affordable kitchen makeover

Today I'm back to document a very affordable kitchen makeover.  Kitchen makeovers don't always have to cost a lot as long as you're willing to compromise. When I was house hunting, I stumbled upon this property and knew the kitchen had the perfect layout.  My budget is $1,000. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I can make it happen. Day 1 of demo included removing the broken white tiles and mismatched countertops. Credit goes to my dad. He did the demo.

Day 2 My dad removed the broken dishwasher and replaced with new cabinets, patched up a missing drawer with some old scrap wood, and cut down the island by 10 inches to fit ikea's laminate island countertop. I enlisted free grumpy day laborers (my kids) and started priming all the cabinets.  I also painted the ceiling light frame white so it doesn't stand out.

Day 3 and Day 4 included painting and waiting for it to dry in between coats. Between my two kids and I, we were able to finish priming and painting over three days spending about two hours a day. Once the black paint was done, the whole kitchen came together. 

Within a week I was able to finish tiling and bought new stainless steel fridge and range. They were $100 each used on offer up. I could have saved $200 if I stuck to the white appliances but decided to splurge. 

Here is the final reveal: 

Cost breakdown: 

Primer gallon $55

paint Behr Dolphin Fin semi gloss $30 quart size 

paint black kitchen island already owned from previous project 

paint brush/roller $30 Temu and Homedepot 

Black knobs $15 from Temu 

New sink and faucet from Temu $70

New kitchen cabinet to replace dishwasher $130 

Ikea laminate countertops; two pieces about $300 

Replaced light cover 6 pieces $100

Tile Satori Hudson Brilliant white 4x12 wall tile from Lowes plus mortar $80

Range $100 

Refrigerator $100

miscellaneous $100

Grand Total $1110

Credits: My dad for all the demo

My two kids, Emily and Kaley for helping prime and paint all the kitchen cabinets

Binh, my husband for refilling water and mix mortar for tiling

I thought I went way over budget but once I tallied everything together I'm doing pretty good as far as staying on budget. We hired painters to redo all of the interior and exterior so things are starting to come together. We also will be replacing a few doors. My dad and I will be installing vinyl flooring in the coming weeks while we wait for city to approve our adu addition. 

Up next, budget bathroom remodel. 

Spring break in Palm Springs

I'm finally back and want to share our recent trip to Palm Springs during spring break. Palm Springs may not seem like a kid friendly trip but we recently had the best time there with our kids ages 10 and 13.  We were looking for something that wasn't too crowded or busy like LA or SF. We are a short drive to Palm Springs but surprisingly never really explored the area. Palm Springs was guaranteed to have warmer weather but not too hot where we couldn't do anything. It was perfect weather for kids to swim all day. 

We stayed at the Rivera Palm Springs resort. We picked that resort due to its multiple swimming pools plus they offered a few options for on site dining. We got lucky and got the third floor overlooking the smaller pool. We got gorgeous views at night with all the fancy pool uplighting. It was surprisingly empty and quiet most of the time. We stayed during the weekday so that might have made a big difference. I imagine weekends would be much busier and louder. 

The rooms were clean and had everything we needed. Our room had a very classic Palm Springs vibe to it with interesting color selections throughout. 

On our first day we ate dinner at Torakichi Ramen Palm Springs. Ramen was delicious and kids gave it a 10/10. Kids loved their fries, ramen was delicious, and most importantly they played anime while dining.  We also explored Palm Springs World War II air museum. Visiting in the evening as the sun was coming down with uplighting was so cool. 

Day two we only had time to swim and eat. Kids spent most of the day swimming in the pool and we ate onsite. The resort had so many cute little areas to sit and lounge around. We made a grocery run to grab fruits, snacks, and water for the hotel. 

Day three we went to Downtown Palm Springs for lunch. For a weekday, it was quite busy. There were so many cute restaurants to choose from. We ended up at Grand Central because we were able to sit immediately. I loved the cute book decorations throughout the restaurant. Weather was beyond perfect. It was mid 70's with lots of breeze. 

It was a little too breezy for another swim day so we opted for complimentary bike rentals at our resort. Our kids had a lot of fun exploring the resort on the bikes.  Whenever picking any hotel, I try to look for complimentary amenities that we can use and the bike rentals did not disappoint. 

While looking for something to do, I stumbled across the Palm Springs art museum and it just so happens that admission was free on Thursday so we dropped by. Our kids love art so it was a fun experience looking at all the sculptures and art installations. Our kids are a little older so they have basic understanding of ancient artifacts. It sparked their curiosity to see "olden days art." 

Of course we got a picture of the popular Marilyn Monroe statue. We got lucky and there was a Village fest going on in down town Palm Springs so we walked around before heading back for dinner.  We ended our night at the resort for dinner. We opted for outdoor dining for the gorgeous lighting at night. 

