my old outdated stainless steel one !  Me and my son loaded up the vehicle with all of our supplies.The laminate sheets were 4x8 which was difficult to get into my SUV,they went up over my seat and I was slumped over in my seat trying to drive with laminate sheeting resting on my head. As you can imagine i was getting some stares and some laughing, of course my son wanted to go to a local drive in for some food, I was humiliated !   

We finally got our materials home and unloaded and started our project.First on the list was to remove the old sink which was simple then start removing the old laminate (this is where I decided not to tear out my old big counter). When we tore out he laminate on the big side of the counter we were thrilled to find what we did underneath.Under the old counter top was some type of old wood counter.It was so rustic looking with all the old dents and dings that it was perfect for my kitchen.On the old wood I noticed the people who built my house had carved their names on the wood counter so I decided to add some more character to it.I got out my wood burner and me and my son carved all our names in the counter.We stained the counter a dark walnut color then applied several coats of polurethane.It looked outstanding !

Next we had to measure,cut and install the laminate. The first piece was difficult but the rest was easy. I used my old laminate counter as a guide and took the laminate cutter to cut it, then applied the glue, let it set for about 20 minutes then (this is important) positioned the dowel rods on the counter about 12 inches apart.I laid the new laminate sheet down on top of the dowel rods and slowly removed the dowel rods starting on the left side.As each one was moved my son took the laminate roller and rolled the laminate sheet to the counter, it was a tedious job but simple.

After the laminate was done we installed the new white sink. My teenage son is by far the best person to have helping you, he is so knowledgeable about how to fix anything.He took the old sink out then installed the new sink and it works great ! To save some money I used my old fixtures, I just cleaned them really good and they look amazing.I love re-using what I already have.I also found some old vintage black knobs for my kitchen cabinets at a yard sale for $1,just adding those made my cabinets look new.Sometimes just cleaning or painting a item can breath new life into old stuff.

Finally I painted my kitchen, which I hated more than anything...I hate to paint. I chose "Moroccan Henna" by BEHR which creates a gorgeous contrast with my white cabinets.All the earth toned colors seem to blend well to create that country/rustic look I was going for.

All together I spent less than $200 to revive my old dated kitchen.It was alot of work but it was easy stuff that anyone could do and it completely changed my kitchen. Needless to say when my husband got home he couldn't believe the quick transformation with so little money spent.