... I read a lot of old home blogs and quite a few vintage sewing blogs. Both kinds of blogs like to tally up the costs of their projects. And I'll say it now: I think people lie shamelessly about how much they spent on their projects. I think people hide costs, and massage their numbers so that it looks like they spent almost nothing. I think this sets up totally unrealistic expectations about what projects actually cost. I think it's a kind of false modesty or bragging, and it makes me crazy. So, for my own records, as much as anything else, here's what Robb and I spent on our recent kitchen restoration. First, we spent about a month of our time. I spent two weeks of vacation, scraping and painting cabinets and woodwork. And then when I went back to work, Robb kept going, and my work was mostly limited to the weekends. We spent money in four major areas, removing the old paint, re-painting, adding the new lighting, and replacing damaged hardware.