OUR MODERN FARMHOUSE KITCHEN MAKEOVER

Our kitchen used to be 90’s pink oak. We gave it a modern farmhouse kitchen makeover on a budget with butcher block, Ikea cabinets & shiplap.

It’s a wrap.

Our modern farmhouse kitchen makeover is finished.

Well, it’s 99% complete. There’s always those little, barely noticeable things to do, like painting that bit of trim or caulking the rest of the counter tops. But it’s done enough to live with – and love.

And for that I’m very thankful.

Let’s step backwards and take a quick look at what the kitchen used to look like:

No one is more excited than I am to have a fully functional and beautiful kitchen!

Bye-bye dark paint and blah cabinets.

Hello white shiplap, walnut butcher block, open shelves, and black stainless steel appliances!

So let’s talk about the details.

Any good kitchen has zones. You know, individual areas that serve different purposes.

Given that Dean and I have been married for over 20 years and have moved around a lot, I had a pretty good idea of how I’d like my kitchen to function before we started this renovation. It also helps to have lived in this particular house while planning the modern farmhouse kitchen makeover over the last six months.

I know that I like to cook with a lot of herbs and spices. I also know that I like those spices to be out in the open so they’re easily accessible while I’m cooking and preparing food. In our last house Dean made me a tiered stand for my spices. Unfortunately there was nowhere to put that particular stand in this kitchen. So we cut two Ikea picture frame ledges in half and used them to organized my spices. (This would be part of the 1% of the kitchen that’s not finished – I didn’t get to paint the exposed edges of the cut shelves before taking photos. It will get done on another day.)

I also like to keep a selection of cooking utensils, oils and vinegars nearby when making meals. This old Pepsi crate I’ve had for years was the perfect little container to corral those extra things.

Next to the stove on the other side is a large cutting board, iPad stand (I use my iPad all the time for recipes) and knife block.

Another zone in our kitchen that is a part of the food prep area houses the new microwave and the toaster.

Which are sort of sandwiched between all the food storage.

Unfortunately we don’t have a pantry, nor was there room for one, in this house. But we did make the most of the cabinets we do have by organizing them well. The upper cupboards store most of the dry and canned goods, while Dean retrofitted the inside of a regular cabinet with some Ikea roll out storage. So effectively we have a pantry with almost all of the food stored in the same area at the end of the kitchen. (The coffee and tea is at the other end near the coffee bar. But we’ll get to that shortly.)

The new island was built specifically to house the dishwasher, sink and garbage/recycling center as well as to hold plastic containers, food storage bags, wraps and such.

Here’s real life for you…a full garbage and dirty compost bins. I could have cleaned them up, but then I wouldn’t have had time to take like 80 pictures of the rest of the kitchen to show you! Ha!

Honestly that sink has to have been one of the best purchases of the entire kitchen. I LOVE how it can hold and hide so many dishes – even the large pots and pans. It’s the best solution for a kitchen being so open to the living room!

See – no mess visible from the living room side!

Of course another part of the kitchen is the dish storage. We’ve chosen to keep that all out in the open. This is partly due to my love of open shelving and partly due to hosting people so often and wanting to make them feel at home and at ease…and not feeling like they have to search for something.

Then we have the coffee bar area. This was one part of our old house I missed the most with the small kitchen here. And I feel extremely thankful to have been able to expand the space.

There’s plenty of space for more than one person to get themselves a tea or a coffee. And there’s storage for everything…k cups, tea bags and all the paraphernalia.

And of course, plenty of room to store all.the.mugs. 😉

There’s even room for the doggie stuff. (Ignore the dust on the mini fridge vent! Gah! Renos are messy! #howembarassing)

Another favorite place in the kitchen is my new desk. I needed somewhere on the main floor to work and keep an eye on the kids while they do their homeschool work. The kitchen seemed like the best spot for that.

The final finishing touch didn’t quite make it in time for all the photos…the oversized gather metal sign cutout.

I designed it and there was a bit of trouble getting it into the right file format and then the right size for the software Dean’s company uses for their laser cutting machine. But it made it in time for Dean to put up tonight when he got home.

So there’s our modern farmhouse kitchen makeover. It’s time for me to sit down on the couch with a glass of wine…to enjoy the view.

What do you think of our new space?

A huge thank you goes to our sponsors for helping us with the kitchen makeover:

THE HOME DEPOT CANADA – FRIDGE, STOVE/RANGE, DISHWASHER

LUMBER LIQUIDATORS – COUNTER TOPS

FUSION MINERAL PAINT – PAINT FOR ISLAND

HANDY PAINT PRODUCTS – BACKSPLASH

BROAN NUTONE – RANGE HOOD, CUSTOM DIY RANGE HOOD COVER

BUILD.COM – KRAUS APRON FRONT SINK, MICROWAVE

ASPECT/DIY DECOR STORE – PEEL AND STICK METAL SUBWAY TILES (BEHIND THE STOVE)

SOURCE LIST:

(Contains affiliate links)

Wall Color – Sherwin Williams Eider White
Trim and Range Hood Cover Color – Sherwin Williams Pure White
Island Color – Fusion Mineral Paint Coal Black
Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher – by Samsung from The Home Depot Canada
Mini Fridge – similar here
Microwave – by Samsung from Build.com
Range Hood Cover – DIY here
Range Hood Fan – Broan
Counters – American Walnut Butcher Block from Lumber Liquidators
Counter Finish – Waterlox
Sink – by Krauss from Build.com
Faucet – Heritage by Elements of Design from Wayfair
Lighting – by Seagull Lighting from Build.com
New Cabinets and Doors – Ikea Sektion with Haggeby Doors and Drawers
Knobs and Half Cup Pulls – Amazon
Open Shelves – DIY with brackets Dean made (similar below) and pine from Home Depot stained with dark walnut oil-based stain
Open Shelving Brackets – DIY’d by Dean at work, but VERY similar farmhouse shelf brackets can be found here
Spice Rack Storage – Ikea Mosslanda Picture Ledge and half pint mason jars
Counter Height Bar Stools – by Laurel Foundry Modern Farmhouse from Wayfair
Wall Clock – Michaels Farmington Collection
Desk Chair – Bouclair
Keurig Hot – similar here
Electic Kettle – Amazon
Cutting Board – Ikea Lamplig
Large Round Breadboard – Elte Market
Magnetic Knife Strip – Amazon
White Dishes – assorted from Sears Canada, Kitchen Stuff Plus, Homesense and Amazon
Magnolia Wreath – DIY
Mug/Bottle Drying Rack – similar here
Curtains – Ikea Hack here
Kitchen Scissors – The Found Cottage
Knives – Cutco, similar here
Fresh Baked Pies Sign – World Market
Pepsi Crate – antique, similar here
iPad stand – Amazon