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Emma Shoemaker tells PEOPLE that what sounded like a “crazy” idea at first ultimately solved years of frustration with her home’s awkward layout
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Emma Shoemaker transformed what had been her child’s bedroom into a brand-new kitchen after realizing the home’s original layout no longer worked for her family
By completing most of the renovation herself alongside her husband, the couple estimates they saved about $20,000
The project wasn’t without surprises, including discovering mid-demolition that a wall they planned to remove was actually load-bearing
At first glance, turning your child’s bedroom into a kitchen sounds like the kind of renovation idea most homeowners would dismiss in seconds. But for Emma Shoemaker, the unconventional swap ended up solving years of frustration with a home whose layout had never quite made sense, and the transformation has captivated viewers on Instagram.
“Turning your kid’s room into your kitchen does admittedly sound crazy but it makes so much sense in our home!” Shoemaker, 33, tells PEOPLE. Living in an older house filled with additions and pieced-together renovations from previous owners, she says every room seemed to tell a different story.
Over time, she and her husband realized the home’s floor plan had evolved in ways that no longer worked for modern family life. Their living room had once been a sunroom, the bathroom had clearly been added later, and the room serving as their child’s bedroom had originally been designed as a dining room.
The kitchen, meanwhile, had become the biggest pain point. Tucked into a narrow hallway between a bedroom and the bathroom, it felt cramped, dark, and disconnected from the rest of the house. “My husband and I both hated the original kitchen,” Shoemaker says, recalling that it even had a barn door.
The couple intentionally avoided making major changes when they first moved in, choosing instead to live in the home before deciding what it truly needed. They had even gathered quotes to renovate the existing kitchen before one casual conversation completely changed their plans.
“My husband said, ‘What if we just moved the kitchen over here?’ “ she recalls. “At first we kind of laughed it off but then as we talked through the benefits — the more open layout, the big windows letting in natural light, the ‘new’ bedroom being in the same area as the other bedrooms — we started actually talking about the logistics of making it happen.”
Although moving an entire kitchen might sound intimidating, Shoemaker says years of DIY renovations had quietly prepared them for a project of this scale. Since buying their first home in 2019, the couple had removed walls, reworked bathrooms, and even relocated a laundry room doorway to make space for a Murphy bed.
“This is the first time we’ve completely switched a room,” she says. “Every project has taught us something small like how wiring runs behind walls, how utilities are placed, and those kinds of considerations that let us confidently assess and decide on something as major as moving our entire kitchen.”
Doing as much of the renovation themselves also made a dramatic difference financially. Shoemaker estimates they saved roughly $20,000 by handling demolition, cabinet assembly, tiling, trim work and project management while hiring professionals only for specialized jobs like plumbing, electrical work, asbestos removal and hardwood floor repairs.
The biggest surprise wasn’t moving the plumbing or electrical systems, either. Because their home sits on a raised foundation, relocating utilities proved easier and less expensive than expected.
Instead, the most stressful moment came halfway through demolition. After multiple contractors had assured them the wall separating the future kitchen from the living area wasn’t load-bearing, an asbestos crew uncovered the opposite.
“We did briefly panic,” Shoemaker admits. Fortunately, an inspection revealed the wall was supporting only the ceiling rather than the home’s structural frame, allowing a beam to be installed in just one day. The city permitting process also stretched over several months, though she says that was largely due to a backlog rather than any concerns about the renovation itself.
Looking back now, Shoemaker says she’s surprised by just how smoothly the project unfolded. Having already completed several kitchen renovations, she and her husband knew to set up a temporary cooking station with an air fryer, hot plate and folding table, pack everything into storage bins and rent a dumpster before demolition even began.
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For anyone dreaming of tackling a major renovation, Shoemaker encourages them not to be intimidated by the size of the project. “Taking on a major conversion like this can be pretty overwhelming,” she says. “When you break it down, a big renovation is just a lot of small projects back-to-back.”
She believes the hardest part isn’t necessarily picking up the tools. “The biggest challenge really isn’t DIYing at all,” Shoemaker says. “It’s coordinating sub-contractors, knowing what comes first in the domino effect of their work, and knowing what’s even possible in your ideal design.”
Read the original article on People
