DIY Range Hood: Kitchen Makeover

Alright!! The annoying peninsula is GONE and extra storage is installed. You can see that whole process here in this blog post. Next up, I’m building a RANGE HOOD!

To remove my microwave, I had to stop and watch a YouTube video on how to remove a microwave…YouTube to the rescue!

I bought a little countertop microwave that will live in another cabinet that I’ll be turning into an appliance garage…like this!

I removed the ceiling trim from all of the cabinetry. Then, I had to remove the cabinet that sat above the microwave. I tried to just simply unscrew and remove the cabinet…then the cabinet next to it just started falling off the wall WITH the other cabinet and it was FULL of things. Good thing our nanny was here to help me out😂

Framing

To start on the actual hood, I had to build a frame that went all the way to the ceiling with 2×4’s. It needed to sit snug to the vent. I installed the vent and secured it.

Vent Installation

I ran into a little issue here – the duct hole now sat right behind the hood – but I didn’t want to bring the hood any lower. So, I looked into this extensively and saw tons of people recommend using a periscope. I had to make it a bit shorter than it came, but it totally worked and there was no air leakage!

Range Hood Sleeve & Trim

Next, I installed a few scrap pieces of wood so the framing would sit flush to the vent. Then in the workshop, I started on the range hood sleeve! I had a good amount of scrap plywood leftover from other projects, so I just used that. I cut the plywood down to size with my table saw, then attached it to my frame with my brad nailer.

Then, I used trim scraps from my workshop to install along the perimeter.

Look at this before and after!

I know it’s just a box essentially…but seeing my visions come to live is so exhilarating! Just imagine how pretty this will be with triple crown moulding and all painted!!! What an upgrade. It already makes the ceiling feel so much taller.