Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel Ideas | DIY Kitchen Cabinet Project
You can do so much to create an entirely new look with this farmhouse kitchen remodel project which will give your old kitchen a rustic elegant feel that is simple and clean.
Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel
Since kitchen cabinets are the most essential element of a kitchen, we will focus on how you can transform them for a rustic farmhouse vibe.
Mix and match other elements to compliment your cabinets. You can also pick and choose the décor ideas according to your personal preference and budget.
Farmhouse Kitchens are back in fashion!
Farmhouse style kitchen décor is all about authentic details, distressed surfaces, a spacious look, and elegant materials.
We have a number of simple DIY techniques that you can use to turn your existing kitchen into a farmhouse-style kitchen.
The main project was to upgrade the cabinet doors plus we added beadboard backsplash, new countertops, and rustic lighting.
If a full-scale renovation is not possible, try our tried-and-tested DIY techniques to transform your kitchen.
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Quick Peek at Before and After Photos:
Here was our decades old yellow formica counter tops and yellow formica backsplash kitchen. The kitchen was dark as it only had one north facing window.
We knew we needed to brighten it up but were hesitant to paint the maple cabinets as we never paint wood.
We have always loved the warmth of wood but……
It was a struggle to make the decision to paint our wooden cabinets. Our existing cabinets were maple and we “never” painted wood anything. We have always loved wood and just never thought to paint them.
Solid Wood or Veneer
But when we looked closer, we saw that the maple cabinets actually just had a thin maple veneer so they basically were plywood cabinets.
That did it…..we decided to upgrade and paint the cupboards, drawers and cabinet doors.
Step 1: The Cabinets
First off, do a thorough evaluation of your current kitchen with what you like and with what you would like to change.
Our kitchen had lots of cupboard space so we did not need a full remodel. But, we did need a face lift of some sort.
This is when we tossed around the idea of painting the cabinets to brighten and freshen up the look and feel.
You can style your farmhouse kitchen cabinets in many ways. For an authentic and traditional style, go for wooden or beadboard cabinets.
We would suggest white or just a slight off-white for the beadboard cabinets.
White cabinets are the best option for a modern farmhouse look – as long as they are paired with the right hardware and countertops.
Simply Paint or Add Interest
In the beginning, we were just going to paint the cupboards (inside and out), the drawers and cabinet doors.
But our doors were quite large and just plain flat surfaces. With this in mind, we kicked around the idea of adding some type of detail that would add more of the farmhouse look that we wanted.
In a smaller area with narrower cabinets, simply painting the doors, cupboards and drawers will help you achieve a fantastic farmhouse feel and look.
Simply painting is the fastest to go.
Beadboard Panels
Since our doors were wider, we decided to go with an added white beadboard panel and cove trim to give a beautiful new look.
We used the 4×8 foot sheets of beadboard panelling for the cabinet doors.
This extra detail gives the cabinets the perfect warm and cozy look of a cottage-style kitchen.
Classic white cabinets paired with wooden flooring add warmth and charm to the kitchen space. The natural light reflects best on the white upper cabinets. The entire kitchen is much brighter.
We did not add the raised beadboard panels to the drawers. These were just painted with two coats of an interior semi-gloss enamel latex paint.
Beadboard Panels are a simple way to get started on your remodel project. A Bead-board is easier to keep clean when installed vertically as compared to a shiplap backsplash which is normally installed horizontally.
Pro Tip: Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel Latex Paint is durable and easy to keep clean plus latex paint is easy to clean up afterward
How to Remodel the Cabinets:
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to remodel the cabinets:
- Unscrew the kitchen cabinet doors and remove all hinges and pulls
- Buy white or just a shade off from white latex enamel paint. We opted for a semi-gloss for ease of wiping down and cleaning the final kitchen doors and cabinets. The semi-gloss paint gives the cabinets a fresh look plus a durable finish.
- Paint the cupboards and drawers and let them dry for at least one full day.
- If adding the beadboard raised panels, then cut the 4×8 foot sheet of beadboard paneling to the size needed for each door
- Glue the beadboard sections to each cabinet doors
- Cut cove trim to fit over each beadboard edge
- Read the Pro-Tip below for further instructions on adding the cove trim
- Staple or nail with small finish nails
- Paint the doors and let dry for over 24 hours or until dry to the touch and then wait for 12 more hours
- Make sure the temperature stays above 60 degrees to help the paint dry completely.
- We gave our cabinets doors three coats of paints on the outside surface. Two coats of paint on the interior cupboards and drawers.
- Install black or antique bronze pulls on the white cabinets. Black cabinet pulls are an easy way to add a classy and modern touch to your farmhouse-style kitchen. We opted for antique brass knobs since we already had antique drawer pulls.
- Replace the hinges and the knobs making sure you can get your fingers around the knobs easily as you must account for the increased depth of the beadboard panels when resetting the pulls.
