Our home, a 1978 island bungalow (on Sanibel, Island, Florida) was an absolutely beautiful house when we purchased it in October 2020. But, it was just that. A beautiful house.

And, in come the Braden’s, ready to turn the HOUSE into a HOME! It needed some TLC for sure, and our purchase price reflected that. We would never have been able to afford it if it had been in perfect condition.

We are quickly making improvements to many of the spaces in the house, starting with the kitchen and foyer.

There are still some things I want to do with the kitchen space (it desperately needs a new pantry door, baseboards, tiled backsplash and we’ll probably also add a new faucet), but our love of DIY, Amazon shopping and having super knowledgeable and supportive Realtors helped us get off to a good start.

The Space Before…

We liked the cabinets and the set up of the kitchen, but it needed some TLC.

Sanibel Island Bungalow Kitchen Cabinet Makeover + Budget Friendly Tips & TricksHome design, execution and photography by Carolyn J. Braden and Thomas BradenPin me! carolynsbloomingcreations.com — Sanibel Island Bungalow Kitchen Cabinet Makeover + Budget Friendly Tips & Tricks
Home design, execution and photography by Carolyn J. Braden and Thomas Braden
Pin me! carolynsbloomingcreations.com

We didn’t care for the pendant lights (and some were broken), the cabinet handles caught on our pants pockets constantly, and the refrigerator was on its last legs (and was too large for the space…it was not a counter-depth size, but should have been for this space).

We assume the previous owner mopped A LOT because the baseboards were not in good shape and falling off. The previous owner had taped them back on. We have not replaced them yet, but we will be very soon!

The absolute worst part of the kitchen was the cabinet doors. The cabinets are KraftMaid and were in excellent shape EXCEPT for the doors. The doors are thermofoil (like a laminate) and it was coming off the wood. Basically, the 10 year old product was failing. The previous owner left us the original receipts for when they had the kitchen renovated, so that’s how we knew how old they were.

You can see here how it’s was peeling off the wood. It also was cracking in some areas especially on the frequently used cabinet that holds the garbage cans.

We thought it was an awful product flaw, but we decided the house was still an amazing buy and put in an offer. We tracked down KraftMaid (now owned by AC Products or acpi who purchased Masco in 2020) and told them about the product failure. They told us the warranty was only for the previous owner so they would have to deal with trying to get them replaced.

In comes the previous owner’s realtor, the amazing Julie Oberlin. The product failure really bothered her and she took over trying to get the cabinet doors replaced for us prior to the sale of the home.

She worked diligently and it paid off. Days before we closed on the house, KraftMaid confirmed the product did in fact fail and they confirmed they would replace the doors. They no longer made this style cabinet (we assume its because they failed so poorly) so they actually had to manufacture all new doors just for us.

When they finally arrived (it took about two months) my husband unscrewed each cabinet door, removed and replaced them with a new one. It took him about a week (replacing them in his spare time).

We put painters tape on them as temporary handles until we decided on new ones. We ended up choosing some black matte handles to go with the pendant lights we chose. We also liked them because they were sleek and modern, like the style of cabinet.

After

While we know the cabinet doors could fail again, we know they should last at least a few years or until we decide to do a total kitchen renovation.

Buying Guide:

Here’s a list of all our finds:

The marble pastry board, black matte handles and “Pantry” sign is from Amazon. We also hung the same pantry sign in our previous home in our “stairwell” pantry.
The clean/dirty sign for the dishwasher is from Target.
The rug is a Ruggable in the “Nani” design. If you don’t know what a Ruggable rug is, you’ve got to check them out. If you use my link (click here or visit http://rwrd.io/13v6hud?c), you will get 15% off! We have these rugs throughout our home because they are washable. The design layer peels off the rug pad and you can throw it in the washing machine when dirty, which is great for our household full of pets! I’ve washed ours numerous times and they still look amazing.
We bought a counter-depth GE refrigerator from Lowes.
We had the mini blinds custom made to fit our shorter kitchen window. We never thought custom blinds were affordable, but once again, Lowes came through. They made them to fit our window perfectly and sent them to us for free for about $30. WORTH IT!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING NEW WINDOWS AND DOORS CAROLYN BRADEN.gif

We also had Lowes install all new white windows and doors which are IMPACT RESISTANT. No, this isn’t a sponsored post. We just wrote this up for anyone interested.

