Remodel Kitchen

In 2010, we entered into a contract to remodel our kitchen. Unfortunately, after just a little work was done, the contractor was again asking for me. What we did was to rescind the contract and did the renovation by ourselves. We hired 2 workers and bought the materials. Fortunately, we have done the remodeling very well and we are contented. It is a lesson to be learned on contractors who are scammers.

 

My husband and I remodeled our kitchen ourselves, but we didn't do anything to the cabinets. I know many people are blogging about resurfacing/refinishing/painting kitchen cabinets lately, so it seems completely possible. We changed out the appliances and changed the backsplash when we remodeled our kitchen. It made a huge difference.

 

I am extremely unhandy, so I would not even attempt this. The other thing is even if I could do something...I would likely lose patience part way through the task, and it would end up looking bad, because I would rush it. There are some things I am capable of and some I am not...and this is one...that I could not do unless I was under the direct supervision of someone who knew what they were doing!

 

I would check the HGTV and DIYNetwork websites for ideas and what issues you might encounter. I don't own this place, but have considered yanking the non-working dishwasher out and trashing it. The issue with that is that there's obviously a water connection and drain, and I don't want to deal with that, so I'm just leaving it for now. If the cabinets are wood, I think there's a lot more you can do to them than if they're mdf or laminate. Good luck, I'd love to see in progress pictures and hear reports.

 

Yes check with HGTV and DIY networks. I get ideas all the time. When we purchased our house my focus was on adding colors, so we did a lot of painting. I painted the wood cabinetry, walls and laid vinyl floors tiles in the kitchen. Now that Lowe's keeps track of everything that I purchase it's easier for me to repaint with the correct colors. I'm trying to find the perfect hardware for the cabinets and a ceiling light for my Southwestern color theme.

I haven't tried the kit you mentioned. Kits get me frustrated and that discourages me. Sometimes they are just not worth the money.

My tip is to plan, plan, plan... get all the tools, stools, and cleaning cloths, sponges, dropcloths out before you get started then pace yourself with a break here and there.

 

My husband is a dab hand at DIY, but I'm totally useless. It's not even something I have a keen interest in. But I really wouldn't want to do it ourselves, I'd rather get the experts in. I saw my father-in-law attempting to remodel their kitchen and OMG, it was a mess! I just think that if you're not very good at it, you should leave it to the professionals, because otherwise it's a waste of money.

 

Oh yes, @MrsJones, that's a good point about Lowe's and others keeping track of everything you purchase. Also, if you have paint mixed to a particular color, be sure to keep the formula, or make sure the store does, in case you need another batch in the future. Speaking of that, I was looking on the Home Depot site a bit ago, and they have DIY videos. I'm sure Lowe's and probably Ace Hardware do, as well. I have also seen many DIY videos and detailed pictures on Pinterest and also, of course, YouTube. I think I'd tackle small projects, but I don't have the tools or expertise to manage a larger project.

 

I would say Ikea might be a good place to start. Their kitchens are relatively inexpensive and you can have one of their designers help you with layout, design, choosing counters etc. If you are handy you can do the installation yourself or hire a contractor to do this. You can also just reface your cabinets if they are good quality wood and then restain them. Changing the handles will give a more updated look as well. My husband did the tear out for our remodel of our basement and saved us thousands of dollars.

 

If there are some local cabinet manufacturers in your area, you may want to check with them if they have any cabinets they are trying to get rid of at a steep discount. There is one near us that does this, and they often have cabinets that were either measured incorrectly or returned for some reason, that you can snap up for a fraction of the price. As long as you are a bit flexible with how they will fit into your kitchen, you can save a lot of money going down that route.

As for installation, I've never tried it. But personally I think it just makes more sense to hire professionals to do it. They have the proper tools and materials to handle all of that, in addition to their expertise. Even if I were to try to do it myself, I would have to go out and buy a bunch of tools to do it, as well as other materials such as bolts, caulking, nails, whatever... You could even perhaps hire a local handyman to do it for you, for even less.

 

I managed to purchase a lazy susan from a manufacturer that was going out of business at a great price. I installed it myself with a little imagination for leveling it over the counter. I had two big speakers which I set in place and my husband helped me set the cabinet on top of them and I drilled in the screws. That was 15 years ago.

 

I have not gotten myself into a kitchen remodeling project, but when it comes to DIY, I have tried this in minor projects, so that I can say that one thing one should be aware of is that painting cabinets may not looks as professional as a professional would do, unless you keep in mind some useful tips out there about brush painting.

I found that doing it with aerosol paint is easier to get a professional-looking finishing, but this type of paints leave a dusty-like cover around the area you work, hence if using it, make sure to cover the surrounding working-area with old newspapers on the floor.