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sewcrazy
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| Posted: July 02 2008 at 9:05pm | IP Logged
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In the vein of a few other threads, I am also looking for suggestions. Last month we had new kitchen floor and cabinets on order. This month we were forced to cancel that order. We just can't afford the money out right now. My DH is self-employed and we took a large hit last month.
So I am back to a plywood floor. It doesn't really clean and is ruining my mops. I get so depressed and hate inviting people over. It never looks clean.
Then I have my cabinets: no doors on half of them, broken drawers, split seams, peeling veneers, molding bottoms. Again they can't be cleaned. The laminates are peeling off, so I can't even wipe them off or they peel more. The bases have absorbed water, so they are now rotting and smelly.
I don't want to sound whiney. I truly am looking for help in making do with what I have. I need this mess to look more pleasing to my very hard working dh, while I don't want to even go in there. 
How do I store stuff in my icky cabinets? How do I get rid of the stink? I wiped them down with bleach  but the smell comes back. The floor? I did paint it, and I guess I can again. But if is uneven, and rough.
I need a kick in the bottom. I have been feeling sorry for myself. A new kitchen is obviously not a need. All my appliances are working well. I can cook in it. So I need to stop whining and start dealing. Help Please!
LeeAnn
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LeeAnn
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 02 2008 at 9:35pm | IP Logged
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Here are a couple of things I have done in the past in similar situations.
Plywood floor:paint it with a few thick coats of floor (porch) paint. Lots cheaper than new flooring and it gives a fresh appearance, and cleans well.
Cabinets:remove the fronts (and bottoms if necessary) keeping only the frames. Paint them inside and out a good clean white (or other light, cheery color)if you can. Insert some of those plastic drawers (from target, Walmart, etc)and put your food, dishes, etc in them. That helps keep things clean and sanitary.
Then you can either leave them like that, or I once took some spare fabric (old floral sheets, I think), cut them to fit, and used a staple gun to make/attach pleated skirts for the base cabinets, covering all around the fronts. That took only a few minutes and when I was done all of the stuff was hidden behind cheery fabric.
It is a temporary fix, but can really brighten up a dreary kitchen.
Hope that helps some!
If it is any comfort, I have plywood floors in all of the rooms of my new house here in Fairbanks. We will be breaking out the floor paint soon!
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: July 02 2008 at 9:36pm | IP Logged
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LeeAnn, first, I have to say--whoa! I'm LeeAnn also (same spelling) AND my husband is also David. Thank goodness our children have different names. :)
Second, wow, I can only imagine how extremely trying it must be to have your kitchen in that condition. I'm feeling grumpy daily because we have two painting projects underway (laundry room and office) and the contents of said rooms all over the place, including half the kitchen counter. It makes cooking extremely challenging and we ended up moving our five year old's birthday party to a restaurant because of the mess here. (At which restaurant I had a horrible, unexplainable allergy attack--before I even ate anything!)
So, I sympathize.
Floor: what about polyurethane? Wouldn't that seal it and smooth it out? I know some people do deliberately choose to have plywood flooring (very modern styles). I think they coat it with a lot of poly.
Cabinets: Maybe a bold colored or floral Contac paper?
Stink: Try baking soda boxes, like in the fridge. Plus if your kids get into it they'll be OK.
Mold: Try spraying with vinegar? I'm not an expert. I would research it more if bleach isn't killing it.
Last: How about boxing up whatever you don't absolutely have to use right now? If you have room to take it into the garage you would have less things to look at in your doorless cabinets.
Also putting holy cards or beautiful magazine pictures inside your cabinets or even on the front of the doors if they're no good can be a mood-lifter. If you're going to replace the cabinets eventually you can go crazy and decoupage with modpodge, which is what I'm doing with my ugly closet doors. I'm using old calendars of Italy to give myself something nicer to look at than 20-year-old fake wood grain.
Hang in there! God provides what we really need...sooner or later!
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cathochick
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| Posted: July 02 2008 at 10:04pm | IP Logged
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Check Craigslist and local thrift stores or Habitat for Humanity stores for thrifted cabinet doors and flooring.
