Start of Kitchen Refurbishment

The current kitchen is pretty much a study in 1960s decor. The cabinets are covered in dark brown "wood" veneer, with dark bronze-looking chunky handles and knobs on the doors and drawers. The countertop is a lovely yellow plastic veneer, the floor is cream/brown linoleum, and the appliances are brown and "retro" (i.e. they've been around for quite a while). Once again, the previous owners kept everything in spotless condition and the appliances, while aged, seem to be in good working order.

While we initially dreamed of tearing out the entire kitchen and replacing everything all at once (in at least a year or so after saving up some cash), we are now contemplating a staged refurbishment of the kitchen instead of a complete rehab.

The first project is to paint the kitchen cabinets. We began the prep work on Saturday, April 16. While removing the cabinet doors, we noticed that the veneer was peeling off of the cabinet frames in places. We took a peak underneath, and discovered beautiful wood cabinet frames - at which point we proceeded to rip all of the veneer off of the cabinet frames.





We weren't so lucky with the doors and drawer faces, which are particle board covered with veneer. Those are being sanded and primed (with Behr primer designed for use on glossy surfaces) before painting. The cabinet frames will also be sanded and painted. If we can find appropriately sized hardware, we'll replace that as well.

Future projects for the room include building a breakfast nook in this area:



as well as repairing the wall underneath the sink area, replacing the sink, replacing the appliances, retiling the floor, and changing the lighting.