Congratulations to reader Kate, who slowly, surely, and tenaciously completed her 1960s kitchen makeover — beautifully and affordably, too. She spent just $771, she says, to transform here space — no home equity loan required, that might be the best kind of kitchen remodel there is! Some highlights: The wood cabinets in her kitchen had lots of imperfections from years of hard use, so she decided to repaint them. She chose a soft mint palette with red accents and added coppery glass tiles as a backsplash to the electric rangetop — which she installed herself. Kate has chronicled her kitchen in excruciating (I use that word with infinite praise) detail over at her blog, Retro Ranch Revamp. Meanwhile, I asked her if she could share key lessons-learned from the project, along with her resource list. Read on…
Kate, Jim and their pal Leo. Woof!
Kate writes:
A few things I learned from this project are:
1. I can install a cook top and range hood myself (with help from my adorable husband Jim!). At first I was very intimidated by the thought of doing my own installations, but after doing some research
online, consulting with my very handy dad, reading the instructions, and talking to the helpful guys at our local Ace Hardware, I realized I could totally do this and save myself some serious installation fees! Since I was just swapping out the old appliances for new ones, the wiring was simple.
2. I did a lot of “looking around” online before I decided on how/what color to paint my cabinets. I could have painted them white and called it a day, which is fine (white is always a good choice) but I wanted something different. At first I thought I would paint my cabinets in the Mondrian style – (I did several blog posts with mock ups) but in the end, none of the mock ups felt right. Then I found my inspiration photo of a mint green kitchen with white counter tops and pops of red. It was love! It just felt right for my kitchen. Painting the cabinets is a big job so you want to make sure you are totally in love with the color scheme before you leap!
3. When painting cabinets, many thin even coats are best! (I brushed on one thin coat of primer after sanding, waited 1 hour and then applied a thin coat of the paint with a foam roller. Then I waited at least 4 hours before applying a second coat of paint). Some doors were fine with two coats, some needed three. Then I waited 7 days before reinstalling the doors to make sure the paint had time to cure.) Always make sure to pay attention to drying and curing times for your paint/primer too because that can make the difference between a paint job that lasts years and one that lasts only until you bump into it!
4. Any project is doable if you set a schedule and budget and stick to it! When I first thought about painting the kitchen cabinets and replacing the microwave/cook top, I was instantly overwhelmed! Then I realized it would be easier for me to handle (and guess when I would be finished) if I broke it down into small chunks. I had a set of tasks to do every weekend that I worked on the kitchen project (example: number/remove cabinet doors and drawers, empty cabinets, sand bases-would be one weekend) Then I gave myself weeknights after work off to recharge and avoid burn out. It worked great! I was done exactly as scheduled and while I did have some tiring weekends, I never got overwhelmed or burned out! Also, I bought nearly everything for this project on sale, which saved me some serious $$$ (and installed it all myself which saved more $$$). A quick tally shows I spent $771 on the kitchen remodel, but that number might decrease if I can sell the old cook top and microwave on craigslist to recoup some $$$.
Kate’s Materials List:
- Cook top – Maytag 36 Inch electric cook top in brushed Chrome from Home Depot.
- Range hood – Broan 36-Inch Allure Range Hood, stainless steel
(affiliate link) - Got it on Amazon.com but they also have it at home depot (cheaper on Amazon!)
- Copper backsplash tile – Home Depot.
- Primer – KILZ Clean Start 1-Gal. Latex Primer, Sealer and Stain Blocker (Zero Voc!) From Home Depot.
- Wall Paint – Sherwin Williams Duration Home/Semi gloss/Acrylic — Color is “Lighter Mint”
- Cabinet Paint – Sherwin Williams Pro Classic/Gloss/Smooth Enameled finish for Trim & Doors/Acrylic – Color is “Mint Condition”
- Cabinet pulls – (These are mini versions of the exact pulls I have in my laundry room that are original to the house!) Liberty 1 in. Concave Round Cabinet Hardware Knob in Polished Chrome at Home Depot
Thanks again for featuring my kitchen! I’m so excited!!!!
