Homeowner Guest Post: Lisa’s Kitchen Renovation, pt. 2

Last week we met Lisa Law, the Brooklyn Heights homeowner who recently finished her budget-friendly kitchen renovation with tS member NYC Pros. Now that you’ve heard the backstory, as documented by Lisa herself, this week Lisa reveals the outcome of her fully-updated kitchen, along with a very helpful rundown of her anticipated budget & the actual cost of the project. 

I love my new kitchen!  Although I had picked every element of the new kitchen, I was concerned that the finished whole was not going to be equivalent to the sum of all the parts; would it work cohesively in the end?  There were a few stressful times, and I did have to make some quick decisions that could have gone awry, but ultimately, I set out to achieve some major objectives and I believe I more than met them all.  I have more cabinet space, more countertop space, larger appliances, it feels much more modern and homey, and it was done in a fairly budget- and time-conscious way.  In fact, my kitchen now makes the rest of my apartment now look pretty shabby!

The Budget

I generally stayed within budget.  As I said, it was a “renovation-on-a-budget.” I had originally planned to spend $6,000, which increased to $9,000 when I decided to replace my appliances.  In the end, I hit almost $11,000, but that was because of a couple of “extras” that I did not account for – delivery charges, taxes, etc. I also asked Peter to install some new medicine cabinets in my bathroom. Renovations can be addicting, I just did not want to stop!

30 Days After

For me, the hardest part of having a new kitchen was figuring out where everything goes afterwards. I suppose in hindsight, I should have planned where my dishes, silverware, cleaning supplies, pantry items, etc, would be kept. My objective was just to maximize storage efficiently, as best I could, but I didn’t actually think about which cabinets would store which items!  Lucky for me, I put in enough drawers and cabinets that I just about found a place for everything. Minus a few tall items, like my Swiffer.  Oops – note to self for next time.

I’ve also put my kitchen through a few test runs at this point, having hosted two dinner parties already, one for my family (party of 7) and one for a few girlfriends (party of 4).  The new arrangement deftly allowed my fiancé and I to cook and clean together, with minimal fuss.  My kitchen report card after 30 days?  I still heart it – it’s so bright and clean and modern, I’m 100% glad I did it!

We heart it too, Lisa! Thanks so much for all of your great insight on budget renovating with theSweeten!

Inspired to renovate? Post your project on Sweeten!