There was so much more to do in Palm Springs. On our last day, we passed by the popular El Rancho Vista Estates. I love looking at unique homes and spent a good 30 minutes driving around looking at the mid century homes. They have so much character.  They even have an instagram featuring their homes. Check them out if you ever visit Palm Springs. 

Overall, Palm Springs was a very budget friendly trip for us. We spent $0 on activities since they were complimentary or free. Our only spendings were cost for hotel, gas, and food/snacks. 

Seattle family trip

We recently did an 8 day trip to Seattle with our kids. We live in southern California so the flight to Seattle was only 2-3 hours long which seemed perfect for traveling with children who don't like air travel. Our youngest, who is eight tends to vomit every time we fly so we've been very hesitant flying since our last trip to Hawaii a few years ago. We are not sure what it is but something about the change in elevation bothers her and she starts to cough/gag and ends up vomiting. 

Today, I wanted to share our last minute family trip to Seattle right before summer ends. Our first stop was Pike place market. There are always lots to see in the market. Our kids were in awe by the local artworks being displayed ranging from unique glasswork, knit work, and ceramic figurines. They enjoyed the fish throwing show at the fish market. We also found huge fresh lobster tail. I was amazed by the beautiful display of florals in the flower aisle. The flowers were so beautiful and affordable. A large bouquet was only $20-30. We went there for the experience but it was very crowded and reminded us alot of downtown LA.  

 

 

 

Second day was a visit to Space Needle. Temperatures in Seattle were perfect ranging from low 70's to mid 80's throughout our trip with one day of light sprinkles. We made the mistake of visiting space needle on a Sunday (weekend) and the warmest day of our trip (low 80's temp). Looking back, I would suggest going on a weekday and evening so its less crowded and better views of the city. It wasn't bad but our kids complained about long wait lines (40 minute wait) and hot weather. Space needle was fun for the experience and it gave the kids a common ground to talk about with other children we met at the hotel. We heard our kids share the excitement with their friends back at home and it made everything all worth while. 

 

 

While waiting for our turn for Space needle, we ate at a local pizza place with unique decor. It had accordions hanging from the ceiling, collections of ceramic dolls and dogs, and keys. 

 

        

Next stop was Amazon Spheres. Binh, my husband is a big tech geek so Amazon Spheres and Amazon go store was fun for him. I was in love with the design of the surroundings. Seattle overall is very "downtown" with lots of homeless and graffiti. However, Amazon spheres area was very clean, modern with minimal clutter, and lots of bright features. Even the demographics of the visitors are different. I noticed more professional nerdy middle age crowd. Weather was perfect for the kids to lounge around in the play area. Play area consist of bright colored swings, giant size Janga, an adorable community banana stand, and lots of sitting area. I loved the unique design of the patio cover, adorable painted steps, and display of bright playful colors throughout. Amazon go store was a fun experience if you have never been there. You basically log onto your amazon account before walking in and take whatever you want without having to check out. Its pretty cool and you get charged for the items automatically on your amazon account. 

 

 

Back to market place for Pike place clam chowder and lobster roll. We wanted to try the local eateries and this one did not disappoint. The line was long and wrapped around the store but the wait time was short. I think we waited about 20 minutes.

We also took the kids to the Starbucks Reserve at the Starbucks Headquarters. It was an eye opening experience to see the elaborate display of different types of coffee on the wall and the industrial art display of the history of Starbucks. The building was huge and had multiple office/meeting areas and sitting areas both inside and outside. Binh was able to do business meetings while I took the kids to take lots of pictures around the store. The food presentation was 10/10. While drinking the coffee, we didn't think anything special of it but boy we were in for a surprise. Both Binh and I couldn't sleep until 2am that night. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of our trip we visited Bainbride Island. To get to Bainbridge island, we got to go on a ferry. The ferry took us and our cars to the island for a small fee. Return trip was free and we only had to pay for our car to be ferried back which was very reasonable ($15). Bainbridge island is like a small upscale Claremont Village. It has a few eateries and we were able to lounge around all day. The day would have been perfect if we had a blanket for the park. We ate at Ba Sa restaurant. Food was good. There was one missed dish (Mi Vit) but we haven't been to many places who can make that dish right.

 

 

On our last day, we opted to lounge around at the Pier to relax and unwind. We found a spot underneath a large tree and had a picnic. We spent alot of down time at the hotel while our kids played foosball and met new friends. Our kids are so curious all the time and made friends with so many random people who sat with us. It was a great experience because they met people from New York, Japan, Florida, and Australia.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The absolute highlight of the trip was meeting new friends along the way. Since we had a lot of sight seeing during the day, the kids would pass notes to each other at night and slide them underneath the hotel door. Kids were so excited every time they got a note.