A DIY Kitchen renovation is no small task but I DID IT, and in 5 months! The kitchen was the first major project of our 1972 fixer upper and is officially my favorite room of the house. There are still a few loose ends to tackle but here are all the details and most importantly… The upgrade that made the biggest impact. *This post is sponsored by RTA Cabinet Store*
Impactful Upgrades
While we essentially gutted this kitchen and replaced everything, the most impactful upgrade of our DIY kitchen renovation was all new cabinets! The 50 year old ones we’re small, smelly, and falling apart. Either people in the 70s had a lot less stuff or didn’t design with functionality in mind. RTA Cabinet Store made my cabinet dreams come true.
Working with RTA Cabinet Store for our DIY Kitchen Renovation
We chose RTA Cabinet store because of their quality and affordability. As DIYers the “ready to assemble” (RTA) option was right in our wheelhouse. We felt this gave us the ability to work on this project at our own pace, store the cabinets more easily, and have ultimate control of the installation. Ready to assemble cabinets are also more affordable and cost less in shipping however, with the assembly responsibility, comes a bit of intimidation.
As any normal person would feel, I was nervous to put together an entire kitchen of cabinets. But I was SHOCKED at how easy it was to do. All the boxes had numbers that matched my renderings so I knew which piece I was assembling. I practically built a kitchen in 2 weekends and actually enjoyed every bit of it. See how satisfying the assembly was!
Installation was as simple as leveling each cabinet and screwing it into our wall studs. it was absolutely a DIY-able task and we saved even more money by tackling it on our own.
Designing with RTA Cabinet Store
Another reason we chose to go with RTA was because they offer FREE design services. Our designer simply had us submit some photos and measurements and then set up a call to go over my vision. Even though I had been dreaming up this kitchen for months, she had so many great suggestions for details I had never considered. For example, using a 6 inch stacked crown to bring our cabinets to the ceiling for an elevated look. We opted to keep the existing layout of the kitchen but we’re able to add more drawers and specialty cabinets to make this space more functional for our family.
I also told the designer that I was struggling choosing a cabinet color but that I really wanted to bring in some warmth. She suggested a few options, sent samples, and we ultimately chose the color “Weston Sand” in the shaker style. This ended up being my BEST decision to balance the rest of the white design choices.
Cabinet Quality
Anything would have been better than the original 50 year old cabinets, but when I tell you the RTA Cabinet Store cabinets are THE nicest cabinets I’ve ever owned- I mean it. I have been beyond impressed with the material, durability, and flawless paint finish. Not to mention that oh-so-good soft close! I have been able to utilize my new kitchen without walking on eggshells because I trust the strength and wipe-ability of all my cabinets. I also love how adding my own hardware made them feel even more custom.
DIY Kitchen Renovation Cost
I always aim to be transparent about any project cost. As suspected, the cabinets were the majority of our kitchen budget. As it should be since they made the biggest impact. I was thankful to be a partner of RTA Cabinet Store to offset that cost, but here’s a breakdown of our cabinet order and how that compared to the rest of the DIY kitchen renovation updates we did.
All New Cabinets: $9,337.81
Cabinet Hardware: $80.00
All New Appliances: $5295.00
Farmhouse Sink: $1,889.00
Faucet: $92.00
Soffit Removal/ Plumbing Re-route/ Drywall Repair (The only portion we hired out): $2500
Quartz Countertops: $5000
Custom Floating Shelves: $1000
Tile Backsplash and Mussel Bound tile adhesive: $900
Lighting: $250
Estimated DIY Renovation Total: $26,343.81
*Of course there were miscellaneous supplies that I didn’t keep track of and I was fortunate enough to have a large portion of the project sponsored in exchange for content.
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