Next up in the bungalow rental property – the kitchen and bathroom. (Check out the living room/dining room and outside updates.)
Here’s the kitchen. Before, it had very old base cabinets in a lovely shade of light yellow. No upper cabinets to be seen.What we did:
- Ripped out the base cabinets and dumped them. They were quite disgusting.
- Took out the fluorescent lighting and added can lighting. Budget: Can lighting is cheap, but looks nice.
- Instead of taking down the paneling and faux-brick (not shown in the above pic), we just painted over them in a neutral shade. It turned out making the room look much bigger and brighter.Bought a set of 20-or-so cabinets from Craigslist. They weren’t in the best shape, but they were solid. We used about 8 of them, and sold the rest of them in the yard sale. Budget: Buy used. Sell what you cannot use.
- Installed the cabinets and painted them a shade of off-white. Budget: Paint is cheap.
- Added hardware that was given to us by the in-laws. Budget: Free is good.
- Considered purchasing used appliances. However, Lowe’s was having a 6-months-no-payments-no-interest deal. So, we purchased very inexpensive appliances there and are using the rental income to pay for them. We also think they may be less likely to have problems in the near future.
- Did I mention we cleaned? Big time.
And, while we don’t have a before shot of the bathroom – here’s the after shot. (While my husband has countless talents – like being able to work any tool, lift anything, fix everything, renovate two entire houses and deal with me – photography isn’t his forte. He only took 6 before shots. Lesson learned – I will take before shots going forward.)
We were able to salvage almost everything in this room, including the tub and vanity.
What we did:
- Painted right over the faux tile (top half of walls). They originally had hideous pink roses on them. Painting covered this up and cleaned up the whole room. The bottom was also painted a neutral color. I honestly don’t even remember what color it was originally. Green? I don’t know. My dad actually painted most of this house. He pretty much rocks. Budget: Paint is cheap.
- Replaced the toilet with one that was given to us. It was almost new. Budget: We love free things.
- Cleaned everything really well. That’s all most of it needed.
What do you think? Would you be able to live in the little house?
Did you like this post?
We'd love to send you more inspiration and encouragement for your home. When you sign up below, we'll send you our free guide to save thousands on your next home project. Because your home shouldn't own you.
nk-aquarius.blogspot.fr says
I amm really enjoying the theme/design of your web site.
Do yyou ever run int any web browser compatibility issues?
A few of my blog visittors hae complained about myy sitte not operating correctly in Explorer but looks
great in Safari. Do you have any tips to help fix this problem?
blackfriday says
Informative article, totally what I wanted to
find.
Emily says
I’m so impressed (and just catching up on your week of posts). Love the kitchen cabinets – Craigslists, eh? I’ll have to keep that in mind. You guys are amazing.
Stephanie says
guess i missed the rental home announcement. looks great, of course i’d live in anything you redid 🙂 what an accomplishment (nice to have a lil extra income too) do yall have renters lined up?
Laurel @ Ducks in a Row says
You guys are awesome – fun to have something you can work on together.
Allison and Jared says
Looks great! I’m jealous of your handy husband!!
Lindsey says
I am in love with those gorgeous white kitchen cabinets!!!