Can these Kitchen Cabinets be Redeemed? Or is this Mission Impossible?

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Can these Kitchen Cabinets be Redeemed? Or is this Mission Impossible?

My latest vacant staging challenge is making this kitchen look like it matches the nice house that comes with it. It's in a gorgeous suburb of Fort Worth near TCU. But obviously the kitchen remodel was done a couple of decasdes ago.

kitchen cabinets

We've all seen these cabinets and most of us wouldn't mind if we never saw them again! Right? So my first suggestion was we could remove the doors and replace them along with the countertops. The homeowner is out of state and after paying the mortgage for the past 8 months doesn't want to spend any more money remodeling or updating.

kitchen island

So....we have a teeny budget to change out some light fixtures and try and do something with this kitchen. The master bath suffers from the same decade I'm afraid.

I would love to hear if any of you stagers, remodelers, renovators or Realtors have sucessfully tackled these cabinets with paint. Paint the melamine face to match the wood? I think painting all the wood is out of the question. There are a ton of cabinets!

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions on how to take the beige out of this dated kitchen and make it sing and SELL!

Okay fast forward to the AFTER photos! We had the cabinets painted out, new knobs and new light fixtures. Slightly different angle so I could get the new light fixture in. I just finished staging this property and will post that blog soon!

Kitchen After Painting

Kitchen After Painting 2

Hampton Redesign 817-891-9563 www.hamptonredesign.com

Tessa Skeens | Owner & Lead Staging Designer

Professional Home Staging and Redesign Services Serving Greater Fort Worth TX Including Aledo, Willow Park, Benbrook, Keller, Arlington, Southlake, Colleyville, Hurst, Mansfield, Burleson and Tarrant County

resa

Posted by Tessa Skeens - Hampton Redesign on 02/09/2009 06:50 PM

Comments (20)

home staging, remodeling, renovating, kitchen, kitchen cabinets, countertops, vacant staging

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20 Comments on Can these Kitchen Cabinets be Redeemed? Or is this Mission Impossible?

FEB

2009

Tessa-There was a recent blog about a kitchen transformation written by Laurie Bates. Shepainted the white cabinets and it looked amazing. Hope you can find her post. She had some great hints. I watched a show today where they had tired cabinets and they painted all the same color and it really perked up this very tired kitchen. I emailed Laurie and here is what she said: "We sanded the cabinets and then put on a coat of primer (Ben Moore - I can't remember the precise name), then sanded them lightly again and put on two coats of the paint, which was Ben Moore's Aura brand paint. Let the cabinets dry for as long as you can before you put the doors and drawers back on." Hope this helps. Hey we should get together sometime halfway between Dallas and Ft Worth!

I just thought of something else. There is a paint at Sherwin Williams called Modern Metallics that has some really great colors. Here is a blog link about that paint:

Updated Decor for Pennies!

I bought some and it is really a good product.

If they don't want to reface then painting is the way to go.

A friend of mine just bought a home with the exact same cabinets. Functional but . . . . Keep us up to date on the transformation.

Ugh.... not fun! If the door surface is not wood, I wouldn't sand it, just scrub it and use a primer first. Is it possible to paint the wood trim on them white to match the white doors, instead of painting all the doors- making everything white? Definitely adding cabinet hardware would help. Maybe painting the walls a deeper color to take some of the attention away from the older cabinets and countertops.

Good luck! Show us some after pics. Gretchen

www.creativespaceserie.com

Hi Liz - Let me know if you find that blog I would love to read it. I just did a search and couldn't find it. Wonder what color she did over the beige??

I used to do faux painting and I usually can come up with some creative solutions with paint but these cabinets are not only dated in color but also style! Not sure if you could even add hardware - would probably take a good drill bit to get through that melamine! I think the key is to make it as close to the wood color as possible. That metallic looks interesting..... hmm I have a table I got from Pier 1 I was thinking of antiquing!

Hey would love to meet up sometime and exchange ideas! Do you know Diana at Brook by any chance?

Hi Tessa,

We've all been there. You want to make it look fabulous, but very little money. I know there is a lot of wood, but you will get the biggest bang for your buck by painting the wood white to match the doors. Of course you'll want to sand the wood lightly, just to break the shinny finish. You can spray the wood with white spray paint. Two to three light coats (semi gloss) would do the trick. I would then add a stainless or nickle hardware to the cabinets and drawers (handle for the drawers and knobs for the cabinets is always a great look)......drilling through melamine is easy, you'll just need a regular wood drill bit. Another suggestion...I'd sand down the wood on the island and paint it a contrasting color (semi gloss for durability), to anchor the room, maybe paint the kitchen walls and island the same color. If you have any other questions please let me know...I love these kind of challenges!!

Take Care,

Ryan

Hey, for paint - Sherwin Williams has the best durable products. They are always helpful ...take a cabinet door in and they can recommend what to do...they can even match the white exactly from the cabinet door. Good Luck!!

