This is our third kitchen remodel where we built everything we could from used, discounted and reclaimed materials. Unlike the last two we did, we were not living in the middle of this one, so it was a lot more enjoyable. It gave us more flexibility to wait and find what we wanted. Beginning to end this took just little over three months of busy weekends, and a number of evenings at home in the shop.

The tongue & groove walls and shiplap ceiling turned out to look better than we expected. It made it really feel like a beach cottage once we painted it gray. We liked it so much we followed up with the same thing in the bathroom we remodeled afterward.

Some of the biggest areas of savings:

• Cabinets and counters for 2,300.
• Walls and ceiling for 300 – from a guy who wanted to get rid of the lumber.
• Really nice floor tile for a dollar a square foot from a warehouse that was closing.
• Farm sink for 30 since the back corner was chipped off. It got covered anyway.

Would we have done anything differently?

Well, only one thing: the sub-floor had a lot of waviness in it. As I was checking it out to figure out what to do before putting down cement board, I realized the granite counter top was maybe a bit heavy. That along with the point load from the headers in the opening made the entry sag. I found there was just a 2×8 joist holding all that up. Now I have a post down there that I have to incorporate into the basement remodel. Not a big deal — but when I went down to the basement to see what was happening, I said to myself, “First day on the job, knucklehead?”