Our kitchen renovation might go down as the most gradual we’ve ever done, but nearly two years after moving in (we celebrated that milestone last Saturday), the kitchen is finally finished. New cabinets? Check. Tile backsplash to the ceiling? Check. Quartz countertops and a sink three times deeper than the old overmount? Absolutely.
We added a hidden range hood, reworked storage with new drawers and upper cabinets, and installed a generously sized pantry cabinet. This post is full of before-and-after photos and includes a complete budget breakdown. So let’s jump in and show you how this slow-and-steady transformation came together.
Because we tackled this remodel in small phases instead of one big gut job, the changes felt incremental as we made them — but looking back at the original space, the transformation is dramatic. You can tweak and live with choices over time, see what works, and make adjustments before committing to the final design. That iterative approach really benefited this project.
At first I wasn’t sure about the space — Sherry was more optimistic — but now I’m thrilled with how efficient and cook-friendly it is. Compared to the very large kitchen in our previous house, this smaller layout has a direct work triangle that makes meal prep faster and easier. Surprisingly, we even ended up with a larger pantry cabinet than we had before.
Over the last two years we made many small updates: hung shelves, swagged and later re-mounted a pendant light, and painted the cabinets mauve to coordinate with the existing counters. A year in, we settled on a clearer vision: we moved the fridge, built a tall pantry cabinet, swapped to a larger table, turned a window into a door to access the grill and porch, and added more shelving. This spring we finished the final phase — replacing the old cabinets with Ikea units (painted the same mauve), installing new quartz counters, adding upper cabinets, and tiling the backsplash.
We kept the aesthetic subtle and layered: a pearly-blue, slightly reflective zellige-style backsplash, marble-like quartz counters, and the mauve cabinet color (Artsy Pink by Sherwin-Williams) that has always felt right for the room. The new brass faucet and matching hardware help tie everything together.
The Evolution Of Our Kitchen
When we bought the house the kitchen had a soffit running across two walls, popcorn ceiling, mismatched appliances, and an awkward layout. Before we moved in, our contractor removed the soffit and upper cabinets, took out the peninsula, patched floors and drywall, and added can lights — but we left most of the kitchen intact to live in and test what we wanted to change over time.
Living with the space for months helped us decide where to invest. We added shelves, altered lighting, painted cabinets, and eventually replaced the cabinetry and counters. Converting a window into a door opened access to our grill and porch, which made outdoor cooking much more convenient.
The end result felt worth the wait: the room now balances storage, function, and a calm beachy palette. The upper cabinets that reach the ceiling make the back wall feel taller, and hiding the range hood inside a cabinet keeps the look clean and symmetrical.
Our New Tile Backsplash
The backsplash kicked off the final phase. We wanted texture and sheen without heavy color or bold patterns since the kitchen is visible from the sitting area and front door. We chose an affordable 4×4″ zellige-style tile in a soft “Sky” blue-gray with lots of luster. The wall cost about $325 in materials and took roughly 2.5 days to complete, including grout. Planning the tile layout ahead of time helped avoid awkward slivers at the edges and gave a balanced look, especially around the off-center window.
For zellige-style tiles, sorting them first helps balance sheen and directional variations; rotating tiles during installation can prevent similar textures from clustering. We used a warm gray grout to blend with the tile and painted the window trim to match so it visually recedes. The combination of gray-toned quartz, blue-gray tile, and soft mauve cabinets creates a layered, calming effect that photos don’t fully capture.
The Upper Cabinets & Hidden Hood
We moved from open shelves to closed upper cabinets for two main reasons: they provide hidden storage (which keeps the space calmer) and they allowed us to conceal a range hood. We used an Ikea under-cabinet range hood designed to fit inside an upper cabinet, keeping the back wall symmetrical while improving ventilation and adding under-cabinet lighting.
We’re happy we added the hood and cabinets — they’ve made the kitchen feel taller, cleaner, and more functional. A deep stainless single-bowl sink plus a one-handed pull-down faucet has also been a game-changer for daily life.
The Kitchen Sitting Area
Half of this room functions as a sitting area, and it’s become one of our favorite spaces. We didn’t expect to use it so much, but it’s perfect for reading, chatting with friends, or letting the kids hang out nearby while we cook. The layout required strategic furniture choices — a cozy loveseat and a round terrazzo coffee table helped the space flow and feel intentional.
This room also contains a laundry closet tucked behind doors near the seating area, adding to the space’s multi-functionality. Reworking a utility closet to include a tankless water heater opened up a surprising amount of storage and workspace, which we’ll share more about in a future post.
Living in the house and experimenting with furniture over time allowed us to refine the arrangement until it felt just right. The result is a compact, efficient kitchen paired with a comfortable hangout zone that makes the whole house feel larger.
The Kitchen Renovation Budget
Because this renovation happened over many months, compiling the budget was tricky, but here are the major material costs for the finished kitchen. This list focuses on permanent kitchen items and excludes small decor pieces like bowls and plant pots.
- Ikea Sektion Cabinets, Veddinge fronts & interior organizers: $3,330
- Cabinet paint & supplies: $130
- All appliances (including hood): $930*
- Quartz counters, sink & disposal: $4,340
- Brass faucet: $465
- Cabinet hardware: $85
- Backsplash tile (including mastic, grout & supplies): $485
- Pendant light & light kit: $120
- TOTAL: $9,885
*We purchased our stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator second-hand for $500 total through Facebook Marketplace and our realtor; the appliance line above includes the Ikea hood.
Note: Converting the kitchen window to a door was part of a larger contractor job for the kitchen porch; we estimate that portion cost roughly $1,270 (about $900 labor + $370 for the door), though costs will vary by project.
We did the demo, cabinet installation, painting, and tiling ourselves, and had the countertop professionals handle the quartz install. All of those DIY choices kept costs lower and let us control the timeline.
Thanks for following along as we completed our slow-but-deliberate kitchen renovation. There were many small wins along the way — finally adding a pantry, installing a hood, tiling the backsplash — and it feels great to be finished. If you’ve been tackling a tricky space, remember that living in it and making incremental changes can lead to a thoughtful, well-loved result.
*This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.