Kitchen update on a budget

Updating the kitchen is by far the biggest and most rewarding of the whole home redo I knew it would be and quite affordable.  This is the story of how I did it with paint, sandpaper and time.

I started sanding the lower cabinets when

Add rope lighting.

This week hubs is on a hunting trip.  I feel extra motivated to get some projects finished in the home do over.  I finished painting the back doors...color matching is a pain!  Then I tackled adding rope lighting above the kitchen counters.  I am very pleased with the result.  You can see more on how it was done and the rest of the Home Do Over project here.

While hubs is off hunting, I decided to install rope lighting across the shelf above the sink counter and over the top of the upper cabinets.  It went pretty well.  I purchased a 16' rope light from Walmart for $14 and a power bar with on/off switch for about $9.  Bargain!  I also purchased a 1 1/2" hole drill bit at Home Depot and got some basic instructions on using it from a very helpful employee there.  I straightened out the rope light to make it easier to work into place then used the new hole bit on the top of the corner cabinet to feed the power cord through.

The corner cabinet where I chose to put the cord through is too dark to see inside, so I used this opportunity to thread a little of the rope light down the inside of that cabinet.  I love the new light in there.  There was space in the back corner to fit the cord down through the two shelves and exit through the second hole I cut in the bottom of the cabinet near an outlet.  I attached a power strip with an on/off switch to the bottom of the cabinet so all you see is a few inches of the cord attached to the outlet.  I am already enjoying the ambiance of the night lighting.

 

You can see the whole house re do here.

You can see where I like to link to parties here.