Kitchen cabinets! HELP!
New Parsanage
HELP!Need some help, moved into a new parsonage, new for us that is.Kitchen cabinets from the 70's laminate covered. Thinking of putting laminate brighter colored on it. Will it stay or fall off. Husband says don't paint it will look awful as the cabinets have that Drk. wood Spanish wood finish-laminate on it. Any ideas would help. Found some nice shelf lining will this work? The minister's wife before me, also put pink wall paper, any ideas how to get it off. It's pealing. Should I try putting on wall paper after I take off the other layers. What do I take it off with, something I don't need to buy at the store. My husband said not to paint the walls afterwards, never the same after you take the wall paper on a trailer. I guess he should know, he has lived in them before. Forgot to mention this is a trailer. Sure miss my large Southwest Kitchen with huge island. But it's worth leaving the city for beautiful rural country.Any ideas you can give will help. Thank you in advance for your assistance and ideas. Elizabeth
I cant find a name
About the cabinets, I don't think that if you put laminate on top of laminate if would fall off, now if you decide to paint it then you would need a good primer, but I wouldn't trust it, I would rather go with the laminate. About the wallpaper, I can't even see wallpaper anymore, I spend hours and days and months taking down a hideous wallpaper when I bought my house. I used a wallpaper remover called DIF (you can also use warm water) and it works fine, only problem was that the wall was not finish before they put the wallpaper and it practically became part of the wall! Im talking about plaster walls in your case youre better off finding out what type of wall youre going to deal with.Good Luck!
ju-ju
If your cabinets are in good condition, and don't have any of the laminate peeling off (if it is peeling..try to reattach it with a warm iron), a really good high adhesive primer and several coats of a quality paint is probably your safest and most inexpensive option. As a matter of fact, last year my mom moved into an older home which was reno'd in the 70's...and had dark wood laminate cabinets. She painted them a crisp clean white, and removed the doors from many of the upper cabinets, painted some bead board panels an accent color (a soft sage green) and put them on the wall in the back of the cabinets (this would hide your wallpaper issue!). A fresh coat of paint on the walls and new hardware on the cabinet doors & drawers and it looks great! The only real expenses were: a new laminate countertop, a tiled backsplash and 2 new lighting fixtures. Looks like a whole new kitchen!
catwoman708
My first suggestion is that you learn to live with this temporarily, and pray very hard for your husband and the growth of the church. As the church grows, so will their budget and ability to afford a more presentable parsonage. I wouldn't bother getting too fancy, as your money and efforts will be wasted on a trailer from the 70's, as this one sounds a little past it's prime (they only have a "shelf life" of 20-25 yrs). My second suggestion is to work with what you have, the best you can. I agree that you should not try to paint over laminate, so just clean them up and line them with shelf or contact paper. If the cabinets are dingy inside, and there is visible wall, then paint what you can, and line the rest to brighten them up. You might consider replacing just the doors. Test a spot on the laminate to see if it can be sanded, primed, and painted. If it can, you might could take off all the doors, paint what shows of the cabinets, and put on new doors. One time my aunt glued mirrors on her cabinet doors, then built little wooden frames around the edge, an made them look like windows. They looked great but I have no idea how much work it was, or how much it cost, she was just determined to do it.Removing the wallpaper will be a tedious chore, but just keep at it. You will need a scraper, a scoring tool (or something to scratch up the surface of the wallpaper without gouging the wall), and some wall paper remover (or an all-purpose cleaner mixed with very hot water sometimes works). Score the paper, soak it good with the remover or cleaning solution, and let it soak in. Then start scraping, careful not to gouge the wall. This takes a lot of patience and elbow grease if the paper is stubborn, and might take you days. When done, clean the wall of gunk and little scraps of paper as best you can, maybe with a Scotch Brite pad. When the wall is dry, sand it lightly to smooth it down. Then clean the wall of any leftover residue from the sanding, with a lightly damp sponge or rag.You can either re-paper the walls, or retexture them and paint (I'd suggest a coat of primer and one or two coats of paint). The guys in the drywall section of the home improvement store will help tell you what you need to re-texture. A good cleaning, a fresh coat of paint or wallpaper, cleaning the carpets, sprucing up the outside with a good pressure wash or coat of paint, fixing up the porch area, and keeping up the yard are the best things you can do to brighten up the place. If you have company, chances are they'll only see the outside/front porch, living/kitchen areas, and possibly the bathrooms, so I'd concentrate on those areas.Being a minister's wife is kind of like being in the military, you have to go where you're called. So "bloom where you're planted", because it's likely only temporary.
Donnacogs
Looks like good advice about painting the cabinets. Lowes carries a cabinet paint-high gloss white which is only for kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I just did an old old dresser with it and it looks wonderful. But definitely prime with Kilz first.You can take wall paper down with hot water and fabric softener-about half and half. But only do a section at a time. As long as it is wet-the paper comes off fairly easy. We just finished our kitchen and with no wall paper and a fresh coat of paint it looks like a new room/good luck.
ju-ju
I'm certainly no expert on the topic of wall paper, but, if the paper that is up now is in good shape and is firmly attached to the wall, can't you put fresh wall paper (in a pattern that suits your taste) over it? If not, I have heard that using a spray bottle with a mixture of warm water, liquid fabric softener and a scraper works well. or you can rent a steamer from any rental or hardware store. Perhaps hanging a new paper with a little texture on it could hide any problems that were underneath? A grasscloth? Or perhaps those textured wall papers that you are meant to paint over? I understand Cat's thoughts that you should live with it a while, but, that would be difficult for me, so I say, "go for it". Make your new temporary home comfortable for you and your family. The next minster's wife will thank you too!
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