Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

Just to add my two cents - with our last house we purchased it, and the only major renovation we did was to gut the kitchen and renovate the basement. We went very cheap with the kitchen, using Ikea cabinets that we installed ourselves - they are not real wood, but a laminate wainscotting finish. We also purchased butcher block countertops from Ikea, and purchased new appliances from the Sears scratch and dent. We also purchased tile from Home Depot and did all of the tiling ourselves. All in all we spent I think about $3500.00. When we sold our house 2 years later we made over $100k profit and had 2 offers on the first day that we put the house up for sale, so NO, I do not believe that you need to use high end products to make a significant return on your money. Here is the final product:




Edited to add - it will cost money and time to reface or totally replace the cabinets - I would repaint them. I would spend the money instead on replacing the countertops with something nice. Buy new applicances (get floor models or go to a scratch and dent place), and if your husband is handy, think about tiling the floor. It can be done quite inexpensively if you do it yourselves, probably under $500. Also, replace the hardware - that's a cheap, effective fix. Take that white thingy off the top of the window and put in a nice drape. Maybe even replace the sink while you're replacing the countertops - they have nice, inexpensive ones at Ikea.

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Message edited 1/31/2007 9:46:02 AM.

Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

The cabinets look in good shape, just outdated. I would paint them white/ivory to lighten up the room, and use your $ to replace the counters with newer laminate that looks like corian or granite. Definitely replace the cabinet hardware with some type of silver or brushed nickel...that is a relatively inexpensive update.

Get a nice new window treatment and get rid of the blinds. (JC Penney has nice, inexpensive stuff) and clear the clutter before selling the house. People dont like to see other people's stuff esp on top of fridges and all over the counters. Your appliances look modern, too bad they aren't matching. Maybe you can replace the flooring or refinish it if it is in your budget too. I cant tell what shape it is in from the pic.

Message edited 1/31/2007 9:45:06 AM.

Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

I would take the row of cabinets out above the island, this will open the kitchen up so much. Then I would paint them and maybe get a new countertop.

Good lUck!!!

Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

I agree with other posters. Paint the cabinets white pr ivory, get new counters, pretty curtain and maybe remove the cabinets over the island. Also see if you can sell your mismatched appliances on Craigslits to help buy new ones.

Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

We painted our cabinets and I can't even tell you what a pain in the b u t t it was to do this! A year and a half later we finally got the cabinet doors up - to make a long long story short - -----


I recommend refacing!!!!!

Re: Kitchen cabinets... UPDATED W/PICS

I would change out the countertops to something dark and also changed the hardware.

Message edited 1/31/2007 11:45:03 AM.