This “Dingy” Kitchen’s Makeover Proves Dated Cabinets Can Shine Again

As an editor at Apartment Therapy, I’ve been seeing more and more of renters investing in permanent changes to their spaces. That can be a scary thing to do if you’re not sure how long you’ll be in a space, or if your landlord is less than agreeable — but if you intend to stay for the long haul and you’re willing to make some compromises with your landlord, it can be a great way to make your home a better fit for your needs.

This kitchen redo from DIYer Lily F Tsutsumida is a great example of the sorts of changes that might be worth considering even if you’re renting. The before is a space that the renter describes as “dated, dingy, damaged, and sad” — maybe the worst four kitchen characteristics possible. If Lily had wanted to stick with only renter-friendly kitchen upgrades, she and her husband Evan would have had plenty of options for giving the space a facelift. But instead, the renters decided they’d rather put some extra money into the home they intended to live in for a long time (while also adding in a few renter-friendly touches). Here’s what Lily and Evan did, and how renters with a little less freedom can get the look.

Lily and Evan paid pros to remove the dingy, torn linoleum tiles and install vinyl plank flooring throughout the whole apartment, which cost $4,000 total. That sounds like a hefty price, but compared with the cost of moving to a new apartment, the couple says they still came out ahead.

Nervous about taking on such a big, expensive project as a renter? One ultra-quick way to deal with ugly flooring is to cover it with a beautiful rug.

Yes, paint is a relatively affordable and easy way to transform a space, but it’s a lot less reversible on cabinets than it is on walls (especially for cabinets that started out as a wood tone). The process of painting the kitchen cabinets was painstaking, but the new white color made the whole space feel much brighter.

For renters who can’t paint cabinets, contact paper can provide a similar look while also being much easier to reverse.

Tearing out cabinets and replacing them with open shelves would have been a big project (and definitely not reversible). Instead, Lily and Evan decided to create an open shelving look by removing the doors from a couple of the cabinets, which puts pretty dishes on display. If they need to, they can add the cabinet doors back with a few screws.

The blue-and-white wallpaper adds a hit of color to the otherwise white space, and it’s a project you can copy whether you’re renting or not. Follow this pro peel-and-stick advice for the best results.