Modern French Country Kitchen Renovation “One Room Challenge” Final Reveal

The time has officially arrived. It’s been a rough 7 weeks for us and our DIY kitchen renovation, but we are so happy the job is finally complete!

We embarked as guest participants in the “One Room Challenge”, hosted by Linda at Calling it Home HERE and sponsored by House Beautiful HERE.

The One Room Challenge is a biannual event every April and October. Each round, twenty design bloggers take the challenge and transform a space. Every Wednesday, the designers document their process while sharing their sources and professional advice over the six weekly posts. If you haven’t had a chance to check out these amazing transformations, you will be wowed by what these designers have put together HERE.

As for me, I love participating in this challenge. Adhering to a strict timeline is a great motivator for me, and a wonderful opportunity to transform a room in our home. During a previous season I renovated our master bedroom in a prior home HERE.

This season, we decided to give our kitchen a makeover. We started 7 weeks ago, and the time has flown by. You can catch up on all the progress along the way by clicking on the links.

Kitchen Renovation (Week 1) Before Pictures

Kitchen Renovation (Week 2) The Design Plan

Kitchen Renovation (Week 3) Painting Island Cabinets & Steam Cleaning Natural Stone

Kitchen Renovation (Week 4) Range Hood Transformation

Kitchen Renovation (Week 5) Fireplace Surround & New Cabinet Hardware

Kitchen Renovation (Week 6) New Lighting

Our to-do list for the renovation included the following:

• Paint cabinets on the center island dark gray
• Paint wall cabinets on island #2 a creamy white
• Paint range hood creamy white
• Replace textured glass on cabinet doors with clear glass
• Replace all cabinet hardware
• Steam clean the travertine floors
• Replace the pendants hanging over island #1
• Replace the chandelier in dining area
• Decide on furniture for dining area and front of fireplace
• Replace bar stools (on order)
• Replace backsplash
• Install under cabinet and in cabinet lighting
• Paint kitchen walls

All the items on the original to-do list have been completed with the exception of replacing the backsplash. Instead of replacing the backsplash, I color sealed the grout lines in the area under the range hood, giving it a fresh, clean and new look. You can read about how easy it is to color seal grout HERE.

As for the backsplash under the wall cabinets, we decided against replacing it because we were worried about damaging the countertops during the removal process. Our backsplash under these cabinets is a slab of marble, the same marble as the countertops.

Our soon-to-be new bar stools are a custom order and unfortunately didn’t arrive in time for the final reveal. But I will update you with pictures when they do arrive.

Let’s take a look at the before pictures of our kitchen space.

The travertine floors were filthy, we steam cleaned the hell out of them, you can read about how to steam clean natural stone in my post from Week 3 HERE.

 Obviously a large space, making the windows and doors look very blah and boring.

The cabinets and island are a dingy gray color, bringing the whole look of the kitchen down, and the stain colored corbels, have to go!

Those 4 pendants over the island look ridiculous and feel crowded in the space.

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Don’t get me started on that range hood! And the monogramming?! That’s a story for another day.

Ugly textured glass on the cabinet doors.

The fireplace area feels un-inviting and cold.

Going back to my design board, these are existing and new elements I am working with for the remodel:

Now, lets take a look at the newly renovated space!

We increased the height of the windows and doors by adding more millwork, you can read about that HERE. The additional wood and trim makes a grand statement in the space, especially with 11 foot ceilings.

I painted the center island a dark gray, the color I used is “Slate” by Restoration Hardware. The paint I used is Benjamin Moore HERE, and primer HERE. This is by far the best cabinet paint out there, I highly recommend it! Check out previous posts for more information.

Painting the corbels the same color as the island makes a huge visual difference to the space.

We replaced 4 smaller pendants over island #1, with 2 lantern pendants HERE.  Love them! No glass, nothing to clean, totally smudge free.

All new hardware in a french country style HERE. The old hardware consisted of knobs…replaced all knobs to all pulls in brushed stainless steel.

The fireplace got a complete overhaul, you can read about that HERE.

We decided on a simple settee for the fireplace, and we love it. It fits the space perfectly and is so comfortable SIMILAR HERE . A white sheepskin rugs HERE adds to the coziness.

The fireplace area is now inviting to sit in front of and enjoy a glass of wine…or two.

A simple raw piece of timber makes a wonderful fireplace shelf. Check out Week 5 HERE for more information on the fireplace remodel.

For the dining area, we finally decided on a farmhouse table SIMILAR HERE  in a gray finish. As I mentioned in a prior post, this isn’t the first table we bought for this space. Another bad decision…lesson learned. But this new table is fabulous and oh so elegantly rustic!

The chairs are simple HERE, lightweight and very economical. I bought 10 of them, I like to keep extra on hand for large gatherings.

The end chairs HERE are super comfortable, tall, and look great in the space.

I love this dining set with straight rectangular legs, it adds the perfect amount of casual elegance to the room.

Eucalyptus and white roses for a simple table centerpiece.

I painted the cabinets white, color is “Sand Dollar” by Restoration Hardware, using Benjamin Moore paint.

The clear glass is attractive and elegant.

Notice the under cabinet lighting? Check out Week 6 HERE for all the details on in cabinet and under cabinet lighting options.

Added a runner to the space to warm it up, this one is from Frontgate HERE.

Loving my gooseneck faucet HERE and apron farmhouse sink HERE.

The wine barrel chandelier HERE is so pretty and grand. The candelabra lights are perfect and add the right amount of charm to the space. Check out Week 6 HERE for more details on lighting.

Finally the walls are painted in the color “Ash” by Restoration Hardware, using Benjamin Moore paint HERE.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have participated and completed a remodel of our kitchen. Now, the space feels so bright and inviting, a few changes made a world of difference.

Our future goal is to do a full kitchen remodel in a few years, with new cabinets and range hood, but this intermittent DIY makeover (excluding furniture and lighting) costed less than $1,000.

If you’re thinking about a mini makeover for your kitchen, there are many DIY changes you can make on any budget to update your space.

If your budget is $100, I suggest painting the walls, it makes a dramatic difference.

If your budget is $300, paint the walls and replace a light fixture.

If your budget is $500, paint the walls, replace a light fixture, and update the faucet. If you can add another couple hundred dollars onto that, consider replacing the sink.

If you have $1,000 to spend, consider the items listed above, paint the cabinets and add new hardware.

Little changes go a long way in updating a space. Thanks so much for visiting, I hope you enjoyed seeing our transformation. I’ll see you next time! Feel free to tweet, pin, and repost this article. Follow along on Instagram HERE and subscribe to Happy Haute Home to get bi-weekly posts delivered to your inbox.