Can these kitchen cupboards be spruced up?

[southpacificgoat]

We are about to put our flat on the market and have not got much money/time spare, so I am looking for some solutions that don't require much (not even much DIY talent). The cupboards are MDF with plastic wood effect laminate. The laminate is coming off at some points and the wood colour is making the kitchen small, East facing kitchen look dark. Could I safely take the laminate off and paint the MDF underneath or would this utterly ruin the units? I was thinking white, but would probably have to paint the inside of the units as well. Has anyone done this and how much work was it/ what was tge result?

So many typos...sorry!

I assume that under the laminate will be an uneven layer of glue.
Can you post a photo of the worst looking door?

"The laminate is coming off at some points"

I bet this is vinyl wrap, not laminate.

a very inferior material. You would have to peel it all off before painting.

How many doors have you got, and how old do you think they are?

We did this on wooden cabinets- painted doors and all outside parts only. In your position I def wouldn't peel anything off (tho a photo would help) I'd make good then paint off white.

If your kitchen is past its sell by date it’s probably best to be upfront about the fact that any new owner is going to need to replace it.

Painting kitchen doors and making them look good is overtime consuming.

Have you looked at changing the doors? If you search on line you will find a few companies who do this.

Meant to say very time consuming.

Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses so personally I'd either completely redo kitchen for best sale possible or sell it that the kitchen needs updating and make your price reflect that

Thanks everyone. I am not home until later but will post some pictures then. I don't know how old the kitchen is but would guess 90's. It's definitely dated and nobodies dream kitchen, but is still functional enough. If I can somehow cheeply make it look presentable so buyers are not put off, that would be great.

Don't spend much money on it.
It will just look like a 90s kitchen that's been tarted up

if the doors are standard sizes (very likely) then you can get and fit a new set surprisingly cheaply.

We have old wrapped doors. Where there have been kettles, toasters etc. underneath they wrap has come away from the edges. Someone at some stage had painted them cream, fingernails have scraped around the doorknobs revealing a nasty dark green, which matches the ancient oven.

When they were freshly painted cream and not peeling they actually looked OK and I was prepared to live with them, so maybe you could heat the peeling bits gently and stick them back on, and use some cupboard paint.

I have looked for cheap doors and not found what I would call cheap, so if someone knows where I can get them I would be grateful.

A kitchen only sells the house if the purchaser likes it. From experience people like to change them to suit their taste.

I have looked at many houses recently and only one had a kitchen I really liked, many that I would have painted over, and maybe replaced doors of some. I am probably in the minority as I hate replacing stuff.

I revamped my friends kitchen that had the vinyl peeling off, it was really easy. I picked the vinyl off with my fingers, most of it came off in one big piece and there was no residue of glue left underneath and no need for any sanding.

Then I used a roller to paint the units. It looked really good ( if I do say so myself).

Revamped cupboards- Ignore the cat !

God! That cat is HUGE!

I had this years ago in old flat - one EA said to change the doors. They turned out to be not standard sizes so didn't work but if they are standard sizes might work.

White / cream is a fairly safe colour to aim for.

Sorry but only just now getting chance to reply. I'll try and post a couple of the worst bits of pealing. There are more though. I don't think heating them up and sticking them back on will work as there are actual broken bits. Changing the doors could possibly be an option, but because of the unit design there would still be woodeffect bits showing. I don't really replace the old woodeffect doors with more woodefect doors either.... I think I am coming round to the fact that I should not try and 'hide' the fact the kitchen needs replacing. The tiling and worktop are hidious as well.