Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 293 posts · 383 votes
Hello BP Sorry for the errors in advance, accidentally pressed post before I was ready. I'm renovating a kitchen and the cabinets did not turn out as expected. I brought the top cabinets and tried to save/salvage the bottom cabinets. I had both cabinets sanded and stained and this was the results. This is a 2 bedroom rental that I expect to bring in $1000-$1100 a month on the south side of Chicago. I wondering how I should proceed.
Option A: Leave it as is (Cost $0)
Option B: Have the cabinets professionally painted gray, black or blue ($950-1200)
Option C: Buy new Expresso cabinets ($1800)
I'm a strong believer in "the style of your unit will attraction a certain type of tenant". I don't want to attract a bad tenant who likes mediocre or substandard quality but I don't want to waste money if this is an acceptable kitchen either. I have hardwood on the first floor and laminate on the second floor. What is your opinion?? Thanks in advance.
Prime, paint, and add some nice hardware. Paint white or gray, whatever works with the rest of the apt.
Not worth full replacement, but definitely worth fixing. I would also add some trim or more backsplash around the stove. That looks half-completed as well.
This is your lucky day, Martin. Your post go read by the right dude. You can do this yourself easily to help make the cabinets match. Take off all the doors and lay them down. Take a 1/4 sheet finish sander in 100 grit to the flats of the doors of top cabinets. Once you get the poly on those cabinets nice and scuffed up well, dip a rag in Zinsser Amber shellac and rub on a coat. Wait 2 hours to dry, and buff with super fine 0000 steel wool. Your handyman knows diddly-squat about shellac in finishing. That's why the cabinets don't match. Do what I suggest and you'll introduce a hint of amber upstairs in the cabinets, which is what you need. It's a quick and dirty method but it'll do.
About the oven placement, well, that's awkward. The way to make it slightly better is to remove the 30 inch standard range that's there and put in a 20-inch compact range, pushing it out away from the cabinet until it's even with the outside wall. My guess is that's what the space was originally designed for. And put in the hood, just as everyone has suggested.
Get one of those rustoleum cabinet transformation kits; cost is $70. I trained a lady I pay $10 an hour to use the kit. She does a great job. This first color bright white with java glaze for an antiqued white look, the second is "rustic" with java glaze. Both were done over brown cabinets similar to yours. On a kitchen the size of yours, you should be looking at around 10-15 hours work. No connection to product except that I use it and love it. Also, if you do white make sure you wipe really, really well or the cabinets will be more cream than white. There are a bunch of colors to choose from and they may be done with/without the glaze as well (but the glaze usually makes them look better to me).
@Martin Neal Something needs to be done. The cabinets can be redone (paint or stain) but whole kitchen layout is not very functional. If you decide to change the layout of the stove think corner stove or corner sink. This would give more counter top space and cabinet storage and improve function. Fix the refrigerator placement as well. Good luck.
Agreed with others about the stainless vent hood, continuing the tiles down the left side of the stove to the baseboard, a small curved shelf at the left end of the cabinets above the stove, and painting the cabinets+shelf. I would probably go with white or grey and add hardware.
One of the best things I ever discovered was Milk Paint. Go on Amazon and get yourself a can of General Finishes Milk Paint. They have a bunch of different colors, but I like driftwood. This stuff is very affordable and covers cabinets in one coat and looks like a million bucks! You could have this kitchen done in a few hours and it would probably cost you less than $100.
The kitchen is so compact I don't think the cabinet color is going to make a difference in the rental amount. That backsplash adds a lot to the design. You might be able to do an over the range microwave w/built in vent, but that overhead cabinet may be too high, so check, as you don't want anyone spilling hot liquid on themselves taking it out of microwave.
Remember when doing colors, dark colors soak up light. If there's not a lot of natural light in a space, try white uppers and darker lowers on cabinets. But honestly, I wouldn't waste too much money.
Well you are renting this house out and NOT flipping it...So whats with the over analysis? how much ROI will a new cabinet really earn? I will absolutely leave it as is...OR at the most, if it bothers YOU that much, paint it,....rent it and move on to the next investment property.
Interesting to see the criticism of this kitchen from posts. I own properties in this market. More often than not, the areas are below average income. And I do not believe in over-investing into the finishes. So this kitchen does not offend me. And the objections of tenants would probably be less of the look, and more of the size.
1. The kitchen was not poorly designed except for the corner by the stove. But you inherited this. It simply is a small kitchen. The stainless appliances and subway tile are nice for the area. You have an undermount sink and probably a quartz countertop. The actual cabinets are nothing special. The top look like Shaker style. The bottom looks like stuff you'd buy at Home Depot.
2. On the South Side, the tenant you want to attract might not care so much about the deficiencies of these cabinets. My criteria is not to get upscale tenants, but stable, paying and long staying. Clean and well paying if possible.
The kitchen is done. Go with it and remodel it down the road. You're losing more rent if you do another kitchen remodel.
This is the local advice that is needed. Without knowing the market it is hard to give feedback on what you "should" do.
I'd leave them as is. I leave them unfinished sometimes and the tenants sometimes ends up painting them. Sometimes they'll paint different colors either way. If the cabinets look dirty in the future and magic erasers won't get them clean then I'll paint them. If there is enough demand for rentals then you shouldn't have to worry about cosmetics like this.
I'm a perfectionist and I don't think these cabinets look too bad! I agree with @Natalie Schanne and why not try some tours and get some feedback.
Another option to save more on the paint job is to only paint the lower cabinets, maybe in this instance a navy blue or black... people are loving two toned cabinets!
Look into a product called "liming wax". I've seen plenty of bloggers on pinterest use this on old golden oak cabinets. Your cabinets are ever so slightly off, so I'm thinking with the lime, it'll make them look the same shade. With some dark hardware (doesn't need to be crazy, could just use the little knobs like the photo), it'll look great!. Plus it's super DIY friendly, so you could probably do it yourself instead of paying a painter.
@Martin Neal I am also a big believer that the aesthetic of a space will bring in certain types of tenants. I say go gray or a navy on the bottom cabinets to make the space feel a bit more modern!
Is doing it yourself an option? There aren’t many cabinets and I know DIY it can be done much cheaper than $950
@Peighton Woodard Yes I could do it myself, however, I’m trying to be as hands off as possible. I haven’t done a single task with this property other than grab materials a couple of times but that’s it. I think I would need to shop around some more on pricing, find someone cheaper or train someone to do it if I decide to paint.
@Michelle Shriver I agreed with something to finish that area. The gap between where the cabinets/stove ends is a little larger the usual. I like the idea of curved open cabinet next to stove and possible take the backsplash up to the soffit to finish the upper part?
@Martin Neal, Did you look into staining these to darker color? Like Cherry or Mahogany, redwood? Stain is better than paint because paint may start peeling off. Darker stain will possibly match from top to bottom.
@Al Pat my original instructions to my GC was to stain the top to look like the bottom which he said he could do. After the top was much lighter than the bottom, he sanded the bottom and stained it the same. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have told him to stain them all dark or Cherry.