Cost and budget come into play a lot when you are remodeling a home to turn around and sell. It’s all about choosing the right places to save and where to spend in order to make the best return on investment. One of the ways that we can save money is to use ready to assemble, pre-painted cabinets. And let me be honest with you all and say that this REALLY limits my choices when it comes to cabinet options. White and gray and some really bad wood choices are pretty much what I have to work with. In this kitchen, I chose to use the white shaker cabinets and to keep it from feeling too cold and too stark, I chose backsplash tile and countertops that were a mixture of off white and gray. We also added stained wood floating shelves as well and brass hardware to warm up the space.

The layout of the kitchen before made the kitchen feel much smaller. The door to the laundry was closed off and moved to the other side of the wall in order for us to gain extra space in the kitchen. We were able to move the refrigerator down and we ended up with much more continuous countertop space. We also reoriented the kitchen island. Instead of keeping it at an angle, we squared it off in the space and made it larger. We were able to make the island almost 8 feet long, which provides extra countertop space and bar seating.