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juststartn
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| Posted: July 02 2008 at 10:07pm | IP Logged
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I'd remove the cabinet door fronts, if at all possible. Maybe use some cable and a wire, and use those curtain clips to attach pretty fabric/s to the front of the cabinets, right under the counter tops...like a giant skirted vanity. Walmart has decent fabric for $2/yd, or you could just find some plain white sheets, which can be bleached and hung out to dry, before reclipping onto the curtain rings....
The floor. I'd repaint it, put a design into it (to distract from the mess) and then poly it. Maybe stripes, like they use on old floors in Nantucket? I saw a pic of that in a Country Living mag I got yesterday. And if you wanted to get "fancy", you could paint in lines to make people think it was a painted wood floor...(well, it is wood, but ykwim, lol).
I'd match the curtains on the windows, to anything I put over the lower cabinets.
As for top cabinets, well, I'd recommend putting in the same fabric, and using the wire/hooks behind the inside of the doors...esp if you can get your DH to cut some square holes in the middle of the doors...maybe use some 1/4 or 1/2 round around those cuts...
Sorry I don't have any more advice for you. The baking soda idea is a good one. Get the big boxes of it at Walmart. Charcoal is also good. Maybe a dehumidifier?
Rachel
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Donna Marie
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I love the idea of porch paint...how about adding a stencil around the edges? Ask Our Lady for Her mothering touches...you never know what She can find for you...I did that once and I couldn't have made things match better in my house (It's all done in early garage sale...lol!)
I recently saw someone giving away a lot of solid oak doors and drawer fronts through our local freecycle...go to freecycle.org and sign up for your area and put up a wanted post for cabinets and such... You never know what great finds you may come up with!
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc +one more due 10/08!
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SallyT
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I second/third/fourth the porch paint. If you go to Cottage Living Online, you can find instructions and patterns for painting a cottage-style floor, with diamond patterns or anything you like. Or you can paint it just a solid color: blue, gray, sage-green, etc.
I like the curtain idea for the cabinets. You might try Tilex mold/mildew root killer on the mold -- it's nasty, bleachy stuff, but it does kill mold pretty thoroughly. There's not that much you can do about rotten wood in the long run, though a coat of paint can freshen things up at least in the short run, and it's a lot cheaper than new cabinets. I've also taken the doors off my top cabinets and painted them off-white, inside and out, for an open-shelving look, so that my dishes are part of the decor. Again, Cottage Living can be a great resource for make-do strategies that end up looking at least as pretty, and being at least as functional, as whatever you had originally wanted to do.
Sally
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Servant2theKing
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In addition to the great ideas already shared here, watch your local papers and ads for free or inexpensive cabinets from someone doing a kitchen remodel. You may even want to contact businesses that do remodeling and ask if they ever have castoff cabinets from the jobs they do...you may actually be doing them a favor by taking them off their hands.
I always pray to St. Anthony for help with finding things that won't tax our budget, yet help us create a warm, inviting home. The Cottage Living site looks great! The idea of praying to Our Lady is truly grace-filled...pictures I have seen of the Holy Family's dwelling place suggest they lived in much greater poverty and simplicity than we can imagine. As you scrub or paint your plywood floors, perhaps it would help to tell yourself it's better than dirt! Praying for Mary's heart of acceptance and embracing her obedience to the will of God truly does wonders for accepting whatever state we are in.
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: July 03 2008 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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Thank you so much for the ieas and encouragements!
I did paint it once, but I will put on more coats. But how can I smooth it out? There are blobs of old floor glue all over. I sanded the worst of them down, but trying to get it all smooth would be very difficult. Dirt gets trapped around the blobs and has to be scrubbed with a hand brush to get clean.
Now for the cabinets. How can I remove the bottoms? They are particle board and have been soaked through. Should I clean them then put a board or something over them? The curtain idea is great!
Thank you all very much.
