Affordable Modern Kitchen Entry: Modern Bungalow
Here is our first entry for the Affordable Modern Kitchen Contest. Check out the sweet DIY concrete countertops, and read about how they got a Sub Zero refrigerator for $640.
We purchased this all original 1946 1190sq ft bungalow in late 05′ and knew that the kitchen needed to be completed quick… Seeing as we are both kind of broke we planned to get the most design for the dollar… We gutted the kitchen and removed one load bearing wall which opened the space up a bunch. Then we ripped up the carpet to find the original white oak flooring. We re-finished the floors in a dark stain and installed some cheap white IKEA cabinets. After the cabinets where installed we made some concrete counters in our basement (yes we took a mixer down there) and I spend about 15 hours polishing them… After that we found a great sub zero 535 for $600 on craigslist but it had a white front panel. I ended up having a sheet of brushed stainless cut locally and I installed it for new look at a cost of $40.00… In the end it was as modern as we could make our 1946 bungalow and still fit with the rest of our home.
Aprox total cost: $4,000
More pictures, including before and after shots after the jump.
The before shot offers some good perspective.
Sweet frig for $640.
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7 Responses to “Affordable Modern Kitchen Entry: Modern Bungalow”
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i’m still considering concrete as an alternative to my desired corian. i read that concrete can hold more bacteria and such, though. what do you use to clean it?
also, where can one get stainless steel cut? i was thinking of making countertops that way.
It’s beautiful, and I really admire your resourcefulness. May I ask how your $4000.00 budget was broken-down?
The concrete was pretty cheap at a total cost of around $450 including $200 in the 5″ stone polishing wheel set (50-5000 grit)… The forms cost very little, but took me around 8-10 hours to build them… My wife and I rented a mixer from Home D and carried it to the basement as it was January and our only option was to pour indoor… We used 5000 PSI bag concrete with an anti-microbial fiber added along with gray dye… Below are the est. prices that I paid for junk…
Counters $450.00
Sub Z $640.00
Refinish floor $200.00
Ikea cabinets $2000.00
Micro lam beam’s to remove wall $100.00
Kitchen aid dishwasher open box item $300.00
Subway back splash $100.00
Electrical $75.00
Sink and Faucet $150.00
Stove $0.00
Drywall $100.00
Paint $50.00
Total $4165.00
See more before and after here…
http://flickr.com/photos/larryparker/sets/
I’ve heard that concrete countertops are expensive to have done and extremely difficult to do yourself. I’d love to know your DIY process in detail. Your countertops look beautiful.
(An architect I’m working with said he did his own concrete countertops and that he’d never do it again – a real bear he said).
and how exactly did you score that fridge so cheap?
I fridge is circa 90’s but looks brand new…