Kitchen remodel nightmare ... Help!

11 years ago

When I bought the house, the kitchen was rustic. I put in new flooring and the plan was originally to glaze my cabinets with a dark color. My contractor decided after he bid the job that he wanted to charge me $100/day to sand down my cabinets to bare wood before he would glaze them. So I decided to paint them instead (thinking of my budget). He removed the cabinet doors and started the process, but it looked terrible (the paint was thick and you could see lines from the paintbrush). So I fired him (don't judge me lol).

I purchased a new fridge and now the left door doesn't open all the way, so I have made the decision to rip the cabinets out and put new ones in so that I can move the fridge over about a foot. I wanted new countertops anyway. Until all of the quotes came in at $10,000+....

So I'm thinking if I just take the cabinets out and move them around? Maybe put new doors on them? I have no idea where to start. But I'm trying to live in the house while I remodel it and it's an absolute nightmare.

Any ideas would help.

The first 3 pics are of when I bought the house ...
I'll post pics of the living nightmare in the comments.

Featured Answer

marilynellis

11 years ago

It's just not that simple to move cabinets around. They are not furniture pieces. They were customized to fit that space in that order. Some share sides. Some won't have ends. They were assembled in pieces. Seems that you keep trying to save money by taking what you think are easy shortcuts but it ends up a waste of your money. Do it right this time.

1. Hire a professional kitchen designer. They will create the kitchen that fits your needs based on your lifestyle and with the correct layout.
2. Get new kitchen cabinets in the exact style and color you want
3 Expect to pay for what you get. $10,000 was a fair price for refinishing those old cabinets. You got cheap and it wasted a lot of money in the process
4 Understand that a kitchen remodel is the best investment you can make in increasing the value of your home. Not the place to cut corners.

You may be able to re use some your old cabinets in your garage.

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Comments (13)

Cami Bell
Original Author
11 years ago
This is the mess I'm living in.
lopipopi
11 years ago
I'm not seeing how taking the cabinets out and "moving them around" would work. Did you mean swap the fridge and cabinet positions on the fridge wall? I think the fridge would stick out into the walkway too far. You could see if someone could modify the cabinets to the right of the fridge to allow you to slide it over. But that is not a minor job. I would sell or return the big fridge and buy a smaller one. Then finish the painting but get the doors professionally sprayed so that you don't see the brush-strokes. The new flooring looks nice. Don't panic - you will get there.
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Cami Bell
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes that's what I meant, just moving them around on the fridge wall (maybe over to the right a foot). Or even buying one cabinet to make up the left side of the fridge so it's not in the middle of the walkway?
sandradclark
11 years ago
Look at Ikea kitchens. Those can be moved around & I think they are having sales on them now.
jhmarie
11 years ago
You are on a budget and I understand. Hire a carpenter to see if you can remove both the upper and lower cabinet next to the fridge. See if he can build new small upper cabinet to replace the old one and new door or leave it open as a shelf. See if you can hire someone reputable to paint your cabinets. Ask for a recommendation from a local paint store - not big box store. If you are up to it, paint them yourself. Start with Zinsser BIN or Zinsser 123 primer - painters say to use the Zinsser BIN but I got good results with Zinsser 123 - especially since they are already sanded, but take one of your doors to previously mentioned paint store and they will help you decide. It is not hard, but you need to be careful and patient and follow all the steps. Many good tutorials online.
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11 years ago
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jpp221
11 years ago
Seems you are ready to reengineer your house (but on a budget) to fit the fridge.

Just get a new fridge. Paint the cabinets. Problem solved.

PS nothing wrong with "proper" brush marks. There's no reason paint should look like it was beamed into place, magically, molecule-by-molecule, by Scotty on Star Trek.
Lila
11 years ago
If your cabinets are individual boxes you can remove the upper and lower beside the fridge. You probably won't be able to find doors to match but you can have something creative like open wine or spice cabinets built. Since you are painting everything anyway they will look original. I've done this several times and had good results.
Cami Bell
Original Author
11 years ago
Just as an update, I was able to remove the upper and lower 30" cabinets and have a custom butlers pantry made. (It was put in today!). The doors are being made by the same guy who will match them all, and put in crown molding so they are consistent and gives it an "upgraded" look. The granite comes next Friday, and by then the sanding should be done and the painting will finish it off! I'll post a pic of the after.

Just a little motivation for those of you remodeling a kitchen on a budget.... Work with what you have and you can save a LOT of money!
Cami Bell
Original Author
11 years ago
Proof that you CAN remodel your kitchen and change the layout on a budget. :)
Cami Bell
Original Author
11 years ago
The other side :)
bbkieffer
11 years ago
That looks great Cami!