Here are some of our tips for anyone buying any type of new windows for their home:

Impact resistant windows are great to have in our south Florida (USA) area, which is prone to hurricanes. These windows will also make our insurance 50% lower. Not all homes need this type of window BUT we do recommend you research the best type of window for they type of environment you live in.
We went with Lowes (after having numerous estimates…one of which did a 4 hour sales pitch to us which was the worst experience!) because they were easy to work with. Some window company sales people tried to sell windows to us the way shady car dealers sell cars. They’d come in with a high price, then when we said no, they magically came down in price. Shameful.
We went with Lowes because they also allowed us to get Eastern Architectural Systems windows (which we wanted instead of PGT, which is a company that we have found is very hard to get in contact with and does not have very good customer service). We are incredibly happy with EAS and their factory in located in our area too (Fort Myers) so we are supporting local workers too!
We chose a gray-ish tint, which will help with all the sun and heat that come along with Florida living.
One window showed a sign of possible failure (we inspected them with the installer on their last day and found super tiny beads inside the pane…we notice and speak up about everything which is a great thing for anyone to do when it comes to any type of renovation, etc!) so the installer took a photo and had a new window ordered for us the same day.
The install company (Home Install Services, Inc., contracted via Lowes) did a great job too. We were home when they did it and we watched them every step of the way (we love to learn!). It was a fascinating process. They installed 22 windows and our front door (stainless steel screws and all great materials were used) on our vinyl sided house in three days. They cleaned throughout the process, and hauled away the old windows.
Lowes also happened to have the best price. They currently offer financing too. Love it.
Windows can be a huge investment of money and time, so whoever you purchase them through, make sure you’ve done your due diligence before making a decision. Ask a lot of questions, read online articles and reviews and watch videos. Watching one video about impact resistant windows made us concerned about the EMS ever being able to get into our home if needed (they are VERY resistant!). We asked lots of questions and always received great answers.

Helpful Tips:

I love how it all turned out. While we still aren’t done, we are closer. A very helpful tip for putting together any space is ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO MEASUREMENTS before buying. We measured for the pastry board, the handles, the blinds, the pantry sign, the pendant lights and the window people did lots of measurements.
I also read lots of reviews. If there are reviews with pictures, this is even more helpful.
We originally ordered gold handles for the cabinets, but after receiving them, we knew they weren’t right. We sent them back to Amazon, and ordered the black matte ones, which were perfect. Don’t be afraid to order something and then return it if it’s not right.
Organize your kitchen the way that works for you and your family. We always had papers and pens all over our counter. I ordered a hanging basket and cookbook holder to hold our weekly schedule and miscellaneous kitchen clutter. See my “kitchen office station” below.

The products I purchased on Amazon:

Our Kitchen Cabinet Handles

LICTOP 15cm/5.9" Black Aluminum Home Kitchen Cabinets Drawers Collection Long Center Finger Edge Pull Tab Handle(6Pcs)

Shenzhenshilixiangmaoyiyouxiangongsi

Buy on Amazon

By the way, this is not a sponsored post. I am not paid by Amazon to write this article. I chose all decor items based on my true love of their awesome shopping platform. If you buy any of the items I list on my site via my links, I will earn a small percentage of sales via their affiliate program (which, as of 2021, I have earned $0.00 from this program) BUT they did not pay me nor give me any discounts through my writing of this post. I just want to be transparent about this. :)

I love a good deal as well, which Amazon usually has lots of these. And, when you do it all yourself instead of hiring a designer, you can save even more money.