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How to Renovate a Kitchen in 6 days + All the Details

June 1, 2016

It's crazy to think about leaving for Pittsburgh in just 3 days! We take off Friday to renovate an entire kitchen for Frigidaire Professional, on camera, in a handful of days (read more about how that came to be here). We did our own kitchen renovation in 7 weeks, which felt good and fast and something to be proud of. But we'll be doing this one in 6 days and, really, we're just crossing our toes and holding our breath and preparing ourselves for little sleep and a lot of fun. Honestly, we have spent every waking minute planning the details of this kitchen for the last 3 months and now that it's just about here, we thought it would be fun to share the plans of how Chris and I mapped out exactly how we plan to tackle an entire gut kitchen renovation in a short amount of time.

But first! A few fun details we'll be including. We'll be building a custom range hood and wanted to hang  a prominent piece of art hanging above it, inspired by this (from here):

How to Renovate a Kitchen in 6 days + All the Details | Chris Loves Julia

I wanted the art to be meaningful, so I commissioned my talented sister,Victoria, to do a painting for the space. She sent me an in-progress and I am so excited for it.

How to Renovate a Kitchen in 6 days + All the Details | Chris Loves Julia
We hung two of her pieces in our laundry room (him and her getting dressed) and she's planning on adding prints of this one to her shop as well. I'll keep you posted! She's gorgeous, right? When I was working with her on what I wanted as far as art goes, I loved the idea of a portrait of a girl with grapes in her hair--a nod to the grapes Betsy's grandma (my great grandma) always had growing in her yard. You can follow the progress of the painting on Victoria's Instagram.
Because the home is older, we wanted to make sure the detailing felt period appropriate but fresh with modern elements, too. Here are pieces that have been ordered and are (fingers crossed!) waiting for us on site.
How to Renovate a Kitchen in 6 days + All the Details | Chris Loves Julia
1. Clock  2. Cabinet Knobs  3. Sconces (the shades will be aged brass cones and not glass as pictured) 4. Semi-Handmade Gray cabinetry  5. White Oak countertops  6. Luxury Vinyl Marble Tile (laid in a herringbone pattern for the floors)  7. White Mosaic Subway tile backsplash  8. Vintage brass bridge faucet  9. Vintage persian rug (similar)  10. Pitcher  11. Green bowls  12. Magnetic Kitchen timer  13. Cheese board  14. Prep bowls  15. Tea towel  16. Striped serving bowl  17. Mug  18. Marble fruit bowl
As for the schedule goes, Chris mapped out exactly what needs to happen each day so we can get it done in time. We'll get in late Friday and start first thing on Saturday.

Saturday, June 4th
demo
• cabinets removed
• soffit removed
• appliances moved out
• faux brick backsplash removed
• radiator capped and removed
shopping
• Lowes
• Ikea
setup
• set up work station
cabinets
• boxes put together
entry construction
• wall cut and appropriate area removed
• top section constructed and header in place
• sheetrock
• edging strip
• joint compound

Sunday, June 6th
electrical (need to bring in an electrician)
• relevant ceiling material removed
• wires run for lights, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, range hood, and disposal
sanding/texturing
• walls sanded
• walls textured
painting
• walls painted
• ceiling painted
exterior door
• flipped around
• caulk
sheetrock
cabinets
• supports hung
• cabinets hung

Monday, June 6th
sink
• in place
countertops
• installed
backsplash
• installed
flooring prep
• vacuum
• glue and nail down 1/4in plywood
flooring
• installed
• threshold added
• rolled
• covered
grout
• backsplash

Tuesday, June 7th
vent hood
• support frame built and hung
faucet
• installed and hooked up
appliances
• installed
• trimmed out if applicable
plumbing
• water line for fridge run
lighting
• installed

Wednesday, June 7th
range hood
• paneled and trimmed
trim
• baseboards
• exterior door
• window
• kitchen entry
cabinets
• doors, drawers and fittings assembled and in place
caulking
flooring
• clean
• grout

Thursday, June 8th
finish up
• all trim
• open shelves
• clean
• styling

Friday, June 9th
photos
video

We're excited to get started and probably unfold a few surprises, and more than anything completely transform a kitchen and give it a new life. We'll be documenting the whole thing on Snapchat live (you can find me @juliamarcum), so if we get off schedule you can keep us in line. Ha! Ready? Set. --

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  1. I bought the exact same IKEA table. LOVE that it extends both ways, and so affordable. Can't go wrong! paired mine with black chairs as well -- it immediately elevates and makes it look so expensive when together the chairs and table were under $500! Great minds... ;)

  2. Whoa, this is a lot of work! Just buying cabinets at Ikea would be a full day job for me. Assembling them the same day - no way. You are much tougher than I!
    I am excited to see how it all turns out. The entire plan looks beautiful... except for those textured walls ;)

  3. This is so funny to me, this is the EXACT inspiration for a hood in the kitchen I'm designing for our build right now. Do you have any advice of how to use this hood as an inspiration for a hood over an island range?

    1. I've never done an over an island hood, but my mom has one in her kitchen! It connects and vents out the ceiling, so I imagine you could just build a similar box to this, except instead of 3 sided--it's 4!

      1. How does your mom like having her range on the island? I'm doing the 2 fridgedaire professionals side by side exactly like yours, but want them in the island to face out while cooking.... however I'm getting mixed reviews, some love it and others don't...

      2. I think that is true of anything. Some people will always love it and some people never will. We always stop and ask ourselves "How are we going to use this" and "what makes sense for our family". If you do a lot of entertaining while cooking and have the space to do so--go for it!

      3. I would love more information on how you build a hood period- we will be figuring out how to build one in our kitchen and I've had a hard time finding any information on DIYing one. Is it as simple as a box?? Really?? I'm skeptical and wish someone was talking more about it.

    1. We're trying to recruit a couple of uncles to help! But Chris and I will do the brunt of the work, however, my mom will be traveling with us to watch our girls during the day and without little ones by our feet--we're feeling invincible!

  4. Maybe you've though about this, but I moved to Pittsburgh from Utah, and was surprised at how much LONGER paint takes to dry in the summer (since we just painted our bedroom this weekend-it's fresh in my mind.) But you'll need more than a full day for any paint to dry if the humidity is high-or lots of fans)

  5. I can't wait to see how this makeover turns out! And I LOVE that faucet - I bought the same one for our new kitchen that we're renovating, but in rose gold. Loveeee it! :)

  6. looks like a beautiful plan, good luck! and i love your sister's painting, i am deffenetly going to follow her instagram

  7. Thank you for asking me to be a part of this project! I love the collaboration, and I'm having such a sweet and peaceful time in my studio with this painting. —Before the demo begins! amiright?! Can't wait to welcome you home, sister. We're gonna have a blast (in between all of the blasts).

  8. This is exciting! Looking forward to the snapchats this weekend. We are getting our frigidaire stove installed this weekend and I cannot wait. We will eventually get the dishwasher and refrigerator as budget permits. Yay!

  9. So excited to see how this makeover turns out!! I live in Pittsburgh and it's fun to think of you doing a makeover here! I loved this post and also thought it would be interesting to see a step by step guide to before you arrived: how you planned out the kitchen, what order you did. I think hearing those details would be helpful to understand your thought process. I always learn so much from you guys! Have a great visit to the burgh!

  10. I'm a Pittsburgh girl and long time reader of you guys, I wish you were having s meet and greet somewhere! Good luck getting everything done on time! Can't wait to see the finished product :-)

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