This kitchen makeover was inspired by wanting an open concept for the kitchen. Originally, there was a high bar top that divided the kitchen & dining area. A bar top that was way too high! We couldn't even find bar stools that were the right height. What were we thinking?  So, we decided that we wanted to lower it. We called around to get quotes for our vision. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find quotes in our budget at the time. Can you believe the highest quote we got was $2000? One night my husband and I were watching HGTV and saw something similar to what we wanted to do in the kitchen. We both looked at each other and decided, we can do that! SOOOO...we did it!! The total cost of this diy project was $800. That was half the price we were quoted and a great deal to me! While we did do most of this project by ourselves, we did have to hire this older gentleman to remove and replace the new high definition laminate countertops. He charged us $600 and did a great job (I found him on local craigslist adds). The process from start to finish took 4 weeks. Like anything in life we ran into some small issues. One issue was the plumbing...fortunately, we knew exactly who to call. We made a quick phone call to a friend at 360 Plumbing and Gas Solutions and he told us exactly what we needed to do. The second issue was electrical. We needed to move the wiring around with this improvement. Luckily, my dad was an electrician and he was able to move all of the wiring for FREE!!! I am so thankful for my Daddy. 

There were two outlets and one switch plate for the light, garbage disposal and dishwasher. My dad removed the two outlets and moved the switch plate to the inside wall, which was the perfect location. One thing we did have to purchase to help this process was a Ryobi tool set for less than $200. We used the reciprocating saw to remove the long pieces of wood to make the counter flush against the kitchen sink counter. After that we repurposed the wood from the bar top to create an extended bar/counter so that we have extra seating for our family to eat at. We took a piece of dry wall and tape and flowed it to fill in the hole. We called a local counter top specialist who came out and gave us a quote and he came in and did all the counter top work in one day! He did such a great job matching the high definition laminate to our existing counter tops. You can see that I posted some pictures of the process a long the way. Once the counters were finished, my husband installed the stove top, the new sink and beautiful chrome faucet. Looking at the finish project brings me so much joy, it was exactly how I envisioned it and we saved $1200.