Kate
Well done, Kate! Thank you for giving permission to feature these photos from your blog, and even more, for taking the time to share you experience and resource list with the tribe. You got it goin’ on, girl! xoxo
Beautiful! I’d like to see more of Kate’s lovely home, can we have a tour please?
Wow, lots of work! But the results are fantastic. The kitchen is beautiful and charming. Colors are just right. That was a major DIY job. I think you two will be able to tackle almost anything in the future.
That mint is so fresh. Love it! The red really pops against it. I like everything you’ve done here
And also, adding your blog to my reading list!
Love this. I am emailing the link to the guy who is building my kitchen–I love the detail over the sink. I have been trying to describe this to him.
Gorgeous! Light green is my favorite color.
I love Kate’s kitchen! But she knows that because I’ve been stalking her posts all along the way.
And I love Leo, too. I’ve got to train my dog to talk….
…once you train your dog to “talk” he never stops!
Kate, this is one of the happiest kitchens I’ve seen in a quite a while! Your research really paid off – you have a timeless kitchen that’s perfect for your home. I love your color palette! Congrats!
Kate, I love the mint green! We have white, and I agree, even though the kitchens are small, it is still a huge job to take all the doors down, prep, prime, and paint multiple coats on each side of the door. It took a few weeks for us to do our small kitchen.
Many homes in our neighborhood have the cornice over the sink, but ours was removed before DH bought the home. I’m thinking I might try to find someone to make one.
Beautiful job Kate!. KILZ makes really good primer, and that’s a really important step. I would advise most people to stay away from foam rollers -they tend to produce bubbles – but it looks like it worked for you. Like the red accents here and there.
We also used foam rollers on our cabinets with no problems. Primer was KILZ and the paint was BM Satin Impervo water-based. The important thing is not to keep going over the paint as it self levels pretty quickly.
Exactly! When I was using the foam rollers, I quickly applied a thin coat of the paint and then only went back over it once to make sure it was all smoothed out and even, then no touching it until it is dry!
I’m rethinking my opinion of those big spoons and forks. Hers look great where she placed them. Maybe I should get some the next time I see them at Goodwill. Great kitchen!
I just love it – it’s so refreshing and cool – like it’d be a marvelous place to be on an early summer’s evening.
And I adore the glass tiles!
Wonderful job, just great!
Kate– this is some serious elbow grease inspiration! Love this! It just proves what you can do with some determination. I love the color scheme. I envy the cornice over the sink. I suspect someone did away with mine in the intervening years, but I hope my handy woodworker son can replace it. I’m also loving the price tag. When home improvement magazines quote $3000 to $5000 sums for “bargain” kitchen remodels, you must feel really grand about what you accomplished for $771!
This is a beautiful job. It certainly helps to save the dollars when you already have solid wood cabinets to start with. Very fortunate there.
i followed this kitchen makeover and was so delighted to see how it turned out. kate, you and jim did an amazing job. i dont know how you find the energy to stay this busy!
Thanks Pam for featuring my kitchen remodel on your blog!
Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments! It was a big job, but I am so happy that I did it! I had a friend over to the house yesterday that had yet to see the “after” kitchen and he thought I bought new counter tops as well…nope! They are the original white laminate countertops from 1962! Amazing what some paint and elbow grease can do.
gorgeous!!!
Fantasic job! <3 it! LOVE the swap out of the flat stove to the new-retro one. I painted the cabinets to my kitchen before we sold the house… eve with the proper equipment and time, it's still a nightmare. You did great!
It’s so beautiful! Great job, Kate! I love the way that the colors go with the floor and it’s such a happy room. Your hard work really shows through. And wow, Leo – cute!!
