It took a whole year to get this space to where we really wanted, but it was worth every bead of sweat, penny and second. Our modern farmhouse kitchen inspiration has finally come to life!
Before
This was taken before we even put money down so it’s not only not decorated, but it’s pretty dirty (the floors, especially)!
This was about 3 months after moving in. Fairly well decorated, my photography kind of lacking (seriously, what was my deal… this wasn’t even a year ago??), but you get the picture. Walls are white, cabinets are hardware-less, and no back splash, but at least it was lightly decorated.
What you’ll really notice here is the kitchen table light. The builders installed it WAY too close to the sliding door. See how off center it is? My guess is they only meant the space for a small circular table but this a spacious 4-bedroom house so I’m calling that decision half-baked. We needed a beautiful, farmhouse kitchen table focal light fixture in here.
Which brings us to our first project…
Moving a Ceiling Electrical Box
While Kev and his dad were pretty confident in their ability to move the box, they aren’t dry wall experts, so we hired this one out. It’s a big focal point in our house and we wanted it done perfectly.
Money well spent. The whole project took one guy about 4 hours and cost us $220. He removed the ugly builder-grade fixture, patched the old hole, cut the new one, moved the electrical box over and installed our fixture. The area was pristine and only required me to paint a little over the patchwork.
New Kitchen Island Lighting
The first DIY project we tackled was swapping the kitchen sconces. We were going for more of a modern look than the frosted builder lights gave off. We have a few other copper accents throughout so these new copper and black cage lights were perfect!
Prior to swapping out the sconces, Kev and his dad installed dimmers on a bunch of our light fixtures, including the kitchen island lights. Another DIY upgrade with no labor cost.
Now our kitchen table and island lights complement each other as you look into the kitchen! Behind me is our living room ceiling fan with three mason jar light scones. They’re all different but work together for a modern farmhouse aesthetic!
Plus, peep those tassel curtains I hemmed and hung over the kitchen sink window. We’ve since changed it out for a buffalo check kitchen valence that you can peep here.
Painting & Back Splash Prep
While I’m normally the resident painter, we decided a job this size is for professionals. We wanted it looking flawless since this house is a long term home, so we hired a reputable area crew. A friend of ours manages the local Sherwin Williams and recommended them – we couldn’t have been more pleased with their work!
However, there was some pre-painting prep to do…
Our back splash guy was booked until after the painters were coming. This was an issue because we were removing the 4″ tall back splash that matches the counter top to install tile all the way to the counter. We weren’t back splashing the pantry walls either, and therefore needed that little sliver painted when the pros came through for a clean look.
So I got to work on our second DIY kitchen project…
Removing Counter Back Splashes
Our back splash guy explained how to take this off easily with a box cutter, multi tool and a mallet. Just off that verbal explanation I was able to get this done myself in an hour and I’m confident you could, too!
First, cut the caulk line at the top of the 4″ back splash and slowly wedge the multi tool between the back splash and dry wall. Gently tap the mallet, allowing the tool to slowly wedge further down and create separation. Do this every few inches. The more surface area the multi tool touches, the better.
Most importantly, be sure you’re not beating up the drywall too much. Thankfully, we had painters coming in behind us but if you’re DIYing this, save yourself the extra cleanup later. If you look at the photo below, the farthest left hole is actually very deep. The white on the left of the brown is actually deeper than the brown but our crew was able to patch no problem.
One Small Counter Top Problem
On the coffee bar counter, we found the original counter top installers cut a corner (or line, rather). For whatever odd reason, the counter cuts away from the wall once it dipped inside. This is the only issue we’ve had that the builders didn’t cover, but since our back splash project came in way under budget we were okay to hire a professional.
The mini project entailed taking off the entire counter top from that section (which is thankfully our smallest section). The local professional we hired fused a sliver off of one of the 4″ back splashes we removed (and smartly held onto) onto the main piece and set it back in place. This was $200 but was small considering we not only saved a lot on the projects we hired out, but had very few hired out projects at all.
You can tell if you really look here, but otherwise you’d never even know the counter had a chunk missing from it.
After: Our Warm Farmhouse Kitchen
The end product: a modern, warm farmhouse kitchen!
All items I could generate a link for are below each photo, but not everything is still available. Please email me or message me on Instagram for the source!
We’re absolutely over the moon about how it came out. The pantry accent wall is easily one of my favorite features! I’d been telling everyone since move in how I planned to make that wall dark to really *pop* against the cabinets.
Final Before & After
Note: the floors are the same, but they were probably filthy in the before photo because it was before the pre-move in clean.
But otherwise… what do you think?? How does the final farmhouse kitchen look stack up to your expectations? What was your favorite upgrade? Let me know in the comments!
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