Update Your Kitchen Inexpensively With Vinyl Wrap
The kitchen sets the tone for the entire home. If you have tired old construction cabinets, your kitchen will look cheap and boring, but it’s not an easy problem to solve. If you own a house, you can always tear down the kitchen and replace it , provided you just have bags of money lying around, and if not, you can always paint the cabinets. However, if you rent a home, you have fewer options; your landlord likely won’t do the renovations for you, and you should avoid permanent changes such as painting unless you get special permission.
However, there is a surprising solution to this problem: vinyl wrap. Yes, the same materials that are applied to cars to give them a whole new glossy look can be applied to kitchen cabinets. The results can be very impressive: vinyl wears surprisingly well, it’s extremely cheap (especially if you make it yourself), and best of all, it’s relatively easy to remove and doesn’t leave marks, so your deposit is safe . Here’s everything you need to know about vinyl wrapping your kitchen.
Vinyl FTV
For this project, you can use automotive vinyl film or vinyl film sold specifically for furniture and cabinets, such as this one , which costs about $50 for a 3-meter roll (just under 10 feet), or these films from 3M , which cost about $30 for a 5 foot roll.
One of the great things about vinyl kitchen wraps is the choice of colors and finishes. Vinyl films come in a very wide range: you can get wood-look, gloss, patterned, textured and even metallic and shiny finishes. This gives you more design flexibility. And vinyl wrap, when applied correctly, can be surprisingly durable; after all, it is used on vehicles that are exposed to outdoor conditions. With proper care it will last for many years; The 3M windings mentioned above are designed to last at least 7 years .
Do-it-yourself or pro?
The process of packing DIY kitchen cabinets is quite simple and does not require a lot of money or tools. However, this requires patience and some skill – you need to be very careful when measuring, cutting and applying the film.
You don’t need many tools for this:
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Enough film to cover your cabinets
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Squeegee for smoothing wrapper
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Pin for discretely pushing out air bubbles
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Blade or razor blade for cutting vinyl.
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Heat gun or hair dryer
On TikTok, Paige Secrist wrapped up her kitchen and showed the process she followed , and you can see the process in more detail here . The results largely depend on how carefully you measure everything and how diligently you make sure there are no air bubbles. According to Sechrist, the total cost of packing her DIY kitchen was about $100, and the job took her less than two days to complete. A year later, she updated the design, showing that the vinyl wears well and is very easy to remove.
If you’re like me, who wraps gifts like a wild animal and has never cut a straight line in your entire life, this might seem like a disaster waiting to happen. The good news is that there are professional companies that will provide you with this service. The cost will vary depending on the size and complexity of your kitchen, but is typically several thousand dollars (for example, this company typically charges $5,000 to package a “standard” kitchen). Although this is much more than the cost of a DIY repair, it is also much less than a complete renovation.
Cons of packaging
Vinyl wrapping kitchen cabinets can be a cheap and safe way to transform a kitchen you don’t own or can’t afford to renovate. But there are some potential disadvantages to consider:
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Only unpainted. If your cabinets are painted or veneered (meaning they have a thin layer of laminate or wood over a cheaper material), the paint or veneer may come off when you try to remove the vinyl. If you’re not sure what you’re dealing with, test in a small, inconspicuous area first.
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Exposure to heat. Part of the vinyl wrap installation process is to adhere the wrap to the cabinets using a heat gun or hair dryer, as vinyl wraps react to heat. This isn’t always ideal in the kitchen. Wrapped cabinets near ovens or dishwashers may not deteriorate over time due to heat exposure.
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Complexity is a problem. Vinyl film is best for flat cabinet doors. The more panels and designs you have on your cabinets, the more difficult it will be to apply the film smoothly. For this reason, some professional installers won’t even approach cabinets with exposed panels or edges.
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Peeling. If you have poor installation skills, if the film is constantly exposed to heat, or if it rubs in certain areas when you open doors and pull out drawers, you may experience peeling. This will be difficult to repair without redoing the entire door or drawer.
However, if you have an ugly kitchen that’s killing your soul, but you don’t have the budget or ownership to make constant changes, vinyl wrapping your kitchen could be the perfect solution. For a relatively small amount of money and/or a little sweat, you can have a new kitchen in just a day that can be returned to 100% original condition when the time comes to move.