Yay Kate!!!! Congrats! The kitchen looks great!
Jan thinks the kitchen looks like a great place to be in the evening, and my first thought was that it looks like a great place to walk into in the morning. I’m sure Kate and Jim (and Leo) like to be there any time of day. Very impressive, and the backsplash is just the right touch of shimmer.
Love it! And I love that you did it on a budget. You have inspired me!
Wow, that looks fantastic! Great job. We repainted the cabinets in our former 1950s home. It was a HUGE, HUGE, long-term job, but so worth it. Anyhow, the colour you picked is perfect! So sweet and cheerful! I’ll bet you smile every time you walk into the kitchen! The backsplash looks great. Everything is perfect!
We hired someone out to repaint the cabinets in our new home (I simply didn’t have time to do it myself w/all the travelling back & forth between states) and have regretted it ever since. Definitely DIY this, readers—chances are you’ll do a great job b/c it’s your OWN home, and you’ll have bragging rights besides!
And installing your own cooktop, too. I’m so impressed.
Kate ~ I also have a 1960′s kitchen that I have been slowly renovating. I have been looking for a stainless electric cook top and vent hood, and just couldn’t find them. l almost decided on the solid glass surface cook top until I read your blog. Went to Home Depot and found exactly what you used. Thanks for saving the day!
You are very welcome! I love both of them! Even people who are not into the “retro look” comment on how nice the cooktop and hood are! Best of luck on your kitchen remodel!
Your kitchen remodel is outstanding. That coppery back splash is making me want to see more copper accents, but I suppose the copper is more 60s than 50s.
My house is a 1962 ranch…I would say most of my house looks more 1960s than 1950s, so perhaps more copper wouldn’t be out of the picture. My Mom swears she has some copper jello molds in a box somewhere that she wants to send me, so perhaps I will hang those on the soffit.
Ohhhh, I wish my mom still had her copper jello molds that she had hanging on the soffits in the 1962 kitchen, the 1963 kitchen, and the 1966 kitchen (their first three houses – Dad was a professor and kept getting better positions). They disappeared from the 1969 kitchen, and I never saw them again!
WOW! I love this! Hope we will be able to freshen up our kitchen. Hope to see more of your house.
Kate – your kitchen remodel is just beautiful! You & Jim (and Leo!) did a fabulous job. I’m on the verge of renovating my kitchen – dark & cave-like with those old birch cabinets as well as that scrolly thing above the sink. Seeing your before and after pictures gives me motivation to actually start the job instead of just dreaming about it! Thanks for sharing your kitchen with us.
Wow, this looks great! I also have lots of pops of red in my kitchen, and am getting ready to repaint it from it’s original butter yellow to something in the mint family. What paint color did you use?
Andrea – the paint color is listed in the Materials List at the end of the story — I reworded the bullet so the actual color names would stand out more. Hope that helps.
Love it!!
love the back splash….where did you find it?
Home Depot!
Kate your kitchen is a treasure trove of good ideas and inspiration!
If I may ask about the barstools, are the vintage, or new? I’ve been eyeing a few models over at BarStoolsAndChairs that look to be dead ringers for the originals and was hoping to find someone who has experience with the company.
The thought of chrome and Burgundy (red) Zodiac Naughyde bar stools makes me so excited I might actually stay in the kitchen long enough to cook something!
Thanks either way, and again, WOW to your kitchen!
Scott
Hi Scott,
Thanks! The barstools were purchased from Craigslist — I’m not sure how old they are. If I had to guess, I’d say they were reproductions from about 15 years ago or so. They are holding up well, but I do have to constantly tighten the bolts on the legs, which seem to come loose after a few months or so. Otherwise, they are great.
Well, even if they are repros they were a great find as they look perfect in your kitchen and are 100% dead-ringers for the ones you see in the 1950s Cosco ads.
Thanks for the info!
This renovation is yummy, and amazing, and cool. Just love it!