Thank you, Susan! That's incredibly helpful in what is an incredibly stressful and overwhelming process to get this house cleaned out after 35 years of my parents living here and a lot of old, outdated things to address in a short time. I'm going shopping for pulls for the bathroom today so I'll add this to the list! Thank you so much!!

I totally agree with Susan. Painting cabinets is costly and/or time consuming and will reap no benefit - in fact will cause work down the road. Nicks, scratches, etc so much easier to deal with if cabinets left wood. Direct your energy to cleaning and finding the right tenant. My best to you…. Transitioning a parent to assisted living and dealing with their possessions is a HUGE job - very stressful. Take good care of YOU.

This might be a dumb newbie question but where is the best placement for pulls on these cabinets and drawers? On the border/trim of the cabinets or just inside it? Also, the drawers have a lip on the top and bottom that's easy to grab already. Should pull go in the center of the drawer?

It is most definitely stressful, especially because my father is now 3000 miles away and his Parkinsons has him not really able to process what's going on very well and he still wants to get invoices from all these vendors I'm getting help from and pay the bills himself like he still lives here. It's tough, for sure.

Hello, Meghan, remember to breathe slowly and eat well, you have a lot to do…but it will get done! Make a list, prioritize, let lowest priorities slide if necessary. You probably have higher priorities right now than new hardware. If you don’t have a rental agent or property manager, here are links to help you get top rental income
https://www.realtor.com/advice/rent/8-tips-prepare-a-home-for-rental/

https://www.yourokcpropertymanager.com/getting-a-house-ready-to-rent

Meghan, the kitchen cab doors have picture molding, the molding is not flat like Shaker and doesn’t allow for any knobs - even small ones - or pulls. It would look weird to have them on drawers and not on the doors, but if you must then maybe the finger cup pulls on the only drawers, except nothing on the false panels at sink.

Hi Mary, thank you for this feedback. I kind of wondered how I was going to make pulls work with these. Is there any other way to refresh them in a short amount of time?

Nopulls but I sure would clean those really well they are probably very dirty that is one thing I find often with clients that just want to apint the wood cabinets the cabinets are eally dirty they just don't show it.All thos eyears of greasy air and hands they will look so muchbrighter after a good cleaning.

What Patricia said, and use a cleaner specifically made for wood (sold in major grocery chains). Honestly, Meghan, you have so much to take care of that only you can do, so please seriously consider hiring a professional cleaning crew for a “whole house cleaning”. Consult your tax advisor as to whether the homeowner can write it off as a business expense for the income-producing rental property.

Thank you all for the great feedback and tips, on all the things! I have indeed hired professional cleaners who are coming on Friday this week! Window cleaners, inside and out tomorrow, and painters Tuesday through Thursday. We're doing the kitchen bath and living room in Classic Gray, and if the cabinets clean up nicely I think it will look great in there, even if the cabinet style is a little dated. I am all about hiring people to help me at this point, and luckily have a handyman who my dad has used for a couple decades who is helping me with a lot of the fixes. It's going to take a full month but we're through the worst of it, I think. I have had one couple come through already to look at renting it and their feedback was that they would expect a fully updated kitchen and bath for the price we're asking for rent, which is why I'm trying to do what I can to get the most bang for the buck, because my dad needs that rent money to offset his now $2K higher/month assisted living costs now that they've assessed him upon move in. It's a lot of stuff to deal with, for sure. I've got a property manager lined up who can hopefully start the process of finding applicants after all this work this coming week. Thank you all for the kind words and ideas and support!

Glad to hear you have assembled a team to get you through this. Your dad is fortunate to have you. Take care.

I have no idea about rentals where you live but if really high and all are updated then I guess that will drive what you do. I never rented a space that was perfect even when we paid high rent .

Agree with Patricia.
Don’t let the expectations of one couple drive you into unnecessary expenses.

For the gray paint please think about doing a warm gray, not a cool. gray. The cool grays can look very cold and cool grays might would class with the reddish brown cabinets and the red in the floor tiles. Sorry about your father's need for this big change. Life transitions like these are tough on all, him and his loved ones like you.