Hey Ryan- I like how you think! We would work well together :) Gretchen

www.creativespaceserie.com

Hi Tessa. I had one of these kitchens not long, I agree that it may be best to colour match the doors and paint the gable ends of the upper cabinets and surrounds to match. We put Oat Straw from Behr Paint on the wall and painted the handle strips the same colour.We painted the kick plate in matt black. As for the Island as it is a stand alone piece you may be able to get away with leaving it with the wood grain. Behr paint has melamine paint designed exactly for kitchen cupboards.

Donna Plant. Home Staging by Streamline H. S. Ltd.

Lease Prop Kitchen After

Ryan - thank you for the great tips and ideas! I guess I better get a sense of whether this is something a handyman can do with their budget as I know I wont have time to take off all the doors and hardware to paint them.

It would be great if there was something like the aluminum skin like I've seen on HGTV (to wrap a fridge for example) or an update on the old contact paper to just cover the white panels.

Thanks for the heads up on Sherwin Wiliams - I have their swatch book and will take it with me tomorrow when I go to look at the kitchen again.

Gretchen - I was thinking of painting the walls a darker color too - there is just waaaay too much beige and brown in this kitchen!

Thanks Donna for the pics! So did you just paint the doors and the end of the cabinets and not paint inside? Hadn't thought of that. How did you like working with the melamine paint? Looks good!

Upper-end contact paper is my weapon of choice for fast, cheap, fairly lasting, and easy.

Or, try my favorite trick: Anaglypta dimensional wallpaper with some trim. Anaglypta hides a multitude of sins, is very thick, is designed to take paint, and can look anyway you want it to, from super modern to Victorian. They have a lot of completely different designs to choose from.

These are my mom's cabinets on our farm. Pitiful plywood, actually. My great grandfather scavenged them back in the day and put them up, probably in the 40's.

But with some Anaglypta wallpaper, some sage green paint, and some metallic silver lightly passed over the relief, they look like tin panels. We spray-painted the hardware, and while they are far from new, they add some style until we can gut this kitchen next year.

This particular Anaglypta painted wallpaper has been up for about 8 years. We damp-wipe them and everything. No wear yet!

For 80's white Formica cabinets, I'd choose a modern graphic and paint them with a hi-gloss chocolate brown, and trim them with oak, leaving the snappy white melamine peeking out like a frame. No hardware necessary for most all the 80's melamine. Anaglypta paper is about $20 a single roll. It's dynamic and cheap.

Good luck on your project!

~Michelle

I've seen these cabinets successfully painted (paint the wood trim the same color of the cabinets, leave the cabinet fronts as they are) and the look was instantly updated. Easy, cheap, and effective!

FEB

2009

Hi Tessa. Melamine paint goes on very well, it is best to do a couple of thin coats, but as with any painting job a good clean to remove grease and a high hide primer is required. I have painted an entire kitchen were the cabinets had seen better days and the top coat was peeling off. I am still in contact with the home owner 4 yrs later and they clean up well and have not chipped.

Hi, Tessa. While I don't have a specific solution as I've not encountered this dilemma, I think there are some great solutions that have been shared. Keep us posted.

Kathy

Oooh Michelle love that upper end contact paper! They even have wood-grain. But do I dare try to match it to the oak? Maybe a slightly darker wood so it looks inset.

Thanks for the photos - those cabinets look adorable. The trouble with this home is they took all of the charm out when they remodeled it. Its SO much easier to start with orignial material like your farmhouse kitchen!

Maureen - that's the realization I am coming to. That the worst part that sticks out visually is the wood handle bit below the white panel on the door. I guess a rock bottom fix would be just to paint the face of that.

Thanks for the followup Donna. I had heard you could also use the melamine paint to paint countertops. Was wondering if it was really toxic or not! But maybe Sherwin Williams has something. Will go by the store once I get a door to take. Reminder to myself to take a screwdriver.

Kathy - I will. Should be working on this the next couple of weeks. The owners went out of the country and are back the 1st of March when it gets relisted. So at least I have a little time to work it out - always nice.

I would suggest painting the doors and all that trim in a nice cream or off-white shade, and simply add some current hardware. Time consuming but most cost effective. Please be sure to post the "after" pictures no matter what you end up doing. Good luck with the project.

Here are some after photos of a similar kitchen we painted...

By painting the wood strips to match the cabinets, they blend in better, making the room feel better, larger and less cluttered.

Tessa-Here is the link to that other blog. It would help if I gave you the right name :0)

Home Staging DRAMA

Yes I have met Diane at a WCR meeting and she has helped me with several proposals. Unfortunately, the folks I work with in Dallas just aren't as quick to jump on staging vacants as they should be. Call me sometime so we can have coffee!

FEB

2009

Hi Melissa - Thanks for the photo. It looks like you had white cabinets to begin with if you just did the strips of wood? Looks fabulous!! Of course the kitchen itself looks pretty nice too.

Thank you Liz! What's WCR? We definitely should meet up. I am heading over to the Brook showroom tomorrow to take another look. It seems most of my business is vacant staging so I don't know how I would do it without them! :)

The Realtor and I met with a handyman yesterday and he is going to give her a price to paint out the cabinets completely. Will keep you posted.

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Tessa Skeens - Hampton Redesign

Fort Worth, TX

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Hampton ReDesign, Home Staging and Redesign in Fort Worth TX

Address: P.O. Box 100284, Fort Worth, TX , 76185

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