Like so many people this past year, Kelly Jo moved back to her hometown to be closer to family. A single parent to a young son, she took it a step further by buying her grandparents’ ranch-style house, which was her mother’s childhood home. The house, in Pittsburgh, held sweet memories, but she wasn’t attached in the least to the actual interiors. Dark and dated, with a small kitchen, it was in dire need of a refresh.
Kelly Jo’s idea was to move the tiny kitchen into the roomy and light-filled sunroom, an addition that her grandparents had put in decades after the home was constructed. Her remodeling budget of $80,000 was not a small sum but challenging nonetheless when you factor in the other projects (turning the old kitchen into a home office, opening up the entryway, furnishing the kitchen, dining, and living areas) that would have to be undertaken in order to transform the interiors into a bright, warm, minimalist space.
Enter Leanne and Steve Ford. In episode 4 of Home Again with the Fords, a new HGTV series that follows the sister-brother team as they help redesign the homes of people moving back to their hometown of Pittsburgh, Kelly Jo gets her dream kitchen, thanks to clever hacks and smart, budget-minded decisions.
Let’s take a tour.
Photography by Erin Kelly, courtesy of Leanne Ford Interiors. (Construction by Williamson Construction.)
![the new spacious kitchen in the home\2\17;s addition, which was formerly 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-1-733x916.jpg)
![leanne designed the statement pendant light and, in a stroke of genius, had it 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-5-733x489.jpg)
![using ikea base cabinets helped keep costs down. leanne chose semihandmade fron 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-2-733x916.jpg)
![the wide plank tecwood floors from mohawk have a bleached wood look. the faucet 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-6-733x489.jpg)
![handmade sconces by bass & bennett flank the ge cafe appliances stove, 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-3-733x916.jpg)
![leanne calls the vibe she was going for \2\20;desert ranch.\2\2\1; 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/semihandmade-ikea-kitchen-leanne-ford-4-733x916.jpg)
For more kitchens with Ikea base cabinets, see:
- Kitchen of the Week: Base Cabinets by Ikea, Chic and Colorful Doors by Reform
- Kitchen of the Week: Ikea Meets Semihandmade in a Shell Pink Beach House Kitchen
- In Praise of Ikea: 20 Ikea Kitchens from the Remodelista Archives
- Ikea Kitchen Upgrade: 11 Custom Cabinet Companies for the Ultimate Kitchen Hack
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