24-Hour Kitchen Renovation | DIY $200 Budget

Welcome to my crappy little kitchen! Featuring 1980s melamine cabinets falling off their hinges, old appliances in the running for a new Guinness world record, and stained laminate counters.

J and I bought our house at the end of last summer. Living in the DC metro area is competitive, especially since we wanted to live within a couple of miles of my dad and brother. So when our house came on the market for $40k less than other houses in the same area, we jumped on it. As you can imagine, that price tag is there for a reason. The kitchen is incredibly dated as are all the appliances. Our first real renovation focus is on adding a full second bath so I needed a cheap facelift to hide the beige cabinets and the stained laminate counters.

I recruited my oldest friend, Kim, to come to help me with giving my kitchen a facelift. She came over bright and early with her dog gate (to keep the pups out of the kitchen) so we could have a full day of kitchen makeovers. Originally we were supposed to have the house to ourselves since my husband was going out of town to a bachelor party, but something went awry and the bachelor party ended up at my house for the entire weekend. So while my friend and I were doing a ton of work, we had that to deal with. I do not recommend doing this while a wild bachelor party going on in your basement but back to the actual process…

Kim found a blog post by the Handyman’s Daughter where she painted her melamine cabinets that looked exactly like mine. Her post has a free print out that we referenced during this process. I recommend reading that but also read on to learn my tips and a broken down timeline to complete this project.

What you’ll need:

1. Rustoleum cabinet paint set and primer. Oil primer is best for cabinets, latex rubs off.

2. Contact paper in the design of your choice and sandpaper

3. Separate brushes for primer and paint plus drop cloths. I recommend having a narrow painter’s brush also for the edges of your cabinets.

4. Razor or box cutter and a credit card.

5. A good friend to help you, beer, and your inventory of expletives.

Before you start, I highly recommend reading the instructions included with your cabinet paint kit. It will tell you exactly what you need to do and neither the Handyman Daughter’s printout or my tips below will give you the exact details you need to use the kit. I’m just outlining to give you an indication of the time commitment, level of effort, and tips I learned along the way.

Step 1: Prep for painting

Clean all your surfaces thoroughly. Using the deglosser solution in your kit, really get in there and clean everything. Afterward, lightly sand your cabinets and wipe clean.

Next, ensure your counters, floor, and appliances are covered by drop cloths. I recommend having another space to paint the cabinet doors since you will be taking them off. My pro tip is to number the inside of each door (using painters tape and a sharpie) so that you know where they go once you are done.

Take the cabinet doors off and set up a second location where the doors can be safe while painting. We used my laundry room which is surprisingly large for the age of this house.

Finally, tape around the boxes and any edges you don’t plan to paint. To save time, I did not paint the inside of my cabinet doors so, in retrospect, I should have taped the back of cabinets, particularly where the handles are.

Step 2: Prime, Optimus.

Primer is also horribly smelly so make sure you have all your windows open and fans going to prevent dizzy spells. Using one brush, prime the boxes and doors of your cabinets. Make sure to apply an even coat and be careful of dust and hair- primer is very sticky. This will render the brush you’re using useless moving forward so just be sure you have a second for the paint. Allow time to dry before moving on to the paint. At this point in my day, Kim and I stopped for lunch to give the primer extra time to dry.

Step 3: Paint

Kim and I tackled different areas of the kitchen to speed things along. She focused on the box edges in the front of the cabinet boxes using the artist’s paintbrush. This is more detailed and if you go too fast you’ll get erroneous paint marks everywhere. While she did that, I painted the faces of all the cabinets set up in another room. By the time I finished, she was ready to paint the edges of the cabinet doors, and I went to the kitchen to paint the boxes. Teamwork makes the dream work people.

We applied two coats of paint to everything, taking a beer break in between coats. Then hours later comes the protective top-coat. For the topcoat, I recommend a very thin application if you are painting your cabinets white. This stuff will turn your cabinets yellow over time if you apply it too thick, something I learned during my deep dive into YouTube research. From my experience, the thin coat has kept my cabinets protected and after about 6 months of use, it has not yellowed yet! There is one area around one of the handles that, at the time I knew I used too much topcoat and sure enough, I can tell it’s starting to yellow.

Step 4: The counters

This is where you break out the Exacto knife and credit card. Just to be clear, you WILL have visible seams, but with this pattern, it’s not noticeable unless you’re looking for it. The corner to the left of my sink is like a Frankenstein of seams, but my drying rack lives overtop there so it’s not visible.

My recommendation while laying this stuff is to go slowly and peel the back of the contact paper as you are laying it on the countertop. It helps prevent bubbles. Take a credit card and smooth as you go. Do your best to minimize the overlap so the seam is less noticeable.

Once everything is dry, reattach the doors, peel off the painter’s tape and enjoy your new kitchen!

What did your 24-hour timeline look like?

This is a lot of work to be done in a span of 24 hours, especially the hours needed to let things dry. But, I assure you that I did complete this project in the timeframe stated, largely due to the help of Kim.

8 AM – Saturday Morning. Kim arrived and we began prepping. I applied the deglosser while she followed me removing the deglosser. Things continued in a similar manner trying to cut down unnecessary downtime

12 PM – Stopped for lunch after having finished prepping and priming the cabinets. We were letting it dry and taking a much-needed break.

1 PM – We started working again, painting everything. Stopping only to have a beer while we let the one coat dry.

4 PM – We finished two coats of paint and began on the countertops.

5:30 PM – Kim left for the day to go spend time with her hubby. I continued on the counters.

8 PM – I completed the counters, which was difficult without help and while a bachelor party was going on around me. I stopped for dinner then went to apply the topcoat on all the cabinet boxes and doors.

11 PM – I was finally done! The bachelor party had moved on from the house to the Taking Back Sunday concert going on at the nearby Filmore. At this point in the day, I’m unsure of what year it is given the band and the fumes I’d been inhaling all day. I was absolutely exhausted.

8 AM – Sunday Morning. I reattach all the doors and snap this picture. Pride swells through me as a homeowner and all my efforts were totally worth it. I sent Kim the picture and thanked her again for helping me cause she’s the real MVP. Not many would sacrifice a whole Saturday to help with such a laborious task. What a trooper!

But how is it holding up?

I’m writing this post 6 months after the fact. I had doubts about my DIY capabilities but I must say, even a newbie like me could handle this project. The contact paper is holding up REALLY well. Seriously, holy crap, is this stuff magic? I’ve abused my counters over the last 6 months and this paper still is shiny and new-looking. I highly recommend this for renters because from what I can tell, it doesn’t hurt the surface underneath either. The thin layer of topcoat is also doing well, I’m able to clear muddy paw prints, miscellaneous cooking goo, and other colorful substances off with ease. I typically use a wet microfiber cloth and dish soap just so it’s a little more gentle on the surface.

10/10 Would Recommend

I think this project was definitely worth it for the price, time, and knowledge needed. It’s no walk in the park but if you are looking for a budget-friendly way to get your retro kitchen into a more modern time, this is the way to do it. Great Scott!

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