cottage kitchen
Location
Iowa
Year
2024
Room
Kitchen
Budget
$2,500 + countertops
01 · The brief
Big character, small budget
A $2,500 budget (+ the cost of new countertops) was all this client had to spend on her dream of an updated cottage kitchen. I created a mood-board, digital rendering, and game-plan then traveled to Iowa to personally bring together this labor of love with my own two hands. Shout out to my client for allowing me to do so much of the DIY - it saved her a ton of money and gave me an opportunity to level up my skills.
Where we started
02 · The process
Every dollar, stretched
With the budget set, almost everything was done by hand. We stripped the table and the window casing, refinished the cabinets and sprayed the cabinet doors, removed the old countertops, and installed new lights.
Then came the details that give a cottage kitchen its character: a custom peg wall, new wall moulding, backsplash tile cut and set by hand, and a plate rail that cost just $8 to DIY. Each project was chosen because it added a lot of charm for very little money.
Peek into the process
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stripping the table
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custom peg wall
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refinishing cabinets
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stripping window casing
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trimming table skirt
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installing new lights
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$8 diy plate rail
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spraying cabinet doors
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cutting backsplash tile
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finishing corners
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removing countertops
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wall moulding
The finished space
03 · The reveal
A kitchen with a story
Walking into the finished kitchen, it’s hard to believe how much changed on such a small budget. The original cabinets are still there, just refinished and refreshed, and every handmade detail, from the peg wall to the plate rail, adds the kind of cottage character you can’t buy off a shelf. It feels warm, collected and lived-in, exactly the kind of kitchen my client had been dreaming of.
The result
“It’s proof that when design meets trust and flexibility, magic can happen.”
This project proves that beautiful, character-filled kitchens don’t require massive budgets — just thoughtful planning, creative problem-solving, and a willingness to do things differently. Every DIY choice was made with purpose, and every dollar was stretched as far as possible without sacrificing warmth or charm — even in the most budget-conscious renovations.