DIY-Friendly Kitchen Repairs to Quickly Spruce Up Your Flip
Flipping a home to sell or rent is often about taking a shabby-looking house and sprucing up. A house with “good bones” still has a sound structure. It may have good insulation, well-built cabinetry, and a welcoming floorplan but the surfaces have become shabby and the style may be dated. This shows especially in the kitchen where people want to fall in love with a modern, charming space.
The question is: How can you quickly DIY an older kitchen to make your flip more appealing without busting your renovation budget? Fortunately, we have several ideas that will bring your flip to life and transform the kitchen into a space that new buyers or renters will love.
1) Replace Small Kitchen Hardware
You don’t have to rebuild your kitchen to modernize the hardware. In fact, kitchen hardware is one of the smallest yet most impactful ways to update your kitchen. Choose a new kitchen faucet such as a swan-necked pot filler with an extending hose for washing. Choose your favorite style of faucet handles. Then update your cabinets with a pack of new drawer-pulls and cabinet handles.
2) Repaint Your Cabinets and Trim
Paint is one of the most affordable ways to completely transform your kitchen. You can also invest in vibrant (and washable) wallpaper for the parts of your kitchen with exposed drywall. A fresh coat of paint can give your cabinets and trim an entirely new color scheme. You can choose a new primary theme, accent colors, and contrasting colors.
3) Strip and Stain Cabinets Instead
If you have painted cabinets, you can strip the paint and then restore the natural wood hues of your cabinetry. You can oil-polish the wood, or you can stain your wood cabinets to any natural shade you desire. Reseal the stained cabinets for a warm, welcoming look. If your cabinets are currently wood, you can stain them a new shade or paint them instead.
4) Re-Tile Your Backsplash
Your backsplash makes a big impact on the appearance of your kitchen. Many types of tile are quite affordable, making a new backsplash a great addition to any budget kitchen renovation.
5) Install New Decorative Molding and Cabinet Trim
You can even change the shape and style of your cabinets and kitchen design with the strategic use of molding and trim pieces. Trim pieces can add detail to your cabinets and subtly change their design style. Molding adds subtle elegance to your kitchen near the baseboards and ceiling. Explore shapes and style differences that you might prefer.
6) Place New Shades On Your Light Fixtures
You can also reinvent your existing light fixtures. most kitchen lighting can be completely transformed just by changing out which light shade you use. If the fixture is of standard sizes, you can swap out light covers for a completely different style. You can restyle flush lights, pendant lights, and even some chandelier styles.
7) Color Stain and Reseal Stone Countertops
Did you know that you can change the color of your countertops? While we don’t recommend painting beautiful natural stone, you can color stain granite and other natural stone to give your countertop a whole new look without investing in new stone. Strip the current countertop seal, apply the stain, and then reseal your stone to protect it from moisture and unwanted staining.
8) Update Your Pantry Organization
Pantry renovations are very popular, but don’t have to break the bank. Consider ways you can update your pantry organization without a costly new pantry system. You can install sliding wire drawers, new hanging shelves, and sectional spaces on your own. You can also update your pantry simply by organizing everything into baskets, trays, and matching dry storage canisters.
New Kitchen, New House
The kitchen is the heart of any home. The freshness and modern style of a kitchen can strongly sway buyers or renters which means focusing on kitchen updates with any flip. These DIY projects can help you completely change the look and feel of an older kitchen while keeping all the sturdy hardware and ergonomic flow of the original design
Leaf Management can help you choose the right renovations for your flip along with many other strategies to ensure every real estate investment has greater profit potential. Contact us today to learn more.