Kitchen Renovation Update

So... we've been debating kitchen counter top options and agonizing over the budget, which was $1,000. This was our breakdown:

 

Problems	Solutions	Budget	Actual
Lack of Storage	Adding 3 base cabinets	$150	$100
	Creating selves above new cabinets. Bookshelf and desk where the island cart is now.	$75
	Replace microwave with over the stove unit.	$200
Style is Dated	Painting cabinets white	$60
	Painting the walls light blue	$20
	Replacing the countertops with black laminate	$200
Floor is awful	Replacing with lamiante floors from Ikea	$350
Total		$1055

    Well, no matter how we face it, it wasn't going to work. Especially after we realized how much we hated the sink and how much that would add to the budget. But there wasn't really any extra money available. Soooo... we had a yard sale. We've been meaning to do it for a while, there was baby gear coming out of every storage area we had in the house.

After a few nights sorting and a couple of ads on Craigslist and Freecycle cafe we had a yard sale and earned $508.85!!!

Yahooo!!!

That added to the $980 we had saved so far, put the available budget at: $1488.85!!!

I'm not kidding when I say that the night of the yard sale we went right to Lowe's and the next morning we went to Ikea to buy all the supplies before the money was spent on something else.

How are these for a before picture of our kitchen?

We got plywood for the recycling center, trash cans for the recycling center, MDF for the bookcase and desk, counter tops, flooring, tools to install the flooring and even:

A new sink!!!

So right now, the budget is looking like this:

Problems	Solutions	Budget	Actual
Lack of Storage	Adding 3 base cabinets	$150	$100
	Creating selves above new cabinets & bookshelf and desk where the island cart is now. Add a recycling center.	$100	$98
	Replace microwave with over the stove unit.	$200
Style is Dated	Painting cabinets white	$60	$60
	Painting the walls light blue	$20	$20
	Replacing the countertops with black laminate	$200	$515
Floor is awful	Replacing with lamiante floors from Ikea	$350	$265
Sink is shallow	Replace with sink from Lowe's	$100	$99
	New faucet	$75
Additional Supplies	Paint Sprayer	$75	$59
Total (Available $1488.85)		$1330	$1216

So, with the majority of the supplies purchased, the next step is to actually start...

Stay tuned.