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Kitchen and bath cabinets in a short term rental

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

We are in the planning stages of remodeling the kitchen and baths in our short term rental condo. If you were replacing cabinets in a kitchen and bathrooms, would you use stained wood, painted or some other type of finish on the cabinets? The current 40 year old cabinets are melamine. The melamine finish still looks good but the wood trim looks bad. On contractor suggested replacing the existing cabinets with melamine since they have proven to be "renter proof". I'm concerned that the kitchen will look like a low budget straight out of the 80's apartment if we go with melamine. We need a finish that is durable as possible without breaking the bank or looking cheap. The rental is in a beach resort area. Thanks for the help.

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Comments (4)

mama goose_gw zn6OH
4 years ago
I'd go with the more durable finish. In a short-term beach rental, no one is going to be obsessing over cabinet finishes. :)
jlhug thanked mama goose_gw zn6OH
ShadyWillowFarm
4 years ago
We have a rental in OBX and people do care about finishes and people do care about finishes and decor. When I rent places, I do want something nice and not cheap looking. So I’d say it depends on your target market for renters. If you are in a more upscale building, go with wood in a finish that is easy to clean up. If you are catering to young families in an affordable building, the melamine may be a better choice.
jlhug thanked ShadyWillowFarm
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herbflavor
4 years ago
you wouldn't want cheap melamine. so a light to medium stained maple in a basic shaker or raised panel for that matter might be about the same end result as far as money and wearability. You are talking Kraft Maid or something like that?? you want to be able to replace a door if need be and have a pretty good warranty. otherwise a caramel or café stained oak in a shaker can give you a chance for a more modern flair and.... and dings in oak can be dealt with touch up putty etc. Oak can give you some consolation as far as strength and texture of the wood can handle little things that happen.
jlhug thanked herbflavor
jlhug
Original Author
4 years ago
We have renters from young families to senior citizens. I wouldn't exactly call us upscale but then neither are we "cheap". Our rents are pretty much in the middle of the range for our area. I probably should have put this in my OP. This is a 1,000 square foot oceanfront 2 bedroom, 2 bath rental with a max occupancy of 6. I tend to think that a nice stained cabinet would be best but one contractor suggested melamine. I haven't looked at what cabinets are being build with melamine or similar finishes.

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