12 Homeowners Whose Kitchen Renovation Brought Back Their Love of Cooking

Nobody puts “fall back in love with cooking” on their home renovation list. They put countertops, cabinet painting, a new backsplash, a kitchen island in the right place. These 12 homeowners checked everything off the list — and then found themselves cooking every night in a kitchen they finally wanted to be in. That wasn’t the plan. It was better than the plan.

• It’s our first ever house and the budget wouldn’t allow for everything we wanted e.g. bronze handles and fancier cabinetry — we found tons of issues lurking under the floor. But, we love it, especially since it’s the B&Q budget kitchen range. Got rid of the million spotlights, moved the boiler out of sight, and added external extraction. Added function and colour. The pinks on the terracotta tiles and walls are more vibrant in real life! © Both_End_6817 / Reddit
• You’ve transformed the space! It’s gone from a drab, basic kitchen to something really stylish. You’ve got a great eye, all the details have come together so well. Love it! © Houseplant_Haven / Reddit

Tips & tricks: Skipping a floor inspection before committing to a full layout is how budgets blow up mid-project — as this renovation found, issues lurking under old flooring are common in older homes. Budgeting a contingency (10-15% of total cost) for hidden problems like this, rather than spending the whole budget upfront, keeps a project from stalling when surprises turn up.

My wife and I decided that I should remodel our kitchen. It had been untouched since being built in 1993; it featured a frustrating tiled countertop, and the cabinet doors had begun falling off their hinges. We upgraded our stove, sink, and oven. I put in new flooring, replaced all the cabinets, and built new drawers (23 of them) and new doors/drawer faces (45 of them).

Tips & tricks: Reusing 30-year-old cabinet boxes to save money on a full remodel usually backfires once new doors and hardware go on — the boxes rarely square up with modern components. Building new drawers and doors from scratch, like this, costs more upfront but avoids the fitting problems that come with forcing new parts onto old frames.

• I’m happy people seem to like it. I knew I couldn’t afford a standard backsplash and had to get creative to stay within budget, so I added paneling to the range wall for texture and those curves for a bit of style. Even at $200 per curve, the total was still way less than tile or a full stone backsplash. © lil_vayne / Reddit

Tips & tricks: Assuming a full tile or stone backsplash is the only way to add texture on a budget overlooks cheaper alternatives — wall paneling, like the curved panels used here, can deliver a similar visual impact at a fraction of the cost. Pricing out panel or trim options before committing to tile is worth doing on any tight-budget renovation.

Tips & tricks: Choosing a bold, full-wall tile color without living with a sample in the actual room first is a common regret — lighting changes how saturated a color like this deep green reads throughout the day. Taping up a large sample board in the space for a few days before ordering tile avoids that surprise.

This took me about 6 months as I work full time and only had a weekends and a couple of hours after work a day. Had to gut the entire place and relay the concrete floor as there were huge holes under the old units. A friend helped with the electrics but everything else I did. Waiting on a corner shelf and a new light but like most home ownership it’s never truly finished. I also decided to remove the units from the right hand side as I had nowhere to eat dinner or paint so had to make some sacrifices. It’s a two bed flat so I actually felt the kitchen was too big before.

Tips & tricks: Relaying a concrete floor over unaddressed structural gaps (like the holes found here) without a moisture barrier first risks trapping dampness under the new floor. Laying a proper vapor barrier before pouring or patching new concrete protects the investment from mold or cracking down the line.

Still have to do the backsplash, crown moulding and window casing but it’s otherwise back to full operations. Goals were to brighten up the kitchen, replace the sink window and extend the countertop/cabinet space. Curious what others think a job like this would have cost if hired someone to do it all.

Tips & tricks: Extending cabinet and countertop space without checking your existing plumbing and electrical runs first can turn a simple extension into a costly rerouting job. Mapping out where pipes and wiring currently run before finalizing a new layout avoids expensive mid-project surprises.

• Forget what anyone else says, I love the blue cabinets and the tiger!!! © rainbowdorito / Reddit

Tips & tricks: Painting cabinets a bold color like this blue without a proper degreasing step first is why cabinet paint chips at the hinges within months — kitchen cabinets accumulate cooking residue that regular cleaning doesn’t fully remove. A degreasing cleaner before sanding and priming makes bold colors like this hold up long-term.

Tips & tricks: Saving a small kitchen for last in a whole-home renovation often means working around finishes already locked in elsewhere — flooring or paint chosen for other rooms can limit what works in the kitchen. Choosing kitchen finishes early and letting other rooms build around them, rather than the reverse, gives a small kitchen more flexibility.

Tips & tricks: Ordering countertops without a firm installation date already scheduled with the fabricator is a common cause of month-long waits, like the one described here. Confirming a install slot before ordering — not just placing the order — keeps a renovation from stalling on that final step.

My designer came over to take some pretty pictures of my kitchen and had it staged all beautifully and not like real people live there. We really wanted to keep some of the spirit of our Edwardian but not be purists about cleaving to historic styles.

Tips & tricks: Staging a kitchen for photos without addressing the everyday clutter problem first just hides an issue that resurfaces the next day — professional staging is temporary, but storage needs aren’t. Adding a dedicated spot for daily items (mail, keys, chargers) during the renovation itself solves the “doesn’t look like real people live here” problem permanently, not just for a photo.

Realized cabinets are roughly 40% of cost. Went with granite after considering quartz and quartzite. Countertop cost was roughly 10% of total cost. Moved a door to provide space for the vertical cabinets. Total GC costs 22%. Hardwood flooring (red oak) sanded down to lighter wood grain. 10% of cost

Tips & tricks: Choosing granite over quartz or quartzite without weighing long-term maintenance is easy to overlook when countertop cost is only about 10% of the total renovation, as it was here. Granite needs periodic resealing that quartz doesn’t, so factoring in that upkeep before deciding between stones avoids maintenance surprises down the road.

• You took the tile to the ceiling — so smart, it looks fabulous. 100% worth it! © FuturamaRama7 / Reddit
  

Tips & tricks: Taking tile partway up a wall instead of to the ceiling is a common budget-saving move that can end up looking unfinished. Running the tile all the way to the ceiling, like this one did, costs more in materials but reads as a far more finished, intentional design.

It started with cabinet painting and ended with countertops and a kitchen island nobody wanted to leave. These 12 homeowners renovated their kitchen design and found something they hadn’t expected — the specific joy of cooking in a room that finally felt worth cooking in. Some home renovations fix the backsplash. These ones fixed the relationship with the kitchen entirely.

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