New countertop, backsplash, and cabinet front all under 2.5K!

Let’s check out the before and after pictures first!

Before

After

Cost Breakdown:

• Peel and Stick backsplash: $378
• Quartz Countertop + New Sink: $1650
• New Cabinet Handles: $108
• Cabinet Paint and Primer : $167
• Sanding Papers, Painting Supplies, and others : $40

Design Process

Initially, we wanted to replace the kitchen cabinets entirely since we had four blind corner cabinets, which left lots of storage space inaccessible. However, after getting quotes from Ikea, Home Depot, and RockWood Kitchens. We decided against this since the cost is way over our budget. For context, our kitchen is 8 feet by 10 feet with 11 cabinets. Quotes ranged from 8K to 11K (obtained in December 2023).

To give the old cabinets a more modern look, we decided to repaint the cabinet doors and replace the old cabinet handles. This became our first task of the kitchen reno project. Here, I’m going to give a detailed account of how we accomplish this task.

Task 1: Cabinet Repainting

The process can be broken down into 3 main steps:

1. Prepare
2. Prime
3. Paint

Step	Tools Needed	Details
1. Prepare	1. Disposable gloves 2. Scouring pads 3. TSP 4. Rags 5. Sanding papers (100grit) 6. Wood filler	1. Take off all cabinet doors and drawer faces from the cabinets. 2. Remove all handles and hinges from the doors. (label and bag the hinges and screws belonging to each cabinet for easy assembly after) 3. Prepare a work area. We laid out flattened cardboard boxes on the floor of a spare room to work on. 4. Use a scouring pad dipped in TSP (liquid degreaser) to thoroughly scrub the surface of cabinet doors. This step is called degreasing and doing it properly will help the paint adhere correctly and ensure a durable finish. 5. Wipe the cleaned cabinet doors with a rag and leave to dry. 6. Lightly sand all the surfaces of the cabinet doors using 100 grit sand paper. Make sure to apply pressure evenly, a hand sander or sanding sponge might help. Make sure all the bumps and holes are sanded down. The purpose of sanding is to create more surface area for the primer to stick to. 7. Use a damp rag to wipe down the surface of the cabinet doors. Make sure the surface is clean of sanding dust and leave to dry. 8. (Optional) Use wood filler to fill any imperfections (holes, cracks etc) in the doors finish. Since we were changing our handles with different handle hole pattern, we used this step to fill in the holes for the old handles. Wait for filler to dry and sand it smooth for a seamless finish.
2. Prime	1. Primer (Alkyd) 2. Paint brush, roller, and paint tray 3. Plastic cups from Dollarama 4. Fine sand paper blocks (250 grit)	1. Start applying the primer onto the back face of the door. Use a paintbrush to apply primer to corners and details, and use a roller to apply primer to flat surfaces. 2. Once the primer is dry to touch, we rotated the door with the painted surface towards the floor and placed it on four plastic cups to keep it off the floor for drying. 3. While the back side is drying we painted the front and sides of the door using brush and roller as in step 1. 4. Repeat with the rest of the doors. 5. Wait at least 24 hours to dry (This is very important if you do not want your doors to stick to the cabinets) 6. Once the primer is dry, we need to sand the surfaces smooth using light pressure and 250 grit sand paper. The purpose of this is to remove any paint blobs. Be careful not to remove the coat of primer. Wipe all surfaces with a damp microfiber cloth to remove all sanding dust and leave to dry. 7. (Optional) Repeat this step, if you feel you need another coat of primer. For us, one coat was sufficient.
3. Paint	1. Malamime finish cabinet paint (Alkyd) 2. Paint brush, roller, and paint tray 3. Plastic cups from Dollarama 4. Fine sand paper blocks (250 grit)	1. Follow step 1 through 6 from “Prime” section to apply the cabinet paint. 2. Repeat the steps to apply at least 2 coats of the cabinet paint, wait at least 24 hours between coats to dry and lightly sanding before applying the next coat. Note: The number of paint coats to apply depends on the old and new colour of the cabinets. If your cabinets were dark and you are painting them to a lighter colour, you may require more coats to fully cover the dark old finish. We required 3 coats in total. Also, you will notice that with every new coat, the colour and finish will look more complete.

Here are some pictures we took during the process.

We would definitely recommend clearing at least a whole room for this project given that the primer and paint both needs 24hrs to dry, and that sanding the doors creates a lot of dust which could get stuck to furniture.

To add the final touch, we got these classy looking gold handles from Wayfair. They were easy to install. Since the doors already had one hole from the previous handles, we just had to measure out and drill another hole for their installation. All in all, We installed the handles on 18 doors in 2 hrs.

It’s been 3 months since we finished the reno and the paint is still holding up very well. The cabinet handles are in very good shape too. The gold paint has no chips at all and any fingerprint stains are very easy to wipe off.

Task 2: Quartz Countertop

The original countertop was made from laminate and is a very outdated orange brownish color. We wanted to get a more updated look, so we started to look into new countertop options. Quartz is the trendiest option now due to the ease of cleaning, its durability, and its appearance. However it’s not entirely heat proof, so we looked into granite. We consulted a couple granite installers, the quotes were definitely on the higher end ($70+ per sqft), and the post installation maintenance is more cumbersome since granite requires resealing every 2 years or so.

After shopping around for quartz quotes (with our 35 sqft countertop, the quote ranges from 3K to 4K including the sink replacement), we found a local dealer that was running a promotion for their in-house quartz slab, which cost only $1650 including installation. The installation process took around 2 hours, and we are very happy with the final result. The quartz countertop is extremely easy to clean, food and wine stains can be wiped clean with a wet microfibre rag. Durability wise, we haven’t noticed any marks or cracks left from appliances or pots.

Task 3: Peel-and-Stick Backsplash

Before starting peel and stick, we had to deal with the gap between the wall tile and the countertop which was originally a 1 inch raised backsplash of the laminate countertop. My extremely handy fiance got ceramic tiles which costs 70c per sqft from RONA and used a tile cutter to cut them to size. Then, he used tile adhesive to glue them on the wall and fill in the seams with grout between each tile. We did not get tile spacers and instead used matchsticks to make sure the tile spacings are even.

Now we have a smooth and even surface, we can start applying the peel and stick tiles. We got these hexagon shaped grey tiles with a matte finish from Wayfair. They are super easy to install. First, to prepare the surface, degrease it with soapy water and dry it. Then to help with fitting, spray the surface with soapy water using a house plant sprayer, remove the plastic back cover to reveal the adhesive on the back of the tile and stick it on the wall. The soapy water prevents the adhesive from sticking to the surface immediately and allows you to maneuver the tile around for a perfect fit. Once in place, press down on the tile to push the soapy water out. Keep attaching the tiles in this manner, measuring and cutting the tiles to shape as required. In order to cut a tile, use a stanley knife along a steel ruler to score it, then snap the tile along the line. These tiles have precision fit and do not require grout at the seams, but sealing with silicone between the tile and countertop will produce a smooth edge. One thing to keep in mind though is to account for extra wastage. We have about 22 sqft of area to cover and we ordered 27 sqft (3 boxes, 9 sqft each) initially. In the end we had to order one extra box to finish the whole area. Below is a close up of the peel and stick tiles. You can see the corners fit perfectly and the edges are clean too.

This concludes our kitchen makeover project! To see how we fix the blind corner storage solution problem, stay tuned for the next blog post.