Misguided Kitchen

Rejuvenating the Rental Kitchen

One of the most challenging decorating projects is a rental kitchen. In competitive rental markets, it's in the landlord's best interest to have everything neutral, clean, and nice-looking; in which case, you could simply decorate with accessories to bring out your style. However, if you are unlucky enough to find yourself in a dingy apartment with old, sometimes tacky fixtures, that you still can't change, you may feel defeated. Don't be. With some imagination and ingenuity, you can brighten up a sad kitchen, and take it all with you, your damage deposit still intact.

Let's take this hypothetical rental kitchen as an example. This kitchen was given white melamine cabinets in the early eighties. The white cabinets are now kind of yellow with hints of the previous tenant's artwork on them, and a couple don't hang or close properly. Also, some of the hardware has been lost or broken over the years and no longer matches. The counters are beige, but the Formica is dented, burnt, chipped, peeling, you name it. The stove is avocado green. The fridge is harvest gold. And the piece-de-resistance is the indoor/outdoor low pile carpeting, yes carpeting, in a lovely shade of brown that graces the kitchen floor.

Here is what we did to our hypothetical kitchen. I sum it up in one compound word (or technically, two words), “Cover-up”. First, let's leave this mishmash of shame, and go shopping!
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Our first item is a vinyl shower curtain. If you can, go where they will have the most variety for under $20. The curtain should have a full continuous pattern with at least a little of the same colors as your appliances, be partially to mostly opaque, and have a style that really appeals to you. You will need two shower curtains (no hooks necessary). In our case, we chose a floral pattern with bright red poppies on it.

Next we go to the kitchen department for vinyl place mats. They should look good next to your shower curtains, and not cost more than $2 or $3 each. Get 4 to 8 of them. While you are in the kitchen department, pick up a couple of non-slip grip shelf liners. They come in a variety of colors, but since ours will be under something opaque, we are getting almond colored ones to blend in with the beige countertop.

In the shelving department of your local hardware store, lumber yard, or home improvement store, you should be able to pick up a 5/8 inch thick slab of particle board, either already covered in a melamine surface or plain in a 2 x 3 foot size. It should cost about $25 dollars. If the particle board is plain or in a finish that you don't like, You can pick up some contact paper in a wide variety of designs for about $5 per roll in the same area where you picked up the shelf liners.

While in the hardware department, pick up some wood filler (a small tube or yogurt size container is fine) for $3, along with a standard size flat head screw driver, a standard size phillips head screwdriver, a metal yard stick, 1" wide blue painters tape (NOT masking tape, $4), clear tape, a sharp scissors, a roll of magnetic tape (3/4"x30" for $3), and a small utility knife.

Now to look for knobs. I would suggest single knobs for the cupboards, and coordinating pulls for the drawers. In our example, we need 8 knobs and 4 pulls. In the case of the drawers, it would be a good idea to bring a pull handle with you so you can match the screw holes exactly. We found knobs we liked for $1.50 each and pulls for $2 each.

When you remove the old knobs and pulls, screw the screws back into them and store them away in a clearly marked container. This way you can put the old hardware back on when you leave, and you can take your own pretty knobs with you.
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We are now ready to assemble our new kitchen. First remove the cupboard doors. It's very important to keep all of the hinges and screws with their corresponding doors in the same locations they came from, as in top hinge stays on top, etc. This will help to make sure the cabinets hang back up correctly. With everything taken apart and organized, fill in all the holes in the cabinets and the doors with wood filler. Level off and let dry. Be sure to wash off any mess left on the cabinets before the wood filler dries. The wood filler in the holes will give the hinges a new surface to screw into and should tighten the cabinets up a bit.

Now it's time to start the “cover-up”. In our case the hypothetical cabinets are flat, so covering is easy.

Lay the cabinet on inside of the spread-out shower curtain with the pattern in the desired direction and measure three inches extra all the way around. If the shower curtain is completely opaque, you need to measure carefully for the holes to put the hardware back in. If the curtain is slightly translucent so you can still see the filled-in holes through the curtain, it's not such an issue. In our case, our cabinets used to have pulls. We are replacing them with single knobs, so we will only need the lower hole in the door. When you move out, you will put the old hardware back in, so that hole won't be seen. Wrap the cabinet door like you are wrapping a present, taping the shower curtain to the inside with the painters tape.

With the tip of the utility knife, pierce the vinyl over the screw holes you will be using. Then, using your sharp scissors, carefully cut a small hole.

On the inside of the door, the hole should be slightly larger than the head of the screw(s) you will be using. On the outside of the door, the hole should be slightly bigger than the actual hole, but smaller than the handle part that will cover it. Doing this will keep the screws from twisting the shower curtain when you reassemble the cabinets.

Now, screw the hardware back onto the cabinets. If you don't care what the inside of your cabinets look like, you're done wrapping. For a more finished look, cut out another piece of shower curtain slightly smaller than the cabinet, and cut around the hinge hardware. Lay over the inside of the cabinet, covering all of the painters tape, and tape in place with any clear tape (scotch tape is fine. Packing tape is stronger). The neater you do this second part the better. If the tape bunches up, remember, it's on the INSIDE of the cabinet, so it's no big deal.

You can either repeat the same process with the drawers, or do what we did in our example, and cover the drawer fronts with alternating place mat designs. Cut the place mat the same size as the drawer front. Mark the holes on the back of the place mat with the back of the drawer pull. Puncture carefully with the utility knife, making the hole slightly larger than the screw hole, but smaller than the handle part that will cover it. Attach the place mat to the drawer front with either double sided tape or folded-under painters tape.

Now let's tackle the counter top. First, lay the anti-slip shelf liner down. This is to protect the old counter top from further damage. Next, simply lay the new piece of particle board over the top, and you're done. Treat this counter like you would any Formica counter top, using pot holders and cutting boards like you know you should. Because it's higher, you will need to remove it every once in a while to clean away any debris or spills that fall underneath and behind it.

If you need something lighter, you can always purchase 12 x 12 porcelain or ceramic floor tiles for a couple of bucks a piece (if you splurge for stone tile, they obviously cost about 200% more), and simply lay them on the shelf liner without grout or glue (treat them like so many trivets). You could also lay out several cutting boards in the same fashion.

Now for the mismatched appliances. Remember the place mats? Take that roll of magnetic tape and cut pieces about 2 inches long. Attach the sticky side to the back of the place mats. Put the place mats on the front and sides of the appliances. NOTE: Remember to remove the place mat from the stove and set aside when you are baking or broiling.

You can get as creative as you want with the place mats. Cut them into fun shapes. Cut holes in them and use them as picture frames. Have fun. The object is not necessarily to completely cover the mismatched appliances; rather, to coordinate them and integrate them into the rest of the design.

Now, to cover that yucky carpet. There are several options in this case, depending on your motivation, skill, and budget. The easiest and cheapest would be to cover it with another carpet remnant more suited to your design and taste. You can also get a large, natural fiber area rug that would neutralize the floor, such as sisal or sea grass. If you are handy with a radial arm saw, you can purchase a floating laminate floor that goes right over the carpet, and can be easily removed when you move. We chose a multicolored Berber carpet remnant.
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Accessories can go a long way to completing this space, such as artwork, potted plants, cook books, and mixing bowls. Total cost for our hypothetical rental kitchen: $175.
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