LeeAnn
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LeeAnn
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Servant2theKing
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One more thing, if you can't replace the cabinets you might consider painting them. Repairing broken drawers can be as simple as installing corner brackets or angle brackets from inside (we had to do that when we moved into our current home and discovered several drawer fronts were simply propped up to look as though they were intact). Wood glue and clamps can help with repairing detached veneer or split seams. To help with the smell you might want to prime with something like KILZ before applying surface coats. I've also heard of painting laminate or counters...just rough the surface up with sandpaper and use a durable paint such as enamel. Curtains on the fronts of open cabinets can be quite charming...our daughter covered several base cabinets with curtains from Goodwill and it really brightened up her kitchen!
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Lisbet
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| Posted: July 03 2008 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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I know they make a 'mold proof' paint, my dh used it on our bathroom ceiling. Maybe a really good scrubbing with Tilex mold and mildew remover, and then a few coats of mold proof paint?
For the floor, we went the cheap route a few years ago. We brought our floor down to the plywood, then purchases peel and stick tiles and put those down. I am amazed at how good it looks and how it has held up. I think the final cost may have been $50 for the floor.
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: July 03 2008 at 8:46am | IP Logged
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The problem with the peel and stick tiles is that the floor is not smooth. Also, the floor space in the kitchen is quite large. Even a "cheap" option would cost quite a bit.
My dh is going to St Louis with our 13 yos this weekend. I asked him for $150 to make the kitchen as pleasant as I can while he is gone. So please keep the ideas coming.
LeeAnn
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LeeAnn
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Maria in WI
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| Posted: July 03 2008 at 9:15am | IP Logged
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I think painting the cabinets is great- And definately prime them first- Kilz is very good, ime. I painted the inside of my cabinets when we moved into our house and then lined the bottoms with non-skid type cabinet liners- it made a HUGE difference.
It may be a good idea to rough up the cabinets with sand paper to help the primer "stick".
If you know someone who has a belt sander, or even a palm sander, it would make evening out the floor much easier. I grew up with painted plywood floors in the bedrooms- I was almost a teenager before my parents carpeted them.
Good luck with your decorating!
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: July 03 2008 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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I think the polyurethane would help with smoothing out the uneveness of your flooring.
That Kilz primer is good stuff too for painting over damaged wood on your cabinets.
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sewcrazy
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Thank you ladies!
So I think I have a plan:
Sand down the worst spots in the floor. Floor leveler compound for the bad dips. 1 coat of Kilz on the floor, 2-3 coats of paint.
Remove all bottom doors on cabinets. Scrub with mold killer, layer of vinyl drywall patch on the areas that the laminate has pulled off. Rough sand the bases. Kilz, paint.
See if I can get scrap plywood for the 2 cabinets that are completely rotten on the bottom shelves. Give that a good coat of paint.
Top cabinets aren't great, but they are not junk either. If I have enough money/paint, I will paint them the same as the bases, if not, it can wait.
Try to repair the broken drawers. If not?
Sew curtains for the bases, and hang from cafe rod.
Maybe an area rug?
I am going to head over to the ReUseIt Center (a home improvement recycling warehouse) to see what I can find this afternoon.
I will only have 2 kids home starting tonight, my oldest son and my daughter. He can help with the heavy work and she can sew a straight line, so hopefully I can make this happen before DH comes home Sunday night.
Thank you all so much!
LeeAnn
BTW LeeAnn, I had a start when I saw your name. I don't meet too many LeeAnns, especially the ones spelled "right" 
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LeeAnn
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sewcrazy
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Oooooo! I decided to rummage through my fabric stash. I had forgotten that I had 3 yards of fabric left from the curtains I made for the family room. (I had bought the whole bolt at a rummage sale) They are adjacent rooms, and share a color scheme. It is a good quality fabric and should be plenty to curtain the bottom cabinets.
Thank you all for helping me to remember that God does provide.
LeeAnn
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LeeAnn
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LisaR
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LeeAnn, praying that your work will be easy and rewarding! so many great ideas here!!
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Erin
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Just think how proud and supported your dh will be when he arrives home Sunday night. 
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Jess
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I bet that is going to look really cute! I really like the look with the bottom cabinets having curtains, so cozy and cottage like, plus with the painted floor 
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LeeAnn
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Don't forget to take before & after pictures! If you like the result, post them here!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Making do
