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We fell in love with our condo for its roomy, pre-war format and for the sunshine; on a sunny fall day, the Sixth-floor house was flooded with solar and tough to say no to. What we didn’t love a lot was the galley kitchen. It was roomy sufficient, certain, however the restricted cupboards and counter area left quite a bit to be desired for 2 avid house cooks. Nonetheless, the pass-through window from the kitchen to the eating room acquired us pondering — earlier than we knew it we had been signing the lease, arranging for movers, and planning our very personal rental kitchen renovation.
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How We Determined to Replace Our Rental Kitchen
As ill-advised as a rental kitchen renovation sounds, we determined it was price it for a number of causes. First, the mathematics labored. By transferring in collectively, my accomplice and I might be saving $900 per thirty days. We reasoned that was cash we might earmark for house enhancements — together with an up to date kitchen.
As a result of we conferred with our landlord earlier than making any modifications, we additionally felt assured that we wouldn’t should undo our renovations once we ultimately moved out. Presumably most significantly, although, we knew that cooking was such an vital a part of our house lives that we couldn’t think about not upgrading our kitchen.
So, we began trying into our choices.
Our Rental Kitchen Renovation: IKEA Cupboards and Formica Counter tops
We knew immediately that we needed IKEA cupboards. Inexpensive, versatile, and easy-to-install, IKEA cupboards are the best way to go for therefore many kitchen remodels. We selected the SEKTION line and, as a result of our current storage was largely cupboards, we went with all drawers, a call I might make again and again (and over) once more.
We additionally knew that we needed to create a breakfast bar on the opposite facet of the pass-through window. There was a small countertop already there, however we needed one thing extra substantial.
What we didn’t know was what sort of countertop we needed. We considered butcher block, we checked out marble and quartz remnants, after which we determined to go along with formica. If it hadn’t been a rental kitchen, we wouldn’t have even thought of formica. But it surely had a number of issues going for it.
For starters, it was cheaper and quicker than the opposite choices on the market — by quite a bit. For a earlier kitchen, I had rescued an oblong piece of marble for round $600, reducing and set up included, so I assumed we’d be capable to discover a salvage yard in Brooklyn that will do all of it for round $1000. I used to be flawed. Our estimates had been within the $1500 to $2500 vary for remnants and butcher block, and the wait, whereas not offensively lengthy, wasn’t insignificant.
Our formica counter tops price $700 all in and we might get them put in in per week. In fact, formica is a less expensive materials, however one more reason the formica counter tops had been low cost and quick was as a result of our landlord had a prepared provide of formica readily available and a go-to crew able to measure and set up.
We additionally appreciated the concept of our counter tops matching, even when they wouldn’t have been our first selection, and we appreciated that our landlord was a part of the method.
The ultimate contact was including knobs and pulls (to match the brand new knobs and pulls) to the outdated cupboards to attempt to tie every thing collectively much more.
In the end, we doubled our counter area and our cupboard area for round $1,500 (slightly bit much less if my calculations are proper). A 12 months later, after many breakfasts eaten, cocktails served, meals prepped, and kitchen necessities saved, we might 100% do it once more.
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