Renter-Friendly Kitchen Update
The small kitchen in my house is dated and poorly laid out, but ultimately it is functional enough - certainly it’s larger than the last two apartment kitchens I had. Because of this, and because of the cost, the kitchen renovation got pushed off. I prioritized the roof, both bathrooms (one is currently complete, the other to come shortly), and little things to make living here nicer like deep cleaning, painting all the rooms, changing light fixtures, etc. A full kitchen renovation (new cabinets, layout, appliances, I might even move a door) will come in 2021 but in the meantime being at home during quarantine has highlighted all the little pain points about the current kitchen.
It’s ugly - the floors and counters showed a ton of wear and damage when I moved in. It feels quite dark because the dark cabinets aren’t brightened by anything else in the room. And lastly, the lack of dishwasher was really starting to wear on us now that we were eating 3 meals a day plus snacks & coffee at home. We decided to purchase a portable dishwasher and then I used some leftover materials from other projects supplemented with a few new purchases to update the space to tide us over until the full renovation!
Initial Update: floors & walls
When we first moved in we did a few things right off the bat! First, we cleaned and repainted the walls to cover up that interesting blue, then I added stick-down vinyl tile so the floors would match throughout the main floor and be easier to clean. We also removed some extra shelves and things scattered around.
Kitchen on October 25, 2019
Kitchen on December 5, 2019
Kitchen on September 7, 2020
The floors are the only part of this update that I would say is potentially not renter-friendly, but if you’re interested and the floors in your rental are in bad shape I would encourage you to ask your landlord! The flooring for this room cost about $150 and took only a few hours to install. It was peel-and-stick and could be cut with scissors but it feels durable and warm underfoot. Many landlords would probably agree to cover the cost of materials if you were willing to do the labour on this.
Portable Dishwasher & faucet
This is something I highly encourage anyone to consider if you, like me, dislike doing dishes. My partner and I debated this one for a long time knowing that a dishwasher would look a little awkward in the kitchen and take up quite a bit of space, but we’ve had it about a month now and it’s made our lives so much better. This is an awesome option if you live in a rental because when you move out you can take it to your next place, or sell it!
We paid $100 for this dishwasher on Facebook Marketplace and I think I can probably sell it for the same price when we’re done with it as long as we keep it in good shape. Used appliances like this can hold their value well as long as you’re keeping them clean and well-maintained, especially because a portable dishwasher isn’t really something people are looking for the newest bells and whistles on.
If you’re interested in learning more about portable dishwashers feel free to reach out!
Our faucet didn’t have the right threading to accept the dishwasher adaptor so I ended up splurging on a nice new matte black faucet from Amazon. This has a really nice move-able sprayer in addition to a standard faucet we could put the adaptor on and we’re really liking it. The install was a bit tricky as the spacing under the sink was tight and the existing fixture was rusted into place. With a bit of elbow-grease though I did get it swapped and this was my first time changing a faucet - if I can do it, you can do it! I also took the opportunity to remove the additional faucet that dispensed unsoftened water as we never used it and it was always in the way.
Counters & backsplash
I hadn’t actually planned to buy a house when I did so at the time I was planning an update to the kitchen in my rental apartment which was also very dated. I purchased stick-on backsplash tiles and marble contact paper for that apartment which I didn’t end up installing before I moved. Since these were lying around anyways I decided to put them to use freshening up this kitchen! I also replaced the electrical outlets and plates while I was at it for clean white ones.
This was my first time using SmartTiles and I am genuinely super impressed. I’m not sponsored in any way, I purchased the tiles myself, but I can highly recommend these even to beginner DIYers! I easily installed the backsplash in an afternoon. I will note that while these can be applied over many smooth surfaces, they may leave residue or remove paint if applied directly to drywall or plaster. If your rental has a tile or laminate backsplash like mine did though, feel free to apply on top and you’ll easily be able to remove and clean the surface when it’s time to move out!
For the countertops, I applied marble contact paper to brighten them up, match the backsplash and cover 80 years worth of burns and gouges on the surface. I also contact papered the countertop on the dishwasher just to make everything a little more cohesive. I’m going to be honest - this project was a pain. I’ve used contact paper before and I just don’t love it. I find that it’s VERY tricky to get a nice smooth application without air bubbles or wrinkles. That said, this pattern is very forgiving, and this isn’t my forever kitchen. I wouldn’t recommend contact paper as a permanent solution, but for a rental or a short-term update like mine I think it can be great. It certainly looks better than what I had before!
To finish up you ideally want to caulk the seams over your contact paper. This is definitely doable in a rental, you can strip the caulking and re-do it after removing contact paper before you move-out, but I also think you’d be fine without caulking if you were planning to leave within a year and didn’t want the extra trouble. Again when you move you can simply peel up the contact paper and give everything a good clean.
Everything else
As I was putting all this together I also decided to remove the handles from the drawers and cabinets and give them a fresh coat of paint with some champagne bronze I had lying around. I much prefer it to the cheap faux-chrome they were before. In a rental you could swap the handles instead of painting, I just wasn’t able to find any new ones with the same screw placement and I didn’t want to drill new holes.
I added some simple artwork and some wire baskets to the wall above the kitchen cart and dishwasher, the baskets are great for storing produce.
I also converted the original ironing board cupboard into a spice cabinet that holds our frequently used spices and oils. It’s a little messy but SUPER handy! I’m still trying to convince Ryan to let me keep it intact when we do the full renovation!
Kitchen on October 25, 2019
Kitchen on September 7, 2020
Budget breakdown
walls & floors
Paint Supplies - $40 (used a small portion of the Kilz primer and Valspar Swiss Coffee paint)
Vinyl Tile - $150 (purchased on clearance)
Quarter Round - $0 (reused existing)
portable dishwasher & faucet
Portable Dishwasher - $100 on Facebook Marketplace
Faucet - $137
counters & backsplash
Contact Paper - $56 for two 24” x 78” rolls
Backsplash Tiles (Similar) - $47.02 (bought on clearance in 2018, if you’re flexible on style and just keep a colour palette in mind you can usually find a sale!)
Caulk - $0 (had some lying around partially used from a previous project)
everything else
Baskets - $60
Frames/Art - $0 (old frames, some IKEA and some thrifted; printed open-source photos)
Beer Cap Map - gift
Spice Cabinet - $0 (used scrap materials)
Electrical outlets & plates - $6
Handle paint - $0 (leftover from previous projects)
Total: $556*
*$103 were the materials I purchased in 2018 for my old apartment but they’re included in this cost for transparency! I also expect to resell the dishwasher for around what we paid for it when we’re done with it.
