Many of us can relate to Gemma's situation. She knew that, down the line, she'd be taking on a full (read:expensive) renovation. But she wanted to do something to make the kitchen a fun, fresh place to be in the meantime. She got a big bang for not too many bucks with this smart spruce up to tide things over while she saves up for the big job to come...
Gemma writes: Since moving into our digs a few years ago, the kitchen has been one of the rooms that had sort of paralyzed us -- It needs a big renovation, which means big bucks. We realized though there that were a few things we could do to make it a more fun and happy space on a budget.
First thing was to paint out the old oak strip cabinets with some high-gloss white paint. Next up, we added some modern hardware, which we plan on using in our future kitchen. But the biggest impact came from the floor. We grabbed some super cheap black and white vinyl tile and got to peeling and sticking. We went for a stripe instead of the usual checkerboard pattern for something a little different. We are so thrilled with how it turned out! And the budget for this whole mini-makeover? Only $195! We now love to hang and cook in our fresh fun space.
My favorite update, that amazing striped tile floor, only cost $45 and looks fantastic - thanks for sharing, Gemma!
Read more about the makeover on Gemma's blog: The Sweetest Digs
(Images: The Sweetest Digs)
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Nice job! Simple, yet what a difference.
nice :)
a little bit can go a long way!
FABULOUS!!!
imo, you don't even need a reno now. it's fantastic!
Great job! I LOVE the floor and you did a super job sprucing up those hideous cabinets that followed me through every rental I ever lived in.
I love it and I love that it cost under $200! Great job.
This is beautiful, great idea for my kitchen makeover, which I want it to be black and white... love the stripes, I was also thinking checkerboard...
What an awesome quick fix! I love what you did with the floor.
Sensational fix for the bucks!
Thanks for the feature, Apartment Therapy!! The kitchen is so much more fresh and fun now. It just feels like a happy space!
thanks again!
gemma@thesweetestdigs
That is TOO amazing! It gives me real hope for making a living space out of a diamond in the rough.
This is the kind of upgrade I love to see...major impact, minimum $. Well done.
nice job!
Great job, Gemma. Gives those with small budgets dreams of how far a little can go. Thanks for sharing.
Can't believe that only cost $195! It's so fresh and clean, nice job Gemma!
The pattern on the floor sure gives it a lot of character. I love the detail over the stove
This makes me think it might even be worth updating my rental kitchen if i plan to stay another few years. Awesome job. I am in love with the floor.
great job. i would definitely hold off on a renovation for awhile.
That looks great! I agree - I don't even think it needs a renovation. It looks so nice, just the way it is.
What a great impact your changes made! Love it!
Wow!!! That's a gorgeous after. Great job!
The stripes were a genius choice! Much more interesting than checkerboards! Now all you need (in my opinion, of course) is a few colorful accents -- dish towels, flowers, whatever... Great job!
where did you get that hardware? Love it.
This gives me a ton of hope, since I've been looking for a bigger home but often there's a big job left to be done - kitchen, baths, etc - that drop it down to our price range (but have to live with 'meh' for a while until we can afford a big renovation). Every time I see these same oak strip cabinets I dismiss the project, thinking it would be beyond the magic of a semigloss white makeover. Apparently I was wrong! This looks fantastic, and the floor is killer. Now I want to re-tile our kitchen!
I've got to agree with every comment above - that little bit of work and money was well worth it.
Questions: Did you remove the old flooring or stick the tiles right on top? And how careful do you have to be with spills and mopping? I've thought about doing this, but worry about the tiles coming unstuck.
Thanks everyone!
@oceandreamer56: We did not remove the flooring underneath, since it was still in good shape, was already vinyl, and provided a good flat surface. As for spills and mopping, it's been a breeze! The tile is so easy to keep clean with some sweeping and mopping every once in a while. Our tiles have shown no hint of becoming unstuck. In my family cottage, we used these same peel and stick tiles about 20 years ago and they are still in great shape! They are definitely a long lasting and well-wearing product. Hope that helps!
I love the look of the kitchen and thought you painted the floor! After having a black and white floor, however, I would never do it again. It shows everything!
That looks fantastic! Great job!
*drool* I think my kitchen needs and black and white floor.
looks great! now I want that floor!!
This looks great, its basic changes with a big pay off. I think this is a good example of small updates that have made a big difference and one does not need to be wasteful with materials and spend so much money whether you rent or not. Its a kitchen not the Taj Mahal.
LOVE the floor!
such a huge improvement... i love that striped floor!
Bravo, what a great improvement! I'd dare say that you could put off the 'big' renovation for quite some time with this delightful space.
Wow, what an impressive change. I'm looking to do something similar - make my kitchen more livable while I save for the big reno.
Wow! Good on ya! Looks fantastic!
LOVE the new handles on the cabinets -- makes a big impact.
Thank you so much for sharing! I have very similar problem. I'll totally do the trim, add hardware and change the floor!
Also need to replace the sink (who puts red plastic sink in the kitchen?) I would like to try these tiles as backsplash as well!
Yeah! I agree with whomever said that you don't even need a big renovation now! It's amazing what can be accomplished under 200$, I wish more people doing renovations understood that they can save more of the original stuff, not everything has to be ripped out.
Beautiful transformation! Love it.
I have the exact same ugly cabinets and they have been driving me crazy. I am amazed at how much better they look with some paint and new hardware! You did an amazing job.
Question: Did you do anything to prep the cabinets before you painted them? Or did you just paint away? Once again great job.
I LOVE the striped floor!! It looks awesome and the kitchen even looks bigger.
WOW! Love it!
high-impact transformation for not much $$$!!!! good job.
so many of these 1980s Euro cabinets were done in a yellow vanilla color. what color to paint those oak trims?
Gorgeous. And you're right, the floor absolutely makes it.
Fantastic! I never would have imagined huge black stripes would look so stunning. You have amazing vision!
Nice you can live with it but it wouldn't be my thing....
The floor gives me hope. I too, plan to buy a home soon, but with our limited budget, things like kitchens won't come with an update. I DREAD ugly linoleum floors from 1978 that make me feel icky, so this peel and stick option looks as good as marble! Thanks!!
whoah, really amazing!
Great fix!
Where were you able to find plain black and white peel and stick tiles? They seem to be pretty hard to come by these days.
simple but seriously effective. hell to the yeah! good choice on the stripes rather than checkerboard. illusion of a wider room.
JAIMEMARIEL... definitely saw them at Rona the 3 days ago.
Really lovely! Love the striped floors!
Amazing transformation, great job! I'd maybe paint the backsplash to add a little color. Or like someone else suggested, add some towels/accessories to add some color accents. Great job!
Sheesh, haven't we all experienced those oak strip cabinets at one time or another? I consider them one of the top design mistakes of the 80's.
I love what you've done here, and especially for the price. Great job!
Good Job!!!!
Where did you get the peel and stick tiles from? How much did they cost?