Kitchen Design on a Budget

The couple painted the existing upper cabinets in White Dove from Benjamin Moore and opted for Privilege Green from Sherwin-Williams for the lower cabinets and the island. “I was going to do all white cabinets,” Mandy says. But as a mom to two little boys, “all white just didn’t seem exactly practical for where we are, so I decided to bring in color on the bottom,” she explains. They topped the cabinets and island with beechwood countertops from IKEA and used a stain and sealer to customize the pieces.

“Joel almost didn’t want to buy the house!” Mandy admits. But they were ultimately able to see past the kitchen’s cosmetic flaws, she says, as the cottage’s living areas were the size they were looking for. The now-cottage-style kitchen boasts dozens of resourceful finds the Busbys carefully curated to create a cohesive space that Mandy describes as a fresh take on the traditional cottage.

Like many young families, the Busbys had to work within a limited budget. They removed the old granite countertop in one piece and sold it, along with the existing appliances, which gave them a little extra cash for a handful of do-it-yourself projects. “If you could do it yourself, we did it,” Mandy says of the stunning transformation. “The only thing we paid for someone to do was put in a gas line for the stove. Everything else we did ourselves.”

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