I agree regarding the greys.

I am not sure what part of the US you are in, or if you are in another country, but the grey fad is really over, in many places. Particularly for things such as wall color - grey is no longer an automatic ’go to’ / default color. Personally, I would not rent a place with grey walls, if I could in any way possibly avoid it.

It looks like the color of the walls in your Dad’s kitchen is a cream type of color. At this point, warm whites, creams, some of the ’modern’ beiges, etc. are much more current than grey for walls, overall - and would all work better with the wood in his space than the greys.

The only grey I would even consider at all for any space, at this point, and particularly one with wood cabinetry and or wood details would be a greige - such as BM’s Edgecomb Gray.

Most any of the other greys, and for sure any of the “cool” greys - will not only immediately date the apartment - but they will also immediately clash with the wood.

This is the gray we are going with - https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/1548/classic-gray

As someone who has rented out my house, I can assure you the above advice is sound. I will repeat what I agree with:
Don’t listen to any one potential renter about anything. They’re not on your side.
Have a professional realtor help you with pricing and what renovations are needed. Probably a lot less than you think.
Forget hardware on those cabinets. Cleaning them is all that’s needed. After years of being there, the amount of dirt that will probably come off will astound you.
Clean is more important than anything else.
Use warm off white paint, not gray. Besides the fact that it is going out of style, it looks dreary to some people (especially on rainy days). SW Antique is a great white.
Have a rock solid lease. Get a lawyer friend to help you write one up.
Get two months’ rent for security. Other people do NOT take care of your house as you would.
Alert your property manager - and vice versa - to anything odd about your renters. Not all the crazy people are locked up. Nor the grifters.
Let others do as much as you can afford. This is emotional and difficult for you so step away from minutiae you can give to others.
Stick to your price.

Take care of yourself and your dad.

If you’re trying to update, and you’ve already committed to painting all the walls, don’t pick grey. Grey is a sure way to date the home as 20-teens.

Freedomplace1 is right.

I agree, different reason. mood-wise, gray is not a good color for Kit. Use color that stimulates appetite…pale lt green, beige, French vanilla. Consider color of cabs, floor, appliances, natural light.

Sorry about your Dad!! It’s a nice sized kitchen, just a bit dated. I would remove the appliances, teapot, and tiles leaning against the wall, and give the floor and cabs good cleaning. I would not put a lot of money into updating at this point. And I love the idea of fingercup pulls on the drawers.

Yes all the appliances will come off the counter when it's ready for renting. I have to live here in the meantime though! The little tile behind the sink is glued onto the wall and will require replacing sheet rock if we remove it, so for rental purposes I have to leave it for now. We already committed to the paint color and a first coat is on. I like it in the living room so far, but it has a slight green hue in the bathroom. I mostly like it in the kitchen but it depends on the time day and which lights are turned on.

I thought I would share an update with everyone since I'm logging in here again, 2 years later now, after my dad passed away in January and the house is now about to be mine. The wonderful renters we had just left at the end of April and I'm looking around at all the cool projects I'm looking forward to doing over the next year or so. I had a contractor come in and look at the kitchen, which I'll probably tackle over the winter. I'm thinking of removing a few of the upper cabinets, replacing the doors with Shaker doors and keeping the boxes since they're in good shape and just sanding them down and painting them all. I also kind of think the terracotta floor tiles have to go if I'm going to lighten up the space as much as possible. Anyone have any strong thoughts about the right sort of cabinet? I had been thinking Shaker in all white with black pulls (or no pulls) but all white feels kind of boring to me.

Sorry for your loss.

Start a new thread so get help with remodeling.

Sorry your Dad passed! It’s cool that you get to live in the house with so many memories. Maybe start a new thread, and take some pictures so we can see the basic character of the house. Then some pictures of houses and/or rooms you love. And white is not boring at all - in fact, it’s the most versatile color as far as cabinets go.