Kitchen Remodel?

[tfoley427]

Has anyone ever done a kitchen remodel or spruce up for less than $2000? Right now the kitchen we have is so ugly. The floor is a yellow pattern from the 60's. The counter tops are conveniently a yellow as well. Then we have these cabinets that are very solid, but they look like something out of the church. They have this veneer or laminant all over them, so I don't think I can sand and paint them. I'm thinking maybe leave the ugly cabinets, and do a new laminant counter top, and maybe a tile or wood floor in there? Didn't know if anyone has done any kitchen remodel or sprucing for an affordable price tag.

 

[Marionnette]

Has anyone ever done a kitchen remodel or spruce up for less than $2000? Right now the kitchen we have is so ugly. The floor is a yellow pattern from the 60's. The counter tops are conveniently a yellow as well. Then we have these cabinets that are very solid, but they look like something out of the church. They have this veneer or laminant all over them, so I don't think I can sand and paint them. I'm thinking maybe leave the ugly cabinets, and do a new laminant counter top, and maybe a tile or wood floor in there? Didn't know if anyone has done any kitchen remodel or sprucing for an affordable price tag.

Several factors involved. How big is the kitchen? How much work can you do yourself? Are you willing to use after-market materials to do the job? Or clearance/open box materials? Will you be moving cabinets? Taking out walls? Redoing the electric? One thing I do know is that if you expect it to cost $2K then you need to budget for $4K. You dont know what you may run into when you lift the old tile or remove the old countertops.

 

[tfoley427]

great advice. thank you.

we are going to be using all the same appliances, putting them all back where they oringinally were so we dont' have to do any plumbing or electrical. i plan on doing all of the work with my friend and father in law so we won't have to sub anything out. kitchen is about 15x15.

 

[3boymthr]

Check around and make sure to hit the clearance centers. You may find it is cheaper or the same cost to do the counter out of a better product. My parents just re-did their kitchen (Actually they tore down half their house removing the foundation and everything - and my dad is doing all the work himself). They got counters really cheap. My mother found some 12x12marble tiles from the clearance center for $1.50/tile. Their cost for the counters was only $450 including the base materials and the grout. There are 12 feet of counters and a center island that is 6 ft long Your cost will vary greatly depending upon the amount of countertop you have but I thought that was a really good price especially for such a durable material.

They also got a new sink and faucets at the clearance center. They paid less than $100 for both marked down from over $500. My dad also put in a pantry which has a standard room door. He picked up the door for the pantry at the clearance center - it's solid cherry recessed panels and it only cost $30 so there are definitely some great bargains to be had if you are patient and really look around. I have to say despite the bargain prices they paid it all looks really beautiful and is really high quality.

 

[Anthony1971]

IMO
I would say wait!!!!
you can have your Kitchen redone for under 10,000 if you only replace not move things..... (that is using plywood cabintes)
I did a few things to my kitchen then decided to have the whole thing redone a few years later so what I put into it was a waste...
start a bank account and save for it

 

[crjack]

There is a great website called Gardenweb that has a home forum area, specifically by category. We used the kitchen forum a great deal and it was wonderful a few years ago.

Lots of good info for a DIY project and photo galleries as well. Dont get discouraged....some of the kitchens are $100K but others are total budget DIY's.

 

[csharpwv]

It all depends on your style - or what you'd be comfortable with in the meantime.

A friend of mine removed all the cabinet doors - painted the frames and put in 'cabinet curtains'! You could do that very inexpensively - she did her entire kitchen for around $500

You could do that on the top and the bottom - or redo the bottom doors with plywood - use a router around the edges and use cheap photo frames (with the glass out) or picture frame moulding to do either a contemporary look or a country look very easily.

As far as your floor - what is under the current flooring? If it's pine subflooring you would could always take up what is there and paint the wood floors - or if they are in good contition, sand them down and stain them. I've even seen very artistic faux 'rugs' painted on bare pine floors.

Replacing or painting your current cabinet hardware can really change things!

Also - a really cool light fixture could change the look of things! There are SO MANY different types of light fixtures out there now, the sky is the limit!

Paint is cheap!

 

[scrapbookmommy]

We have redone ours completely (with the exception of new appliances) for under $3,000. My advantage that most people don't have is that my dad builds furniture and cabinets as a hobby. We where out the price of the raw wood that he sanded and plained for my custom built solid oak cabinets. That is the only way I could ever afford new cabinets. So I know that doesn't help you much but one thing we did that might give you an idea was to put in granite tile countertops. I really really wanted granite but just couldn't afford solid slab. We researched the granite tile it was actually less expensive then a good laminate. One of the other things that has saved us so much money is we have done everything ourselves. We are do it yourselfers and never hire someone else to do something we are capable of doing.

 

[TnTWalter]

I lived on gardenweb during my modest remodel. We spent just over $10k and I couldn't be happier.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/

I went with a high end range and granite countertops so I could have easily been closer to $5k.

