When meeting with Sellers for the 1st time the most important question they have is "How much is my home worth?" As a Real Estate Broker/Owner it is the most important detail that I personally put many hours into researching. Studying the numbers on a daily basis so when I meet with my clients I have the most accurate number next to an appraisal they can get. For my business - I give what I call a what's it worth as it sits now and what it could be worth with a small amount of pre-sale prep work. If you have a home that needs a small amount of tweaking but would be a sizeable return on investment it's a no-brainer.
It is a proven fact that kitchens and bathrooms next to the amount of land are the key selling points Buyers are looking for in a home. It doesn't have to cost a small fortune to fine tune a few details that in turn will make for less time on the market. An updated, clean home will sell much faster that one the Buyers see as months of work ahead. So let's dive right in to the 1st project that anyone can do if they are able bodied or hire out for a nominal fee if they can afford to.
Kitchen Cabinets - the center of the home and the area that takes the most abuse over the years. If you prep correctly and take your time they will hold up for years to come. I am going to show you my personal kitchens transformation. I didn't hire this out; 100% done myself because I like to save money where I can.
My home was fairly new but as the years passed I came to despise what I called the orange cabinetry. After much persuasion on my part and agreeing to do them myself, my husband FINALLY agreed to let me paint the dreaded things.
To begin with - there was no way I was going to completely empty the cabinets. So I only cleared the fronts out so I would have room to paint the inside edges. The insides were in great shape; still looked new so I decided not to paint the interiors. Plus they weren't the dreaded orange color.
The 1st and most important step was to clean all of the surfaces. I used a product called TSP - a powder you mix with warm water; guaranteed to cut through the toughest of grease. Some people skip and go right into sanding. If your cabinets are clean without much residue you can skip the 1st cleaning because you will need to clean again after sanding. Some paints "claim" to not need sanding - HOWEVER if your cabinets are laminate like mine you will need to lightly sand (scuff) the surfaces for any paint to stay on for years. If you don't your hardwork will not last a year as the slightest bump will scratch the surface.
After you have cleaned the cabinets thoroughly with the TSP and they have dried, lightly sand just enough to scratch the surface. Use a medium grit sandpaper. Next I removed all of the knobs, pulls and hinges and set up a long work table for the doors and drawers. Then I cleaned them again with the TSP mixture. Let dry overnight. Now that the cabinets are sanded and cleaned, tape off all of the edges with painters tape. This process will be the most time consuming but worth the time spent giving you nice crisp edges.
Now we can begin to paint. It is imperative to use foam rollers that are made for cabinets and doors. This will avoid brush strokes in your finished product. 1st I used BIN Primer
and put 1 coat on everything. BIN Primer will be the bond between the cabinet surface and the paint. It holds up better on Laminate than other primers. It only takes about 30 minutes to dry however I always let any paint job dry overnight before adding additional coats.
For the final finish coats I used Valspar Cabinet & Furniture Oil-Enriched Enamel.
This paint is the icing on the cake! You can have it tinted to the color of your choice and it is self-leveling giving you the look of a factory finish. It does dry quickly so work in small sections to avoid streaking. I used 2 coats as the final finish. While the final coat was drying I soaked all of my knobs and pulls in the TSP mixture for about 30 minutes then rinsed in warm water and let dry. At this point you can re-hang all of your doors and attach all of the hardware back on if you are only wanting a solid color cabinet. I wanted a glazed look so before putting everything back together I glazed my cabinets with a dark brown Valspar glaze. This process is messy and tedious so take your time. I had to do several "glazing sessions" to achieve the look I wanted. You may want a lighter look. You can do as much or as little as you want. I've had numerous visitors and even professionals in the trade that have walked up closely to inspect that I really painted them and they were not factory finished. And that is all there is to it - a brand new facelift for your kitchen that takes a little time but pays off big when selling your home.
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