Kitchen Makeover in a Cute European Farmhouse Style

This is the original state of the kitchen when we were deciding to take on the project. Looking back now, I think it was really cute back then. There was really nothing wrong.

I just felt like the cabinets were way too much at the time because I was embracing minimalism, and I wanted a lot of open space.

So here we are after we dismantled the cabinets. We were sort of planning out what we were going to do as a backsplash.

We decided on a porcelain tile that looked like marble so instead of doing those big marble slabs, we decided to use these tiles instead, which is a very cost-effective way to do it if you want that marbled look.

Here my husband is dry-fitting the backboard and putting the bracing on there, and this is what it turned out to look like. We had all good intentions of upgrading those shelves eventually. They weren't the top-quality shelves, but they would do.

This is what it was like when we were done and all it needed was a little bit of styling. Styling makes a huge difference in a kitchen.

Everything was now covered, and the crowbar was getting ready to hit this tile.

It took all of maybe 30-40 minutes to get it taken down, so it wasn't too bad. In fact, it was really fun. My husband and I took hammers and went savage.

This is the first side that we hit, so we needed to repair this wall completely, but minor little patches were needed for the most part on other walls. We kept the cement board intact there, so it was not too bad.

In the evening, we had to take a break because we were extremely tired, but we filled in all of the holes. Then, we got the cabinets and tried to fit them in to see where we wanted to place them.

The next morning, we decided to work smarter, not harder. We used these two little tables that happened to be the right height and hoisted them up to make drilling much easier. You can also use five-gallon paint buckets if you happen to have those or get a friend, but we mounted these well.

The next step after we got these up was to tile. I decided to do these very large subway tiles with black grout.

We took them all the way up and put up a little border.

I want to share with you the cutest setup that I got from Amazon for super cheap. It looks like a screw, but it is a flat bar with S-hooks to hang your coffee cups on.

Here I am grouting.

I want to let you know what it looked like before we got started and what it looks like now. It still had that French country sort of feel to it, and we really loved it, but here's where we are today.

I like the extra touches, such as the little bar underneath the cabinet. Plus, changing the decor really gives it a different feel, and a different aesthetic.

I added a little bit more copper, the little corner cabinet was so quaint and so charming. It's set in that little corner there, so cozy.

Again, styling is everything, keeping things very minimal and still eye-catching.

And here's the other part of the room. My husband is so proud of his coffee station. I want to show you all the little bits that he's been collecting. There's more on the other side of the cabinet, but he's so proud of his little collection. He's a really good coffee maker too.

No one ever gets to see this side of my kitchen. That's a little breakfast nook.