If your pull projections are long enough, just make sure to get longer screws to accommodate for the added depth of the beadboard panel.
We discovered this issue the hard way.….. when we went to reset the knobs, we discovered that the cove trim that we added to cover the edge of the beadboard panels caused just enough of an encroachment toward the knobs that it made it difficult to get our fingers around the pulls.
Our solution was to buy new cabinet pulls with longer projections (the neck of the knob that screws on the cabinet) and this worked.
We found the correct size cabinet pull neck or stem on Amazon. GlideRite Cabinet Pulls seems to have knobs and pulls with longer projection or stems.
Pro Tip on adding Cove Trim:
We added some extra detail on the beadboard panels to our plain cabinet doors.
We cut the panels so there was a 1 and 3/4 inch border from the edge of the door. These panels were glued to the cabinet doors.
After the panels dried, we then trimmed the beadboard with decorative cove trim to cover the beadboard panel outside edge.
The decorative cove trim was run through a planner so it fits over the edge of the beadboard.
The corners were mitered for a finished joint. This trim was cut to fit each side and was glued and tacked on with finish nails.
The nail holes were plugged and then painted with the white semi-gloss interior latex paint.
Step 2: Beadboard Backsplash
To add contrast, we opted for a wooden beadboard backsplash. Beadboard paneling is an easy, inexpensive way to give your kitchen a modern farmhouse-style look.
Beadboard has been popular in kitchens for over a century and still hasn’t lost its popularity.
Pro-Tip: we opted to use the real beadboard boards instead of the 4×8 foot sheets of light-weight paneling.
We lightly sanded the beadboard to remove any rough spots. The beadboard panels were then stained with golden oak stain and were sealed with urethane.
So this is the perfect fix for your farmhouse kitchen remodeled look, as the kitchen appears clean and spacious.
Installing a Beadboard Backsplash is perfect for one of the farmhouse kitchen remodel ideas:
- Measure the wall area that needs to be covered. Measure the total length from the bottom of your cabinets to the counter. You will need shorter beadboard pieces for some areas, while you may have to cover the entire wall in some cases, for instance, behind the stove. If the cabinets are of different heights, measure them too.
- Measure and prepare the trim. Due to the different lengths, you will have to trim the backsplash at each edge.
- You can decide how to stain and finish according to your preference.
- Next, head over to the home depot shop or your local lumber yard to buy your beadboard sheets (for the door panels) and beadboard packages for the backsplash.
- Cut them to fit outlets and sockets. The beadboard paneling is cut to the fit any other openings or jogs in your walls.
- Hold your individual pieces where it needs to go and nail in place. We used a nail gun to secure them to the wall. Glue is not a practical option as it would ruin your original wall and create a problem if you ever want to switch back to your old kitchen.
- Lastly, apply the caulk. Caulking is an important step as you need to seal the small gaps and the corners to prevent leaks.
Additional Note: we did reduce the size of the upper cabinet above the sink area to allow for more headroom.
This step help to add interest to the sink area and break up the horizontal line across this long counter.
We accomplished this by cutting the cabinet doors down to a smaller size and removing one of the shelves.
This reduced the space but it also increased the head space area over the sink!
Here is a quick note: if you are not able to add the bead boards to your cabinets, consider a temporary upgrade of adding beadboard-look wallpaper.
This will bring a very nice upgrade for less cost.
Step 3: Stone or Formica Countertop
The third step includes adding a stone countertop that accents the white cabinets and wooden beadboard backsplashes.
Stone countertops are practical and elegant; they give a traditional, classy look as well as value to your home.
If you decide against natural stone or marble, then take a look at the new Formicas that are on the market.
Some of the Formica patterns are beautiful and resemble natural stone, quartz and marbles. We opted for Formica and actually love it! Formica is coming back in vogue!
Neutral Colors
You can choose a light-colored countertop to offset the wooden beadboard backsplash and old wooden floor, giving the kitchen a spacious look.
Or, you can tie in all the colors that you have going on with the white cabinets, the natural beadboard backsplash, and the black appliances and island with a counter tops that offers several shades of neutral colors.
We choose granite looking neutral browns and tans and it looks great!!!
Step 4: Copper Lighting
Lastly, add copper lighting for the perfect rustic farmhouse vibe in the kitchen. These lamps are a modern-day pick with a vintage outlook. Especially take a look at the Thomas Edison Vintage Light bulbs! Copper lights reflect perfectly on the white cabinets, wooden beadboard backsplash, and formica countertop.
Thomas Edison Vintage LED Light …… {i love these!}
Final Thought on Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel Ideas
There are a number of ways and ideas to remodel your kitchen for a rustic farmhouse vibe. We remodeled our kitchen using the 4 DIY steps mentioned above.
You can add more twists and colors to your kitchen if you want. Let us know how your kitchen turned out!