Is a "budget" kitchen reno possible? Pics added #24

[SaraJayne]

If you're going to leave the walls white, I'd either make the cabinets a darker color, or just go with an all-white kitchen. Here is a beautiful white kitchen with dark countertops, or you could go all white.

Those are both beautiful.

But I know I don't want everything white. I need a little color.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Check out Ikea - I have heard great things about their cabinets - well made, low cost, lots of options.

 

[disykat]

I have a similar kitchen with oak cabinets. For our budget redo we upgraded the flooring to a warmer tile pattern high quality linoleum, and put darker counters in. They are still laminate, but have a "granite like" appearance.

Although my kitchen isn't top of the line, just changing the floors and counter to warmer colors made a huge difference. I'm satisfied with the oak now and by changing around the "stuff" I had in my kitchen it doesn't look so dated.

You might be able to get a stainless panel to put on your dishwasher to help unify the appliances. Then you could get a stainless stove at some point. Your stove actually has lots of black (you kind of have a black/stainless mix other than the white top of the stove and hood) - maybe a black stovehood would work?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oh, sorry! I just got what you thought I meant by pantry!

What I mean is a cabinet with pull out shelves, not a closet in the wall.

Something along these lines...

Gotcha! That's an easy fix! (I also added another comment to my pp.)

We redid our kitchen almost two years ago and we stayed within that budget ourselves.

Check out Ikea - I have heard great things about their cabinets - well made, low cost, lots of options.

We have IKEA cabinets and I love them, but if I'd had cabinets as nice as the OP's we would have definitely opted to refinish instead. Especially where she's happy with the basic layout and functionality. Ours were horrible, knotty pine, built in 1964, cut your finger when you reached inside and we changed a lot of the layout. Our new cabinets are a big improvement.

 

[Irin997]

I think your cabinets are great!! If you want a change, that Rustoleum cabinet stuff looks pretty cool but you could get a major update just by taking your existing hardware and spray painting a brushed nickel.

Also, I think if you added a microwave above the stove it would really really really update things. Additionally, a warm colored tile floor and non-white walls would warm things up a lot.

 

[Kellydelly]

You could just reface your cabinets instead of replacing them. I would do that to update them rather than just painting, if you have the funds to upgrade them.

 

[Grimley]

I think you could make a world of difference by keeping the cabinets, but changing the pulls/knobs. I would also change the countertops, add a tile backsplash, new flooring and paint the walls a warm color. Tiling isn't too hard so you could easily do most of the work yourselves except for the new countertops. Depending on which type of tile and countertops you choice, the price could be very reasonable.

I agree with this poster. I bolded the part about the backsplash because you seem to like country. If you're staying with a country look, a glass tile backsplah wouldn't blend very well IMO.

Where would you put a wine fridge? (FYI a wine rack on top of the fridge is a no-no. It's too hot and can punk your wine.)

***How do you get magnets to stick to your SS fridge? I can only get mine to stick on the sides.

 

[leight]

I've been reading this with great interest as I hate my cabinets. While we bought the house new(2 yr old short sale no other occupants lived in it) 3 yrs ago the laminate on the kitchen cabinet doors/drawers around the oven and microwave is peeling in the corners. Hate them but refacing just isn't in the budget yet.

Dh's mom's house had ugly RED cabinets from the 70's (caked with 2 decades of grease and dust) and since they were solid wood we used a product that removed the paint/stain. Then sanded, sanded and sanded them and did a very light stain. They came out gorgeous and were a selling point when the house was on the market. We were renting my childhood home for a while with the intent to buy it from my mom before we moved and wanted to do the same thing but couldn't because the doors were veneers. So when it sold we just updated the countertop, hardware, painted and put new floor to help the sale. I think if your cabinets doors are veneers not solid wood like the cabinet body itself the cheapest option would be to paint. Next would be to reface since it sounds like the cabinet bodies are in great condition. I think yours look in better condition than my mom's so a contrasting paint to a new backsplash, counter, hardware and wall color would make everything look brand new. I like the overall layout of your kitchen. Have you looked into one of those companies that use a granite overlay over the existing countertop? That might also keep costs down as well as keep construction time to a minimum. Good luck and let us know how you proceed!

