This Under-$50 Facebook Marketplace Flip Solved My Lack of Kitchen Cabinet Space

My family’s rental kitchen has a lot of floor space — but that doesn’t mean we can fit all of our gadgets in a functional way.  There are just two upper cabinets and two lower cabinets, with nowhere practical to stash our extra appliances. There also isn’t much counter space to accompany such few cabinets, so setting anything atop the counters creates instant clutter — and in my book, there’s nothing worse than cluttered kitchen countertops.

To help improve the functionality of our kitchen, I’ve been looking for a thrifty storage solution and finally found something I liked. It was big, but we had the space — it just needed some work.

I was able to find a roomy blue cabinet on Facebook Marketplace that had the potential to really work hard in my kitchen. The interior of the piece looked like it had come with shelving at some point and had rests on each side, so I knew I could easily add what I needed. I ended up picking out two sheets of 5/8-inch particle board for about $9 each, as well as a few additional 1×2-inch boards for the front of the shelves.

After measuring out the space for the heavy appliances that would sit on the bottom of the cupboard, I added two additional shelves for my vases and serving dishes and another for sheet pans, cutting boards, and other items that were too big to fit in my cabinets. I ended up adding reinforcements for the shelving on each side, just so I could feel better about them supporting the weight of my ceramic dishes.

The inside of the cupboard was already painted a deep blue, so I used the same shade of blue I’d painted the outside (Sherwin Williams’ Jacaranda) to paint the shelves, as well as a playful pattern on the back. I really wanted wallpaper, but didn’t want to pay the price or hassle with installation, so I was happy to DIY a simple pattern on my own. My trusty paint daubers came in handy, and the little squiggle was easy enough to replicate again and again.

I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I don’t cringe anymore when I open the cupboard to get my appliances! It looks so fresh and pretty, and I’m glad to have a piece that I can take with us when we move instead of investing in something for our landlord.