DIY Superficial Kitchen Remodel

10 years ago

Hello,

I'll try to make
this short. I bought a condo about a week ago, the pictures of the kitchen are
above. It's built in the 40's so the walls are plaster and there may be
asbestos under the floor. The kitchen cabinets seem to be solid wood under
several layers of gross paint. I'd like to do a diy superficial remodel
(appliances will stay in the same location, cabinets will stay in the same
location) with the assistance of my boyfriend. Neither of us have ever done
this before so any suggestions and critiques would be GREATLY appreciated!! I
am pretty tight on cash as I just forked over all my savings when I bought it
and the area I live in, just outside of Washington DC, is very expensive for
labor and materials. My budget is 4-5k.

I am currently
trying to figure out in what order steps should be taken. I have 8 main
"goals":

1. Refinish the
cabinets

2. Replace the vinyl
floor with probably cheap floating vinyl

3. Replace all the
appliances, they are either broken or old

4. Replace the
countertop

5. Install pullout
drawers in all the cabinets

6. Install floating
shelves- in the blank space across from the washer and dryer

7. Somehow conceal
the pipes behind the oven

8. Tile backsplash-
I'm going to add a microwave above the oven and keep and tile the open space on
the wall and probably around to the sink.

I am thinking of
replacing the washer and dryer unit with an all-in-one so i can have more counter
space. I've heard the bad reviews but I can't put the washer and dryer anywhere
else in the apartment so I'm going to prioritize space over a long drying time.

I like the look of wood countertops, white cabinets, stainless
steel, blue and grey accents. I plan on renting my unit out in 3 years or so.
My biggest fear with this project is getting burnt out.

I like the blue color of this tile with the white cabinets

Our work · More Info

I like the lattice doors and general look of this kitchen. I'm not sure where I would buy lattice doors.

Coastal Modern by Tim Clarke · More Info

Thank you for reading!!!!

Mary

Featured Answer

PRO

Patricia Colwell Consulting

10 years ago

I would check out IKea for cabinets I think they would work with the budget a nice sheet vinyl floor and I would use the butcher block counter from Ikea too and if you can scrape up the money a counter depth fridge if you have never used an all in one washer/ dryer I would suggest you read many reviews before taking the plunge.

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Comments (6)

Stacy Lawrence
10 years ago
Ok, you will get burnt out even if you hire pros! We are 7 mos, into a complete Reno and I am done but I fianlly see the light :) maybe start with appliances and ikea wood counters first, then pick one project at a time and slowly proceed. If you tackle it all at once, you may be overwhelmed. Strip, sand and repaint cabinet doors and boxes..maybe replace hardware. Sink and faucet can be done with counters. Good luck!
mek240 thanked Stacy Lawrence
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acm
10 years ago
Honestly, between refinishing the cabinets and retrofitting drawers, I think you'd be better off getting new cabinets from Ikea. You hardly have any, so it won't cost a fortune, and yours are not really that great, so there's a lot of room for improvement from increased utility (corner storage that swings out, so you can reach it!), going taller where you can, and from newer ones that have the features you want. (And you could get a matching one for over your fridge, tray base between range and laundry, actual microwave cabinet for over stove, etc.) I'll bet replacing all the cabinets you have + a couple extra would be under $1500 and worth every penny -- you could probably assemble them yourselves.

If worse comes to worse, you can update the range and laundry, and save the rest for later. (Backsplash should be the very last thing you spend money on.) But I think your budget is plenty for changing saggy to functional and new, without burning yourself out with meritorious but misdirected labor.
mek240 thanked acm
mek240
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Thank you all for the responses!

ACM and Patricia- I will definitely take a second look at ikea cabinets. I don't know why but I assumed they would be like 5k.

Does anyone know what order i should be doing the remodel in? Like some standard 123 steps people usually go in to remodel a kitchen themselves?

I was thinking i should go in this order:

1. Take out broken appliances/all appliances

2. redo the floor with vinyl

3. remove the counter and replace or refinish the cabinets

4. install counter

5. install appliances

6. Do backsplash

7. Paint
coco994
10 years ago
Ok, I'm going to vote against replacing the cabinets and spend more on counters and floors. Check out marmoleum tiles -- there are tons of examples here. You could paint your cabinetsy and put new pulls on them and they'd look great. I'd rather have a beautiful counter and the rest. Even at ikea, they still put a big dent in yr budget!
mek240 thanked coco994
N S
9 years ago
What did you end up doing?