Kitchen Beautification, Part 2

So now that I've outlined what I currently have, I'm going to get right into what I would change in my kitchen. Before that though, I found out yesterday that my apartment really has not been updated at all for 45 years. I was looking to see if any condos in my building were for sale, and one was, the ad for which stated it had been owned by the same owner since 1965 (the building was built in 1964). The pictures showed the identical kitchen cabinets, sink, counter, bathroom vanity, medicine cabinet, pink tile, you name it. Although they did replace the fridge and stove, which I'm beginning to think mine are still from 1964. I think I have a little ammo now if I want to convince my landlord she should redo the kitchen.

I think the place to start with the kitchen is the appliances. They are the most major and costly element and can set the tone for the entire kitchen. There are two basic options here, either replacing or refinishing in some way. In my opinion, especially if they are 45 years old, they need to be replaced. I don't think either of them work very well at all, and I think this is my best bet. I did a little checking, and the minimum I could get a new fridge and stove for would be around $700, so I don't know how my landlord will feel about that. So my backup plan is to refinish them. I did a little research and there are a couple of different ways this can be accomplished. I will just stick to the basics, but it is possible to be creative here, as I've posted before.

Option 1 is to paint with appliance paint. This one is ideal, as there aren't a lot of options that work with a range top, but it is possible to get heat resistant appliance paint. This can be messy and time consuming, and given my attention to detail, especially when painting, may not be the best for me. It's nice though because it gives a wide range of color and finish options. This is fairly inexpensive and I could probably do the whole project for under $50.

Option 2 is a variation on the painting, and involves liquid stainless steel. This is basically resin with tiny particles of stainless steel in it, and it seems like a good product, but I think it's pretty apparent it's not really stainless steel in the zoomed out picture. I'm not entirely sure I want to go with stainless steel anyway, but I'll keep it on the list. It would be a little more expensive than the appliance paint, but still reasonable.


Option 3 also involves the stainless steel look, but it's really a contact paper type solution called SoftMetal Faux Stainless Steel Film. I was really impressed with the pictures on the website, so I ordered a sample sheet of it to see what it looks like in person. It is probably the most expensive option of the 3, but still well under $100 to redo both the fridge and the stove. The issue with this option though, is that it is heat resistant enough to cover the front of the oven, but not for the range top, so the top of the stove would still be hideously almond-colored. I would have to do some soft of combination here with the appliance paint or the liquid stainless steel. Another cool thing about the film is that it is essentially mess-free, and bends around surfaces easily. If I went this route, I would probably recover the counter-top as well with this material.


Here is a better picture of the floor, which is my limiting factor. It definitely has a warm tone to it, which is what makes me hesitant about bringing in the cool-colored stainless steel.

So there you have it folks, the many options for my fridge and stove. Ideally, I will be able to replace them, but even then I have to decide what I want them to look like. Seeing as how the floor is the one element I want to keep, I want it to blend as best as possible with that, and I'm not sure how I feel about the stainless look with the floor. Seeing as how my usual indecision is coming through, I decided to put the decision to my readers, so please let me know what you think in the poll!


*If you pick other, please leave a comment saying what you think.

Stay tuned next time around for the cabinet options!

(Photos courtesy of: 1 & 2 - Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel, 3 & 4 - Glass Decor and More)