Julia's Beautiful Kitchen

Julia’s Beautiful Kitchen

Julia Montrond bought her three-family house in Dorchester in 2016. She started off by remodeling the kitchen in the basement unit. Next, it was the second floor unit kitchen, and she turned her attention to her own kitchen in 2019. “We’re always improving!” she says.

“With all the work I’ve been doing in this house, it could have cost me more than $100,000,” Julia says. But with used materials from the Reuse Center at Boston Building Resources, she has found the materials she needs for a lot less money. She purchased the cabinet set for the second-floor kitchen for $400, and scored the tiles for the backsplash for only $15. “I found some tiles that were the same size and style, but different colors. So I said, you know what? I’m going to mix and match.” She had to replace several doors because they were damaged by the previous tenants, but “I found what I needed at Boston Building Resources.”

In Julia’s own kitchen, a wall was removed to make it more open. “Before, there was no counter space and it was so small. I didn’t want to cook. It was depressing! Now, for less money, I have a nice, beautiful, large kitchen.” She supplemented the cabinet set that she bought for $400 with a variety of closely matching single cabinets that she found for $15, $20, or $30 each. “I found a great island with soft-close drawers and many extras. I always wanted a blue and white kitchen, and now I’ve got it!” she says.

The downstairs apartment is vacant now, and Julia is getting ready to make some changes, including switching the placement of the kitchen and the bath. A newly purchased cabinet set is waiting in the wings, ready to install. It was a showroom display set that was never used. “It included the sink too! That kitchen is going to be huge and beautiful.”

Watching her favorite home improvement TV shows, Julia says, “I have seen so many nice cabinets destroyed and put in the trash. It makes me so sad. In my house, most of the things here are reused.”

“When you buy something used, you need to know the space you have, and how it’s going to fit in your place,” Julia says. “Sometimes people say to me, Oh, you’re crazy to buy these things. And I say, Hello! I know how to use them.” She collaborates with her contractor to design the space and put it together.

“I have told a lot of my friends: You can improve your house. You don’t need to stick with your old kitchen from the 1970s or 1960s because you don’t have money.”