POV: My Apartment Kitchen Renovation
Sharing the before + after photos, the cost breakdown and talking about the process
We searched for months (7 to be exact) before we landed in our current apartment. It was quite the process. My boyfriend and I were looking for our first place together, and we both had very different styles. He always lived in new construction, was used to having a gym, a pool and a 24-hour doorman. His last apartment was in a 17-story sky rise in Polanco. I, on the other hand, have a special place in my heart for old buildings with lots of character. The older the better, really. Coming from Connecticut then Portland, I had always lived in old buildings and homes. I had an appreciation for old, restored places from a young age. They’re quirky, not always the most practical, usually require a lot more work, but you can’t beat the charm, the finishes, the high ceilings, the natural light, the quality of building materials.
After 7 months of searching (I guess I really wore my boyfriend down, ha!), we found the building we live in now. It’s from the early 1940s. Lots of character. Great light. SO quiet. Incredible location. Beautiful view out the back windows. Great neighbors. Needed work, but the rent was between $600-$800 cheaper than any of the other 2-bedroom apartments we’d been looking at, AND it had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The kitchen specifically was sort of a nightmare, especially for someone who loves to cook and uses the space for work. Very little counter space (like practically none). No refrigerator (though it’s not uncommon for people to have to bring/buy their own appliances in Mexico City). Stove from the 1980s. Luckily our friend and neighbor, Amy, had moved into the building 6 months before and did a build out in her kitchen, so we saw the great potential it had. She shared her costs and walked us through her process a bit, which made us feel confident that we could make our kitchen into an amazing space too.
Our landlord is a woman in her nineties. She was born and raised in this building, and it’s stayed in her family all these years. She never lists the apartments online or through a broker. She just hangs a sign out front (hence the reasonable rent prices). She also never (and I mean never) puts money into the building unless she absolutely has to. Like unless the bathroom ceiling has literally caved in and she has no choice but to fix it (that actually happened to us a couple months ago). So we moved in knowing she wouldn’t give us any money to fix the kitchen, but we also knew that we wanted to live here for at least a few years. She doesn't require permission to do any renovations or work on the apartment (considering she barely puts any investment into the building, I think she assumes everything her tenants do will be improvements). We decided to invest the money we were saving by choosing this apartment with significantly lower rent into doing a kitchen renovation.
The process was relatively simple (I renovated my kitchen in Portland and that was a way more extensive project) and only took a couple months. I’m happy with how it turned out! It’s not my dream kitchen by any means, and if we owned the apartment I would have chosen much higher quality materials, but for what it is and for the price we paid, I really do love it! I’m excited to share the before and after photos and the price breakdown with you today.