 

[crjack]

SaraJayne, I hope this link works but if not type a google search for Garden Web Kitchen forum and staining oak cabinets. There are so many other good threads and photos....it's really a great site.

I'm very visual and really liked seeing before and after photos to see how things went together (paint, countertops, backsplash, etc) You may also find some posters in your area who can help you find products or references for anything you decide to outsource.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0609355831889.html

Good luck. Since you are not changing the layout, plumbing, etc the mess and inconvenience really wont be that bad.

 

[Chelley00]

We were recently forced into a kitchen renovation after a grease fire. I can tell you that adding a backsplash totally changed the look and feel of our kitchen. I was amazed at the difference and ended up deciding not to paint or stain the cabinets.

Here's the before Our walls were light grey and the flooring was white

The still unfinished update. We're still missing drawer pulls/knobs (brushed nickle) and new lighting, plus the cabinets to replace the ones damaged in the fire.

 

[SaraJayne]

I agree with this poster. I bolded the part about the backsplash because you seem to like country. If you're staying with a country look, a glass tile backsplah wouldn't blend very well IMO.

Where would you put a wine fridge? (FYI a wine rack on top of the fridge is a no-no. It's too hot and can punk your wine.)

***How do you get magnets to stick to your SS fridge? I can only get mine to stick on the sides.

I was thinking of putting the wine fridge in the bottom of the new pantry, but then I wouldn't have anywhere to put the garbage can.

Most of our wine is kept in our fridge and takes up a lot of space! The bottle in the picture has only been there for a couple days. The wine rack on top of the fridge is mainly decorative.

Our fridge is some type of stainless that isn't true stainless. LOL It's magnetic and you can wash it (ie no prints all over it).

 

[phamy76]

I just redid my entire kitchen, down to the studs and subfloor and only paid $15,000. You can do it!


Color suggestions....... Yellow and blue. You need a medium yellow or a med/light blue to counteract the dark cabinets. Keep a white ceiling.

Cabinets? I would keep them. If the are in good shape, don't paint the. Just change out the hardware.


Countertops.... Must be changed!


Floor.... Yes you need a new floor. Find something that has the blue/yellow speckles in them.

Appliances.... I would trade up the stove to a microwave/stove w/ a hood under the microwave.that would free up some counter space.

 

[MickeyManiac]

My kitchen was very similar to yours. We put in a tile floor using 18" tiles in a brownish redish color. (hard to describe but really pretty). We had a contractor change out our ugly florescent light for recessed lighting and added pendant lights over the "bar" and above the sink and installed under cabinet lighting. We changed our tan laminate counters for Venetian Gold granite. I love, love, love them. We then did an undermount sink and brushed nickel faucet.

This cost us around $5000 and worth every penny. My oak cabinets are in really good shape and the granite we chose goes really well with them. I would love to have changed them but really could not justify the extra expense. We have decided that when we want to change the cabinets will will reface them and order new doors.

 

[SaraJayne]

I just redid my entire kitchen, down to the studs and subfloor and only paid $15,000. You can do it!


Color suggestions....... Yellow and blue. You need a medium yellow or a med/light blue to counteract the dark cabinets. Keep a white ceiling.

Cabinets? I would keep them. If the are in good shape, don't paint the. Just change out the hardware.


Countertops.... Must be changed!


Floor.... Yes you need a new floor. Find something that has the blue/yellow speckles in them.

Appliances.... I would trade up the stove to a microwave/stove w/ a hood under the microwave.that would free up some counter space.

That sounds very pretty, but I can't do yellow and blue. It may be hard to tell from the pics, but our kitchen/dining area opens onto the living room, which is green.

So no blue/yellow kitchen!

 

[phamy76]

That sounds very pretty, but I can't do yellow and blue. It may be hard to tell from the pics, but our kitchen/dining area opens onto the living room, which is green.

So no blue/yellow kitchen!

I missed that the first time, sorry.


You could do a very pretty tan to go with that green. White ceiling.
Mainly tan and white floor with that green in to pull it all together.

