Limited budget: replace countertops or refinish the floors?
We are in the process of buying a home in the Pacific Northwest. The house was built in the 90s, is an open concept and has had six different owners, each of whom has left their design mark. Unfortunately, there are many different woods with different stains. And many different design styles. I want to tie everything together without going broke.
Here's the complete rundown:
- The entry door is a textured fiberglass that looks & feels like wood. The oval insert in the door and sidelights all have brass caming. I think this a Victoria style door? On the outside, the door has standard brickmold painted white. The wide cedar trim around the windows was also painted white but as it's much wider the entry door look smaller. Inside, the casing is hemlock (or fir?) in a Craftsman style. Replacing the door is already budgeted. My plan is to replace with the same size, but double doors with large rectangular frosted glass inserts.
- The interior doors are hollow core 6 panel doors. They are the original doors, with brass door handles/hinges. Like the entry door, all the door casings are in the Craftsman style, but they are painted white. Replacing all the interior doors is not currently in our budget. We will replace the handles & hinges.
- Red oak floors are throughout most of the house, and they are the original 2.25". They are discolored in many areas from sun exposure and pristine in other areas. They're yellowed in some places, orange in other areas, the original light natural stain in other locations and dirt has ground into the grain of the planks going into the kitchen.
- I believe the kitchen was redone in the early 2000s and it now has maple cabinets in a cherry stain. They are a traditional style with pillow edges and "beach themed" pewter knobs. After all the cabinets are thoroughly cleaned, I will replace the knobs with something that is quieter. Brown Tuscan tiles were used for the backsplash and the countertops are made from dark brown granite tiles.
- The casings around the windows in the LR/DR also appear to be hemlock/fir. In the rest of the house, the door casings are all Craftsman style and painted white. The exceptions are in the bathrooms & laundry, as they have the narrow original trim. We will replace those door casings to match the rest of the house.
- There's a beautiful sunroom next to the DR and the wood is natural stained pine. It's beginning to yellow. The beam is a different wood and at least (for now) that stain is the same color. The door & window casings are pine/fir and the flooring is 12" slate-look porcelain.
- Looking to the outside from the DR/LR, the soffits are visible. They are in the same pine as the sunroom. The deck is faded cedar. It will be power washed and stained.
- In the bathrooms, the original vanities are still in place, along with the original sheet vinyl. The master bath also has red oak wainscotting.
- The laundry room has the same original oak cabinetry. In this room, though, the cabinets have cathedral doors.
Phew! That's a lot of different woods and a lot of different design styles. We will be completely redoing the bathroom and laundry room and we have already been budgeted for them. I want to avoid shaker style cabinet doors for the vanities/laundry because they would introduce another design element.
While we would love to start from scratch in the kitchen, right now we cannot afford to replace the cabinets. I have up to $9K allocated for the kitchen, so I was thinking that I could update the kitchen by replacing the granite tiles with a soft white, single-level quartz ($7K-$8K), remove the Tuscan backsplash and replace it with something more timeless. But I am worried it would just be too obvious that the new countertops are sitting on old cabinets. And look even more out of place and dated. Today I read another person's dilemma who also had cherry cabinets and black granite. She was advised to address the floors first and the granite might not look as bad.
Since we don't have the budget to replace the floors ($30K+), perhaps we could have them refinished in a different stain? I'd love a lighter stain and there are some new water-based stain that would work. Or at least re-stained the floors in a color that would complement the cabinets instead of competing with them.
I would tear out and replace the backsplash myself and fill in the entire space from countertop to the upper cabinets.
So, knowing we have up to $9K that can be allocated to either the countertops OR refinishing the floors, what are your recommendation(s)?
Comments (22)
2 years ago- 2 years ago
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoCongratulations on your new home.
You can count the blessings. Or you can count the problems (most of the problems you have stated, imo, don’t exist. But it is all perceptual and relative . And of course this is not my house!)
But for my take on it:
The granite is not a problem. Neither are the cabinets. I would remove the backsplash and just paint the wall area in an eggshell finish- which makes it cleanable/ wipeable - and is a simple, streamlined look and does not visually compete with the granite.
Below is a rough visual. Just my scribble, but hopefully you get the general idea.
I would absolutely change the door and bring in another light. Number 1 priority.
I would also change all the light fixtures in this bathroom. And maybe new faucets. That is all I would do.
The wood work in this room as well as the view is stunning. I really don’t know what the problem is in this room.
And the wood floors in the adjoining room look great, too, from what I can see.
2 years ago- 2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
@freedomplace1, I like your idea about just removing the backsplash, repairing/retexturing the drywall and painting the area.
Yes, there are eight of those lights in the house, all different sizes, shapes and colors. Below is what I used in our last home. It's a great light and is dimmable.
The woodwork in the bathrooms/laundry is not in good shape. It's stained, there's some water damage and the finish has worn off in places. At the very least it would have to be sanded and refinished. The laminate countertops are pink and past their prime. I cut & replaced laminate myself in another house and it's not that hard to do. The sink is well, "interesting" and I'd want to put in something else.
And the sunroom is stunning. That's what sold us on the house.
These are the doors
- 2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
2 years ago- 2 years ago
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- 2 years ago
@freedomplace1, I'm thinking than rather than remove the backsplash tile and make a mess of the drywall, I could sand, prime & paint over it.
- 2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
@ci_lantro, the owner of the floor refinishing company came to the new house last week and brought four samples of the light-colored stains he has used on red oak. I've excluded the two outer ones because they are too light. The other two will blend well with the cabinets. The floors will be done at the end of the month. I'll post some pics of how they look.
2 years ago- 2 years ago
- 2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
Hi everyone. We had the floors refinished and I was able to get in today to see them. They are absolutely beautiful. I used to hate red oak and now realize that I had only ever seen a yellowed/orangey oak. These floors are light and bright. We opted for a Pallman water-based product called Pall-X Naturseal. It has a raw wood look in a matte finish.
kandrewspa