We had already put in wood floors many years ago and kept the cabinets. They were an ugly oak but I learned about gel staining on gardenweb and saved a ton and it was relatively easy though time consuming. Doesn't sound like you could stain your cabinets. But people on that board have done amazing things so maybe you could post a question with picture and others will help.

There's even a granite looking laminate that I discovered on the board after the fact and I may have considered if I needed to spend less. It looks great.
http://formica180fx.com/

I don't think I ever remembered to post my completed kitchen but I posted it in phases [when I stained cabinets, installed granite, etc.]. I might have to do that one of these days.

It's been done for about a year and I LOVE it.

TRISH

 

[taythegibs]

like said above depending on what you are working with and your abilities you can get it done for 2k or less but you still might want to save up.
we redid my grandmother's kitchen on a very tight budget. We were able to get a couple of boxes of 4x4 tiles for $30 that we used for the back-splash all around. we then found some really nice laminate for the floor (about 8 yards on the end of the roll) on cl that we traded a few items for so in essence it was free. The way the kitchen was built there was a section of drywall at the top just wide enough for a border so we found some and also some matching wallpaper for a couple of bucks a roll at a "surplus" building supplies store where we also got the grout and stuff. all in all we spent less than $500 for floors, the walls, and new handles & hinges for the cabinets and another couple hundred for the counter top. we did the install ourselves so we saved big $$$ there but luckily the cabinets were in good shape. What im trying to get at is if you buy clearance, search cl, and take your time you could indeed have a remodel for under 2k

 

[Debbie7452]

We updated our kitchen for resale reasons. It had been on the market for over a year. We spent less than 2K. We changed the solid white laminate for the new stone look textured laminate and put in a modern travertine look backsplash, light fixture, and new cabinet hardware. We worked with tradesman friends and I got the cabinet harware from the clearance bin at Home Depot. I had to visit a lot of Home Depots to collect enough!

We went from early 90's Country to modern and finally sold the house. That kitchen was really dragging us doooowwwn. In my first remodel (to get to the white) I had a YELLOW kitchen. I can sympathize. I hated it sooo much.

Now the floors are going to be a problem with that budget. Floors are hard to do cheap unless you are real handy.

 

[PrincessMom4]

I am not sure if they have this in your country. We are in Canada and have a great store called Ikea (not sure where you are located-assuming the USA but there are 50 states). For us to do a 10x10 space ("L" shaped Kitchen) plus a new sink and faucet plus a new dishwasher. Total cost was around $1700CAD

 

[ceecee]

Maybe do a vinyl floor with a remenant and wait on tile, tile is expensive unless you can lay it yourself. If you can put a laminate counter that won't cost as much as the higher end products, if you plan on staying in that house for a while. I would put the $3000 into a savings and save more to do it right. We have a cabinet store near us that sells seconds for a lot less, sometimes if you have a smaller kitchen you can find everything you need.

 

[roscoepc1]

Look for a Habitat for Humanity Re-store in your area too....oh, and if you use a GOOD quality primer, you CAN paint veneer....think Benjamin Moore, etc....

There are also counter resurfacing products that you paint on that are supposed to be really awesome. I can't think of the name of them, but if you ask at any decent hardware type store, they should know...

Look for flooring sales, and voila! Inexpensive remodel.

 

[mousehouselover]

I've been looking for a way to redo my kitchen on a tight budget. Thanks for all the ideas everyone has posted. We have older cabinets that were showing some wear but now the area under the sind is falling apart and the counter is starting to sag. (DH thought it was a good idea to use a professional strength declogging agent on our stopped up sink and it backed up all over; eating away at the glue holding the MDF together....) I have been debating getting under the sink and putting in supports to keep the counter from totally failing and saving up for the whole room but if we can get some real bargians, we may just do everything now.

Keep the suggestioins coming!!

 

[dfchelbay]

Has anyone ever done a kitchen remodel or spruce up for less than $2000? Right now the kitchen we have is so ugly. The floor is a yellow pattern from the 60's. The counter tops are conveniently a yellow as well. Then we have these cabinets that are very solid, but they look like something out of the church. They have this veneer or laminant all over them, so I don't think I can sand and paint them. I'm thinking maybe leave the ugly cabinets, and do a new laminant counter top, and maybe a tile or wood floor in there? Didn't know if anyone has done any kitchen remodel or sprucing for an affordable price tag.

Take pictures of your kitchen and make yourself a binder. You'll will take your binder and photos to Home Dept and Lowes, and everywhere else you go to get products.. The floor sounds like linoleum, you can go to the store and find all sorts of flooring to go over it. They have some nice linoleum squares, 12x12 and like 16 x 16, that you can peel and stick right over the top of it. They run about a dollar a square, if you buy them by the case, probably less. You'll need to measure your floor to see how many square feet you need. The cabinets, it sounds like they have that veneer over them. If so, take pictures of those and go talk to the paint department. They will point you in the right direction for a paint to cover that up. Personally, I'd go with a nice glossy white. When you're at the store, you can go to the kitchen department and see the pre cut countertops they sell. They have ones that are 4ft, 6ft and 8ft. long, in all different finishes. If you really want to get swanky, you can buy granite tiles, 12x12 and install your own granite counter tops.

