DIY Kitchen Cabinet Makeover for Renters

When we first moved to New York, we counted ourselves pretty lucky that we had a few square feet to our names and a sink large enough to wash dishes. We were really lucky to have had the apartment we got, but after a year of living there, it was time to try and find a bit bigger place that we could be comfortable in for more than 1 year. Our new place is incredible… except for one thing. The kitchen cabinets are SO AWFUL that I want to run into our landlord’s office like the Hulk and scatter all of his papers onto the floor. The cabinets are rotten, they’re old but not the cool old, and they’re warped. I racked my brain to figure out a non-permanent way to make them look better and I thought it’d be cool to buy contact paper and cover them.

Here’s what the cabinets looked like right when we moved in.

And if you’re thinking, “Huh, these aren’t that bad Stacie,” I give you exhibit A, which exists on other parts of the cabinets and counter as well:

I actually tried calling our landlord to get them replaced, but he wouldn’t budge. Also, he’s a pretty scary guy who yells in the phone a lot so going into his office and acting like the Hulk probably won’t get very far. I told him that the bottom cabinet doors are warped at the bottom and the top counter is missing chunks… But no deal. (Welcome to NYC livin’!) 🙂

Adele and Sean thought it was funny how I was reacting to these cabinets, but they made me so ANGRY every time I looked at them. So one Saturday while Sean was studying, Adele and I recovered them all.

I searched and searched the Internet for cool contact paper, but most are just the weird stuff that you put inside drawers. I finally chose this contact paper on Amazon from Issac Mizrahi:

To put the contact paper on the cabinets, Adele and I took off all of the cabinet doors and put the paper on as a team.

Screwing the doors back in…

We’ve had the paper on for about two months now, and it’s working really well! It doesn’t look like it will peel off at all and when we do want it to come off, it will come off easily.

I’m a big believer in fixing something if it makes your home even the slightest bit more magical. We spend so much time in our homes, might as well put some contact paper on grubby cabinets if you’ve got ’em. 🙂