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DIY Kitchen Remodel: Add Color!

$50 family-friendly kitchen remodel

Mike and I spent New Year’s Eve transforming our kitchen – and this easy DIY kitchen remodel only cost us $50! The kids helped, too. New Year’s Eve morning we went to Home Depot and picked out paint. Mike is a big fan of neutral colors, but somehow the kids and I (with a little help from Pinterest) talked him into this anything-but-neutral green, and he is thrilled with the end result. Our kitchen is narrow and windowless. There is a sliding door in the attached breakfast nook that we use for food storage and school storage, but since there is an eight-foot overhang and the window faces south instead of east or west even this sliding window doesn’t let in much light. We hung a mirror over the sink a few weeks ago, and that helped, but the kitchen still felt lifeless and was not very fun to spend time in.

Easy DIY Kitchen Remodel: Add Color!

Easy Kitchen remodel - only $50!

White kitchens can be beautiful. Our white kitchen featured a 1982 tile counter with stained grout, and not-quite-green-white, not-quite-blue-white walls. I clean it up several times a day, but it still gets cluttered quickly. I was looking for a way to improve the feel of the kitchen that would work in a family with four children who I WANT cooking and baking in the kitchen on a daily basis.

Helping with DIY projects gives kids ownership and develops skills.

Since it is a family kitchen, the entire family was involved in our decision-making. None of us had ever been in a green kitchen before, but we universally agreed on the color for this project! Red is popular because it exudes energy and warmth, but it felt too busy and intense for this kitchen that sees a LOT of action in a fairly small area. Blue felt too tame. Green is a peaceful yet vibrant color – just what I needed for our often chaotic meal prep sessions! I also really miss looking out our kitchen window at our gorgeous green Massachusetts yard, and this green reminded me of that yard.

Paint selected, each of the kids took a turn painting – even three-year-old Anna! The kids LOVED having shared ownership of this project.

Get creative with placement of kitchen accessories when living in small spaces.

Mike suggested moving our microwave to the top of this cabinet that we use to store our slow cooker, some dishes, table linens, and rice cooker. It sits to the right of our fridge, but doesn’t really show in photos because the room is narrow. It really helped to clear off a bit more counter space!

A colorful kitchen is a child-friendly kitchen!

We finished painting at 12:03am! Everything else in the breakfast nook stayed the same. It could definitely use more organizing, but the clutter is much easier to tolerate against a vibrant green background. In the main kitchen, our old cabinets and countertop look newer – again because of the vibrant background.

If you could paint your kitchen, what color would you choose? Why?

MaryAnne at Mama Smiles

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

6 thoughts on “DIY Kitchen Remodel: Add Color!”

  1. Love the green! I painted my kitchen a couple of years ago a mint green color. I have a small window but not a lot of sunlight comes in so I wanted color but something to lighten up the room. I love it!

  2. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants

    Hey, we have a green kitchen – not as green as yours, but still :) I think your upgrade looks great. Happy cooking this year!

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