

When we first moved to the farmhouse, I made a list of the order of rooms I wanted to work on first. This list has proven to be useless! I had planned on the kitchen being last due to the expense. I imagined black soapstone countertops with a new white farm sink and bridge faucet. Those items alone would total at least $7,000! I knew we didn’t have that in the budget now so the plan was to hold on the kitchen for now until we could afford the finishes we wanted or until we won the lottery!
However, dark rooms really bother me. The kitchen was the darkest room of the house and of course the room I spend the most time in. It was literally blah brown from floor to ceiling with some very, very faux granite laminate countertops and a brown faux finish on the walls that just blended right in with the brown cabinets and brown floors. After a few months, I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to do a “quick and cheap” version of the bright room I envisioned. The makeover did prove to be cheap, but not so quick.
I started by removing the soffet that housed three can lights. It made the room feel small and oppressive. Once it was removed, I left the can lights hanging from the ceiling and had an electrician come out and remove them completely. I then had three big holes in the ceiling to patch. Once the patches were sanded, I went ahead and swapped out the light fixtures and painted the ceiling. There were two ceiling fans in the kitchen! I can’t begin to tell you how greasy and dusty those fan blades were without gagging! Thankfully, we already had the light fixtures so I did not count those in the overall cost of the makeover.
The next step was painting over most of that lovely brown faux finish on the wall. I used a satin latex Sherwin Williams paint called “grey owl”. It is a nice, neutral cool gray.
Then I painted the cabinets with a white, satin-finish oil based paint from Sherwin Williams. I replaced the grimy brass hinges and knobs with new oil rubbed bronze ones I ordered on Amazon. For some reason, the cabinets above the range had a super unattractive fluorescent light installed underneath them and it was not concealed at all. The range is a down-draft so there is no need for a vent and hood. So, I took a $3.00 wooden shelf from Goodwill and mounted it on a scrap piece of cabinetry wood, attached it to the bottom of the cabinets and painted it to match. It looks like it has always been there and conceals the light while providing a cute little display area!


I painted the soffet above the cabinets with the same white paint and added crown molding to the top so that it would appear that the cabinets extend to the ceiling. It was a pleasure to cover up more of that brown faux finish!


Since I couldn’t afford the black soapstone countertops I longed for, I googled “faux soapstone” and found a simple method to try. I primed the countertops with oil based primer and then painted them with black chalkboard paint. It took 3 coats. Once they dried overnight, I waxed them with a non-toxic furniture wax. The wax gives it a satin finish and seals the paint. I am okay with the look for now. I don’t think it really looks like soapstone, but it definitely makes the countertops much more neutral so they aren’t very noticeable at all and of course adds a nice traditional black for the farmhouse look I am going for. They have held up pretty well, but I have had to touch up the black paint with an artist’s brush a few times. I wish I had tinted the white primer to a very dark grey and that would have made dings and chips less noticeable. I have also re-waxed the countertops once over the last year.
On to the backsplash! White subway tile was the first material I had in mind, and then I decided to go for a bit more rustic look with white v-groove wood planks. The entire backsplash was only $20! Once it was installed, I painted it with the same paint as the cabinets. Hallelujah, no more brown faux finish!
The island was the last step. It wasn’t attached to the floor so we were able to rotate it easily so that it was parallel to the cabinets behind it instead of at the strange angle shown in the before pictures. I will write about exactly what I did to transform it in my next post.
Not shown in the pictures, is the eat-in side of the kitchen. I haven’t touched this area yet except to paint the walls. My plan is to use cabinets we remove from our master bathroom to create a built in bench along the wall. Until then!
Update: here are two detail pictures based on questions below.


Melissa says
Your kitchen looks beautiful. It is so similar to mine….except I still have the lovely oak and am counting down the days until it is white. ๐ I can’t wait to see the eat- in kitchen. Keep posting pictures! I love frugal remodels…it gives me hope. ๐
meredith s. says
Thank you Melissa!
Rhonda Bristow says
What non toxic furniture wax did you use? Did it work? We have just finished touch ups of our painting; looks great!
Thank you!
Rhonda
meredith s. says
Hi Rhonda! Thanks for your comment! I used this wax https://www.amazon.com/Howard-CS0014-Citrus-11-Ounces-Neutral/dp/B000LNSIZ0
It works well but I do have to touch-up paint and re-wax every few months.
Emily says
Can I see a picture of the crown molding above the egg sign? The wall keeps going yet you painted part of it white and added molding. I’m just wondering how to finish it off on a continuous wall? Thanks!!
My email is ephelps10@gmail.com
-Emily
meredith s. says
Hi Emily,
Iโm sorry it took me so long to respond!! I added a picture to the bottom of my blog post ( http://redroofrefuge.com/500-farmhouse-kitchen-makeover/ ) so you can see the ending of the crown molding. Hope this helps! Thanks!
Michelle S. says
Beautiful!!! What did you use for the trim piece to connect the backsplash and the granite countertop?
Thanks!
meredith s. says
Hi Michelle,
I’m sorry it took me so long to respond!! I added a picture to my blog post ( http://redroofrefuge.com/500-farmhouse-kitchen-makeover/ ) so you can see a close-up of the trim. I can’t remember what it is called, but I got it from Lowe’s. Hope this helps! Thanks!
Brittani says
Hi!! I love your kitchen! I was curious about your countertops, I am
In the same boat (love soapstone, but can’t pay for it!) so just this weekend we painted our counters black (cracked pepper) I love the color, but I finished them with a poly acrylic and I feel like I ruined them, the poly finish shows every stroke from the brush ๐ I was wondering what wax you used, and if it would be compatiable with non-chalkboard paint?!! What do you think?!
meredith s. says
Hi Brittani, Thanks for your compliment! Did you use matte finish polyurethane?
I originally used this wax https://www.amazon.com/Howard-CS0014-Citrus-11-Ounces-Neutral/dp/B000LNSIZ0
It hasn’t held up as well as I had hoped but it’s very simple to give the countertops a quick re-coat or touch-up with the chalkboard paint and then re-wax. I’ve probably done this 3 times in the last 2 years. The last time, I sealed the paint with matte finish polyurethane instead of wax and that seems to be working better although, it has only been a few weeks. I really think using tinted primer initially would have made a huge difference instead of the bright white showing through each time it gets scratched or chipped.
I think wax would be fine on top of flat latex paint. I’m not an expert on it, but it seems like it would only work well with porous finishes like flat latex paint, chalk paint, etc.