Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means YBC® may earn a small commission if you happen to make a purchase through our links. Thanks for the support!

Hey everyone! Marketing Director Lauren recently renovated her kitchen, and since she is the DIY Queen, I asked her to share her experience with the reno process. See her before and after pictures below, and get a sneak peek at some of her adorable home accents. If you’ve done a home renovation project, we’d love to hear about it in the comments! xo -Candace

Deciding to renovate your kitchen is kind of a big deal. When you tell people about a full blown kitchen remodel, they look at you sideways, eyes wide and blurt out. “Ohhhh, good luck with that.” Or “Wow, with a two year old in the house?!” And, “Why? Your kitchen is fine just the way it is.”

[insert eye roll emoji here]

Admittedly, I went into the renovation very unprepared and ignorant to the process, so my initial response was, “What’s the big deal? It’ll be fine! What could go wrong?!” Especially since I had done (or so I thought) my due diligence when selecting an experienced designer and contractor. Lesson Learned: Referrals on Facebook are subjective. Just because a project and renovation was done successfully for Family A, does not mean it’ll go the same for Family B. Hi, it's me - we’re Family B.

[insert laughing crying emoji here]

Two contractors, a checked-out designer and 6+ weeks later, we finished what we set out to do. Was it easy? NOPE. What is worth it? YEP!

A Little Back Story: We bought our house just 12 miles south of Denver in a perfect little community back in 2018. The housing market at the time was WILD; homes were selling 12 hours after being listed for a good 20-30k OVER asking price. On top of that, we had to submit a letter to the current owners explaining why our family wanted the house, and we were also required to include photos of our family. I think we put official offers on 5 different homes over the course of a month and lost them all to higher bidders. I’d express my frustration and proclaimed that we’d be in an apartment forever (Yes, I’m dramatic!). Everyone kept saying, “The house just wasn’t meant to be,” or “The right house is out there, you’ll find it,” and honestly, I didn’t believe them.

A few weeks later, I stepped foot into the house that we now call home. The moment I stepped in the front door, I almost turned around and left because I honestly thought to myself, “We’ll never ever get this one.. why even set ourselves up for another heartbreak!?!” This house checked off ALL. THE BOXES. except a couple of things, but I figured we can take care of that later down the road. The kitchen was a bit outdated, but still looked super cute and for me, it was ‘good enough’ for a few years, at least. We were in a bidding war with a few other families, and somehow we came out on top - FINALLY!

Major changes in the design include cabinets and crown molding that reach the ceiling, a larger panty, centering the sink to the kitchen window and making the ‘island’ level and slightly larger.

I’ll never forget unpacking the first box labeled “kitchen” and opening a kitchen cabinet when suddenly the entire kitchen cabinet door was on the floor. Wait? What? No! The previous owners had DUCT TAPED SOME OF THE KITCHEN DOORS to their hinges because they were so rusted, they’d all busted. That was the first find of many DIY hacks made by the previous owners that were equally shocking and dangerous. We knew right then and there that we’d probably have to re-do the kitchen sooner rather than later. Fast forward to November 2019, and we had saved enough to do a full renovation. The experience wasn’t top notch, but we love our new kitchen so much! It was 100% worth all the hassle that comes along with a kitchen reno.

We practically chose everything ourselves except for the Kitchen Cabinets. My vision for the space was clean, bright and white with brass accents, #basicbitch. Our designer suggested the Shaker style in Painted Linen by WayPoint Living Spaces, and we LOVE them. They’re not a true white but the perfect creamy off-white. I don’t find I have to wipe them down often, either! That is a big deal with a 2 year old unable to keep his hands off anything.

When it was time to select stone for the countertops, we went with Snow White Granite from The Stone Collection in Denver. I highly recommend them if you’re in the Denver metro area. Their prices can’t be beat, and they’re so incredibly nice! Our contractor was shocked when he found out how much we paid for our slab.

For the backsplash, I didn’t want the traditional white subway tile, so we went with this glass brick mosaic tile that ended up having a blue hue to it once we got it on the walls. Candace actually convinced us to go straight to the ceiling with the backsplash, and I’m not mad at her input! We get a ton of compliments on it.

We also centered the kitchen sick to the window - it was off by a few inches before. Pictured: Marble and Wood Cake Stand; White Utensil Holder

I battled hard for a brass kitchen faucet. HARD. That was a clear hard NO from the hubs until I dragged him to Dahl Castle Rock Kitchen and Bath, and he saw the Delta Trinsic Faucet in Champagne Bronze. He was sold in approximately 30 seconds. I left that store with my brass faucet feeling like the happiest women on earth. We also did away with our smaller stainless steel sink and opted for a larger white granite composite one. I’m obsessed with the way the sink looks, but the downside is that it’s a bit of work keeping it clean. You can’t really leave anything sitting for awhile, otherwise it’ll stain.

Delta Trinsic Faucet in Champagne Bronze; Granite Composite Sink; White Plant Pot

For cabinet hardware we went with these brass cup pulls on the drawers and these simple brass knobs on all the doors. I really love the look of mixed metals, so I purposely picked a brass that was a bit brighter than our faucet.

Breville Barista Touch; Step Stool; Marble Cheese Board (similar)

Our contractor never carried over the existing electrical for our previous under cabinet lighting system, so we were forced to go with these ‘temporary’ battery operated ones for now. But honestly, they work great, come with a remote, and it’s a super affordable quick fix until we can get another electrician in to rewire everything.