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.