Its definitely doable in your budget. Paint is about $30 a can, largest pre-fab counter tops are $138, for eight feet, and flooring is $1.00 a foot and up. Check out the Pergo flooring too. You might be happy with that for a kitchen area. It's not real expensive either.

As far as painting over the laminate cabinets. You can. We have done it twice before in our kitchens. The paint department will tell you which is the proper kitchen paint for that. You'll feel so much better about your kitchen, even if you just get some new paint up.

Feel free to PM with questions. I can show you what a painted veneer cabinet looks like when you paint over the ugly outdated-ness.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We did a budget, DIY kitchen remodel about a year ago.

One thing I haven't seen suggested yet is tuning into HGTV for some of their home shows, especially Designed to Sell. It's part of what motivated us - seeing the miracles they can work with $2000.

I wish we could see pics. Do you have any to share?

I agree with pp's who mentioned shopping for things like vinyl and granite tile at home clearance centers. I don't know where you live but do you have a Grossman's Bargain Outlet near you? This will be the best way for you to get some quality materials at rock bottom prices.

I also agree with the suggestion of considering waiting and saving for a bit. Doing so will give you more options.

I guess you'll need to decide whether - if you do invest this $2000 now, are you still going to want to do more renovations down the road. Like a pp mentioned, then it might be better to wait so you don't waste your money. Food for thought.

But if you are going to go with your current plan - my advice is to keep what you can and work with it. Clean, clean, clean, and get rid of any excess junk cluttering up your kitchen. A change of decor is exciting and modernizing, so plan to get rid of any old wreaths and knick knacks and such and pick up some nice, inexpensive prints that complement your color choices. Remember to add different textures for visual interest in your decor.

Paint the cabinets, but use a nice color like one of the dark browns that is popular right now. Those generally look really nice and hide a mulitude of sins. Maybe you could put glass in a couple of them?

Plan to replace the floor with some vinyl, stick on tiles. They use those a lot on the home renovations shows and they look really nice and can be found pretty cheaply. Just do a nice job putting them down. Use a chalk line on the floor as you're laying them.

On your budget, I'd consider granite tiles. They'll look really nice and you'll feel a little bit pampered. You don't have to put a backsplash in right away, but if you can find a complementary one, it would look nice.

Repairing any walls (and the ceiling) and painting them will freshen the whole place. Remember to put in new light and electric switches if yours are old or mismatched. And to finish you'll probably want to update your lighting fixtures. That is an easy thing to do and it makes a huge difference in the tone of the kitchen. They're not too expensive, either. I may be missing something but really pay attention to details. Oh yes, update the window treatment. (And don't leave work unfinished!) If you do go with granite tiles and your budget can handle it, consider installing undercabinet lighting. It gives a great shine to the granite at night.

Good luck and I sure hope we get to see pictures.

BTW, I used new IKEA cabinetry, too. They were very affordable and we love them. Our previous cabinets were old and awful. Storage is much more pleasant and efficient now with two nice corner cabinets with spinning shelves, and big drawers for my pots and pans, etc. We kept our flooring (porcelain tile) and appliances as they were still in good shape. We did update our electricity (which was a good thing as one of the ceiling lights wiring was pretty fried ) and that put a hefty bite into the budget but it was worth it. Oh, we did have to get a new sink and faucet as well with the new countertops. My DH did the plumbing for that and the garbage disposal. Little things you don't even think of did add up A LOT!

 

[scbelleatheart]

Has anyone ever done a kitchen remodel or spruce up for less than $2000? Right now the kitchen we have is so ugly. The floor is a yellow pattern from the 60's. The counter tops are conveniently a yellow as well. Then we have these cabinets that are very solid, but they look like something out of the church. They have this veneer or laminant all over them, so I don't think I can sand and paint them. I'm thinking maybe leave the ugly cabinets, and do a new laminant counter top, and maybe a tile or wood floor in there? Didn't know if anyone has done any kitchen remodel or sprucing for an affordable price tag.

Did you move in to my old house? Yellow, laminate and ugly. And please do not say you have a U shaped arrangement that you are trapped if too many people are in the room. I actually thought crackle type paint might be an easy fix rather than sanding and repainting. Counter tops are pretty cheap and clearance tile for the floor is very affordable.
Show us pics.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

please do not say you have a U shaped arrangement that you are trapped if too many people are in the room.

I had that! I had that!

(We took out the peninsula and added an island so now the flow is so much better. I had twenty years to ponder that one!)

 

[kayrosek]

This how to might help with the laminate cupboards