Inside a $6,000 Kitchen Renovation That Takes Plywood to a New Level

Inside a $6,000 Kitchen Renovation That Takes Plywood to a New Level

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In Renovator’s Notebook, house owners open up up about the nitty-gritty of their remodels: How lengthy it truly took how a great deal it in fact cost what went horribly completely wrong and what went beautifully, serendipitously, it is-all-really worth-it-in-the-close suitable. For extra suggestions to nail your subsequent job, abide by @reno_notebook.

12 months designed: 1964

Square footage: 80

Funds: $5,958

Major precedence: Establish a Scandi-interesting cabin kitchen on a tight budget by having innovative with finds from IKEA, Amazon, and far more.


Paige Kershaw and Jake Hill assumed they would be landlords when they obtained their cabin in California’s San Bernardino Mountains in drop 2021. Precisely, they thought they’d be Airbnb hosts. “We ended up hunting at this [place] for a thirty day period, debating it, speaking about how we could flip it into a rental and have an additional supply of cash flow,” remembers Hill. The few, equally graphic designers who have been leasing a place in Newport at the time, purposefully purchased the lowest priced house they could discover in the Functioning Springs spot (the property was a steal at $179,000). But after they started off spending weekends at the retreat and renovating the 512-sq.-foot inside, they couldn’t envision providing it up. “All the faults had been effortless to disregard when seeking up at the significant wooden beams, the towering pines that surrounded it, and the views that attained the Pacific Ocean,” shares Kershaw. 

green and white kitchen

The kitchen, just before.

Following shelling out two weeks gutting the area, the pair acquired to function on changing the flooring with resilient vinyl planks, incorporating a new wood-burning stove, and redoing the total kitchen for a minimal fewer than $6,000. (Kershaw’s contractor father lent a hand all through the procedure, but for the most aspect the few did all the function them selves.) In the interim, they relied on a momentary cooking set up that consisted of a freestanding sink with shelving, a Primus grill, and a mini fridge (although they generally resorted to the grill outside and a nearby pizza joint when they got hungry).

temporary tiny kitchen

The non permanent kitchen set up.
white empty room

The kitchen area, below design.
many attaching wood to wall

The kitchen, beneath construction.

After fueled up on food, their major priorities were to include an island with seating, open the house to the residing home, and brighten matters with masses of plywood. Funds-pleasant was the title of the sport for the project, with Hill and Kershaw mainly sticking to suppliers like IKEA (the island was $570) and Amazon (the round paper lantern was a mere $100) when sourcing resources for the space. Ahead, in their own text, the couple reveal where by they splurged and in which they saved on their now total-time getaway.

Splurge: Semi-Tailor made, Cabin-Stylish Cupboards

cabinet boxes assembled

The kitchen, below development.
plywood kitchen

Jake Hill: I didn’t want to construct all the cabinets from scratch simply because my woodshop was our deck, so I was constrained on area. We went with IKEA’s Sektion frames (the whole was close to $950) for the reason that they ended up the most economical, cheapest-exertion possibility. Then I just experienced to figure out how to make the fronts. Very much all the Baltic birch plywood was sourced from a hardware keep in Santa Ana for $768. We went with sheets that presently had a end on them so we didn’t have to coat them afterward. The rest was a bunch of measuring (and doubting myself pretty often). I made use of a monitor noticed and a distinctive tool known as a jig drill that authorized me to carve out the holes for the IKEA hinges. We bought the doorway hardware on Amazon for $130—it has a cleanse, easy search that matched all the traces in the house. 

Save: Counters That Are All Stick, No Peel

butcher block island

spice rack under hood

Hill: The counters are two sheets of plywood trapped with each other, sealed with a $120 laminate sheet. The materials is tense to use: You get one go at spreading it on with a roller because it bonds superstrong, and as you flatten it, you have to get all the air bubbles out. Luckily, it has held up genuinely properly. 

Paige Kershaw: The black sink is another IKEA solution ($286). We experienced to wait around a when for that to arrive again in stock, but we liked how it blended in with the counter tops. 

Splurge (But Also Help save): Appliances That Survived a Handful of Accidents

plywood kitchen

Kershaw: We slice charges by discovering scratch-and-dent appliances, such as the kitchen area array and panel-completely ready refrigerator

Hill: I identified the corporation that marketed us the ruined items by scouring Fb. It buys stuff from areas like Home Depot that have fallen off the truck or were being bumped with a forklift. Our stove has a little dent in the front, but the fridge was fairly spotless with the exception of a scratch, in addition we realized we ended up going to address it with plywood anyway. Equally of them model-new would have been $6,000, but we acquired them for closer to $2,000. We made a decision not to have a dishwasher and hand-clean every thing now. 

Splurge: A Nook for Everything 

plywood kitchen

wine rack next to cabinet

Kershaw: The very best organization factor we integrated into the design is our pantry, which you can not see when the doorway is shut. It’s the corner cupboard, and we set a pull-out mechanism in there (like this) that lets us to make use of the depth. 

Hill: The spice rack more than the stove and the wine storage ended up enjoyable jobs I desired to do just to mess close to with my woodworking abilities. I could have simply purchased ready-made solutions, but it was an prospect for me to perform. 

couple standing in kitchen

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