shoestring kitchen reno

[qcinoct]

Our rental house is going to be empty this summer for the first time since we bought it 4+ years ago. It's in desperate need of updating, but we don't have tons of money to pump into it as we're going to be changing out some windows and the sliding doors, and those are top priorities. DH wants to just replace the cabinet doors and paint the cabinet bases. I think it needs new cabinets, a new countertop, and paint on the wood panelling, but we need to keep it inexpensive. Any thoughts? It's in a university neighbourhood, so that's who our tenants have been and will continue to be.

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[LadySusan]

Are the cabinets and counters in good physical shape? The cabinets look like solid wood even if they are old. Vintage modern is kind of trendy right now.

If you try to replace them cheaply, you may end up with low quality cabinets. You might end up with poor quality fasteners and drawer slides that fall apart after a couple years and need to be replaced again.

[namasteak]

If college students are going to be renting it I would not pour a lot of money into things that could get damaged. I think you could save a lot of money and see a HUGE improvement if you cleaned/sanded/refinished the cabinets.

[qcinoct]

the cabinets and counters are in decent shape. I was thinking of Ikea for replacing. I'd rather do this for 2 reasons. I loathe painting cabinets and it's a really wonky setup just to the right of the fridge (no idea why the top cabinets are like that as there's not enough room for a microwave there, but the bottom cabinets prevent the fridge from going over any further).

[AmyRI]

We did a shoestring kitchen reno by buying a cabinet display from Lowe's. They were changing them all out and we got everything for a fraction of the list price. We also have a Builder's Surplus place near us that has quality kitchen cabinets cheap. So if you don't have your heart set on a specific style and are flexible on the number of cabinets you need, those might be options.

[LadySusan]

I would still try to work with the cabinets that you have. Sorry, I know it is not the answer you want to hear.

Can you take some of the cabinets down and put them into a more sensible arrangement?

It looks like the cabinet frames are already white? So maybe you could take the doors off and bring them to a pro? It would probably be cheaper than a new set of Ikea cabinets. And if you go with Ikea, don't go with a foil finish. I had problems with peeling foil around the sink and dishwasher due to moisture.

[qcinoct]

I'll look up some grey cabinet/white wainscoting options. Some of the cabinet frames are white, but not all and they'd have to be repainted anyways.

Great ideas on taking down the wood over the window, and replacing the pendant light, thanks! We'll be replacing the flooring when we change out the sliding door as there was some leakage under the vinyl there anyways.

Newer appliances aren't in the budget as these ones work fine.

[auntie]

I'd caution you about paint.

Paint isn't as hard a finish as a varnish, nor is it as forgiving in terms of wear. I might scrub the wood and used a deep tinted semigloss poly on it. Maybe then add new hardware. If the countertop has been abused, a more forgiving one might be a good option.

I might paint the wainscoting, but know it would likely need doing with each tenant change.

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2015 4:18:10 GMT -5 neeps said:

From what I can tell the counter top looks fine to me. The only reason I'd hesitate to paint the wainscoting white is with how close it runs to the stove, you'll be repainting it between every tenant from now to eternity IMO just to keep it looking clean.

This.

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2015 7:10:56 GMT -5 auntie said:

I'd caution you about paint.

Paint isn't as hard a finish as a varnish, nor is it as forgiving in terms of wear. I might scrub the wood and used a deep tinted semigloss poly on it. Maybe then add new hardware. If the countertop has been abused, a more forgiving one might be a good option.

I might paint the wainscoting, but know it would likely need doing with each tenant change.

I would definitely NOT go with white cabinets, especially in a rental (and a college town). They are hard to keep clean and look dingy and old REALLY fast. I like auntie's suggestion of using a deep tinted poly over them if you want to get them a more updated look and then some updated hardware.

I do think the upper cabinets by the fridge are a bit wonky. I would remove the short cabinet and install a narrow cabinet to make the cabinets even out to meet the fridge. Then maybe look at extending the soffit and repositioning the short cabinets  over the fridge. I'm short so never find over the fridge cabinets useful so would maybe just shorten the soffet to match the cabinet line and not extend over the fridge.

[qcinoct]

reviving this old thread to update you on what we did. It turned out the old upper cabinets were original to the house (1983) but the lowers were replaced with plywood boxes in 2002, although the previous owners maintained the mdf doors. It was a mess once we started getting in there. So, it is white, but it's thermoplastic/easy to clean. And, at least it's more functional than the previous version. All in, it was about $2500 CDN (we did it ourselves).

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[mrsemilys]

Nice job!

[moolarkey]

That really looks nice - great job!

[compassrose]

Nice work! It looks great!

[adhdfashion]

Very nice!

[mrsukyankee]

You did a great job. It looks very nice.

[whitemerlot]

Great improvement!

[pumpkin]

That looks great!
What type of counters did you go with? I'm considering replacing mine at some point.

[pumpkin]

That looks great!
What type of counters did you go with? I'm considering replacing mine at some point.

[qcinoct]

Aug 31, 2015 13:30:07 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

That looks great!
What type of counters did you go with? I'm considering replacing mine at some point.

we just went with laminate. Since it's a student rental, we didn't want to pump a ton of $ into it, and wanted maintenance free. Plus, we were on a short time line as we only had confirmation that we'd have it rented out for  Sept 1 in the end of July, so we ordered everything then.

[LadySusan]

Looks so much more airy and open! What a difference white makes. Thanks for coming back and updating. I love before and afters!