Help! Update 80’s Kitchen
last year
Need advice on how to update kitchen in my new house. It hasn’t been updated since built in 79. I am likely going to remove the upper cabinets and demo the wall between the refrigerator and window to open up to the living room. I may have to do in stages and would love ideas on how I can modernize the existing cabinets and countertops.
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How to update this 80's kitchen on a budget?
Comments (30)Regarding the "how well can you paint the cabinets if they are laminate" question. A very good question that I can perhaps answer. I had what appears to be the same cabinets in my kitchen. I hated them and wanted to paint them for what I thought was going to be a year. Turned out to be about 4 1/2-5 years before they were demo'd, and they definitely could have gone much longer. I got up one Saturday morning and started slapping on water-based Kilz with a little foam roller. After I'd done most of them I realized I'd forgotten to wash and de-grease them as I'd intended. Too late. So they had the 1 coat of Kilz, 2 coats of blue-green Benjamin Moore latex eggshell. Not cabinet coat, not anything fancy, no gloss coat, no tricks. In fact, a friend who had never painted before helped on a few cabinets. Actual painting time was short -- the only thing that made it take awhile was drying time between coats. I painted the insides as well, including the horizontal contact surfaces. I stored heavy crockery on those shelves, which I scraped across the painted surfaces, and I saw only tiny scratches on those particular surfaces by the time I demo'd. The cabinet fronts were perfect. I don't have dogs who scratch at cabinets for their treats, or kids who play "carpenter" and hammer on them, but they definitely held up well, particularly for the extremely casual way I painted them. If you take a little care, there's every reason to believe your results should be at least as good, if not better. Their slab surfaces made them extremely easy to paint by roller and brush. On mine, the oak strip was a component of the cabinet and could not be removed without leaving a big gap. But I believe several companies made cabinets like this, so yours may be different....See MoreReally need help updating 80s kitchen
Comments (31)This is my personal opinion. I'm no expert about this. I think if the house is a blank slate style-wise, you can take it in almost any direction you prefer. Although you need to have a vision for the entire home to make this work. You don't want to end up with a country kitchen, super-modern baths, and a Craftsman living room. I guess I would start by asking myself if the lines of the home are more horizontal or vertical. Again, my personal opinion, but I think horizontal lines lend themselves better to more sleek styles like modern, MCM, or whatever. Just something more streamlined. While horizontal lines lean more toward traditional, transitional, and country-ish/cottagey styles. What do YOU like? What do you envision for the rest of the home? I'm sure you'll get better, more concrete advice from others. And it may be helpful to post this question in the Home Decorating forum, too. And probably time to start finding inspiration photos....See MoreHelp updating my kitchen from the 80's!
Comments (12)I had cabinets over a peninsula and removed them - what an amazing difference it made to the space. Once I did it and one or two neighbors came over I started getting neighbor after neighbor coming over and wanting to see. Within two year I don't think a single kitchen on the cul-de-sac still had cabinets over the peninsula. I didn't recommend changing to a single height counter at the sink for 3 reasons You currently have the bi-level that hides the sink and any mess in the kitchen, Having a single level doesn't add a lot of useful space because it is dominated by the sink on the kitchen side and Tall furnishings in a small space gives the illusion of more space. I didn't ask last night if there is an access door on the living room side for the cabinet in the corner. If not - that is another inexpensive change that is worth its weight in gold. I really don't recommend over spending, changing what doesn't need to be changed because you will most likely upgrade from your small condo to something larger. These are generally not forever homes. The more you spend on this home the less you have to spend on the next one and kitchens generally have an ROI about 60% of what you spend. The other 40% is joy factor. It brings you joy and you pay for that happiness. Always balance the cost vs the joy factor and if the same dollars could bring you greater joy by spending it differently. A new kitchen / my next home or a new kitchen / a trip to Europe....See Moreupdating help on 80s colonial
Comments (11)My suggestion would be to paint the siding a light pearl grey, take down the shutters and enlarge the frame around all windows, paint the windows black if possible (can't see the style in the picture), paint the front door black with white sidelights, garage doors black with white trim, all trim in white. I think that works with both the brick and the roof. You can also update the style of your post lights and the ones on the house to match (we don't see those in your picture)....See More- PROlast year
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the entire floor will be one open space. noted are the partition sections for hallway w bath and staircase which is good.....and fireplace can still be a focus. Get an interior designer/kitchen designer to come and give ideas. You create zones and flow with furnishings and wherever/however the kitchen gets positioned. Too soon to just monkey around with cabs and counters as they are considering your longer view of a whole open space in mind. start w inspiration pictures in a folder. Youll need a budget......
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