As I have mentioned in previous entries, my condo was built in the early 80's. The kitchen needed some serious updating but I was on a budget. The previous owner had installed new linoleum and had painted. Other than that, everything was original. I guess at some point there were saloon style doors leading out of the kitchen that had long ago been removed (aw shucks!). There was, however, still an ugly early 80's light box on the ceiling. I had to find a way to totally update the kitchen but I definitely didn't have the money for something like new cabinets. It took some time and effort but we managed to end up with a kitchen that looks fresh and much more up to date.
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| Before: Notice the awesome flesh-toned sponge painting. |
As I said, the previous owner had installed new linoleum, or rather, had ATTEMPTED to install new linoleum. Apparently, this venture had gone even more poorly than their attempt to install laminate flooring in the rest of the unit. It was peeling up pretty badly at the edges and there was no transition where it ended. Just a badly cut edge sticking up. Overall, I guess this worked out in my favor because it was really easy to remove, which is one of the first things we did. It turned out there were actually two more layers of linoleum under that. The second came up in excrutiatingly small chunks and left a lot of backing behind. As a bonus, there was a nice big patch of mold BETWEEN the second and third layers where the dishwasher had apparently been leaking. This was cleaned thoroughly with bleach.
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| The floor after tearing up the top layer of linoleum. |
The third layer of linoleum might as well have been welded to the floor, so I left it. I then lived for over 6 months with a grimy, partially removed, linoleum floor. These are the types of things you should be prepared to live with when you are doing a remodel yourself and have limited time and money. I eventually painted it thoroughly with some Kilz primer to seal it and we installed a beautiful new laminate floor.
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| 6 months later....a real floor! |
Sprucing up the cabinets was, by far, my least favorite project of the whole remodel. The cabinets were sad, so sad, but there was no way I could afford to replace them so a coat of paint was my only option. I have helped to repaint cabinets before and it is pretty easy, when they are actual wood. These cabinets are really little more than crappy particle board covered with vinyl that has been printed with a wood grain pattern. You strike again 1983! The problem is that you cannot easily paint on vinyl. We even tested primer on them and it still just peeled right off. It was clear I would have to sand them a bit first to prepare the surface for paint. The belt sander we had on hand was far too aggressive for the thin layer of vinyl.
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| Cabinet doors removed for sanding. Linoleum removal finished. |
In retrospect, I should have just bought myself a finish sander like the one I have now. Instead, I ended up hand sanding every single surface of those cabinets. It sucked, a lot.
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| Cabinet doors painted and re-installed. |
The cabinets are painted with Behr satin "beluga" paint. I had initially planned to paint them more of a cocoa color but when I tested that color I didn't like the way it looked at all. I was actually initially afraid of painting them "beluga' because I was worried it would be too dark. I am thrilled with how it turned out though.
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| Another view of the finished cabinets. |
Everything was finished up with a coat of paint on the walls, a new stainless steel sink and faucet and brushed nickel handles on the cabinets. The lovely 80's light box was replaced with a respectable light fixture. I don't have pictures to show this. I guess I hated the light box so much I didn't even want to take a picture of it!
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The next project, when I have the money, will be a new stove. New cabinets and a new countertop are down the road a little further!