I would still suggest a darker brown stone looking countertop.

 

[budbeerlady]

Yes, I think it's possible. If you have a Habitat store near you, they advertise tile inventory all the time. I would imagine they probably carry other items you may need but I have not been to personally check them out before. If you shop around, I think you can get some great deals & do it within your budget. Have fun shopping!

We LOVE our local Habitat restore!!!!! They get tons of new donations all the time, and some old junky stuff. But we pick thru for some great deals.

Our local hardware store stopped carrying cabinet hardware, they dropped the display off full of items. It took a little digging but I was able to get 24 pulls and 12 knobs for $1 each. They are very, very heavy nice brass pulls. Instant kitchen update that I was able to do myself in a couple of hours. (Took me almost as long to find a screw driver as it took to install them.)

I also bought all new nice lever door knobs for $2 each at our restore. They are made by Schlage and I think I picked up 6 of them. Took Dh a afternoon to install but updated our house a little in my mind.

I am on the hunt for tile but I haven't found a large enough quantity yet.

 

[mhelsley]

I'm not going to suggest what color but give you a few options to check out.

Cabinet: If kept and painted you already have good advice with the rustoleum kit. Need new doors google unfinished kitchen cabinet door many companies with good prices and a great place to find stuff and advice to reface you cabinet boxes is Rockler. Now if you want new cabinet i would avoid ikea and box stores do a search for RTA cabinets you have to put them together but most that i've seen are all plywood boxes and solid wood doors. This is considered an upgrade by most cabinet suppliers look closely even top names at the box stores are particle board. Also see if you have a cabinets to go good wood cabinets tiny $$$ but limited design choices but may work for you.

Countertops: If you want laminate fine another option in the little dollar range is to do a search for butcher block also paper countertops are another low priced option. If you want to check out a cool granite tile option try bedrock creation. Other item you can choose but the above and appliances are the big ticket.

It can be done but with a lot of diy sweat. I know as i'm currently doing it and on a much bigger Kitchen/dinning room for only slightly more than your budget and mine is a total gut job.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would be extremely careful about changing out the cabinet doors for new ones. I'm not saying don't do it, just saying be very careful in doing it. One of my friends had it done and it was a disaster. Quality and workmanship were poor and many of them began falling off. After many headaches and non-responses from the company, she chose to rip out all the cabinets and go with new ones, which was a huge expense. SaraJayne, I really think where you have nice, solid cabinets, you should just try painting them first. I think they'd look beautiful and fresh and new.

As for the pp trashing IKEA and "box store" cabinets. LOL. I researched cabinets for over 5 years before we made the move. I came back to IKEA every time. There were so many benefits to them AND if I want to change out my entire cabinetry 10 years from now I could, for under the cost of what I would have spent on something else the first time. However, I won't have to do that because all of their doors and such are interchangable. So if I want to, I can change the whole look of my cabinets with little expense by leaving in the bases and changing out the doors. My cabinets come with a 25yr guarantee and if I need a different door for whatever reason (like when my DH made a measuring mistake drilling for hardware), I can walk into IKEA and have it that day rather than waiting 6 weeks somewhere else. I can also easily convert a cabinet to drawers if I want to anytime easily and inexpensively. Around here kitchen designers working with IKEA are so busy it is hard to get appointments with them. Even oceanfront, expensive homes here are using them, and many of the makeovers you see on HGTV and DIY networks use them, too. For anyone buying, don't pass them over based on some of the ignorant comments you hear from people who don't really know much about them. They are well worth a look, even if you ultimately choose to go with something else. I had solid wood cabinets for over 20 yrs and they were junk. I much prefer my IKEA cabinets and all the fun accessories they come with.

 

[SaraJayne]

I don't think I would change out the cabinets. They are solid wood and in great shape.

I may consider adding a piece of beadboard over the existing door and new hardware and MAYBE painting (which DH is leaning towards) but I'd probably end up doing all the work...and we have A LOT of cabinets. LOL

 

[TnTWalter]

heres a link to my b4 after cabs

wanted to also suggest turning one of your cabs into trash pullout so you can put wine fridge in pantry...that's what we did.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0109393919706.html