I bought this house a few months ago and am not in the position to put in new cupboards. I just want to be able to live with my ugly kitchen and counters until I can afford to renovate. Can I paint the cupboards and what can I do about the counters? The counters are lifting and bubbling.
Can you paint pressed wood with or without the faux wood grain?
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Fake wood cupboards, two doors missing and a counter top that is bubbling and lifting. Inexpensive solutions? House is 100 years old and the walls are lathe and plaster.
Use ESP (Easy Surface Preparation) then Paint. Paint inside cupboards without doors inside the same colour as you paint the doors to make it co-ordinate. Try sticking the worktop back down with strong glue for the purpose and weight it down to stuck........
https://www.wikihow.com/Refinish-Particle-Board-Cabinets
if the surface of the counter top is lifting... can you pull it off? then you could cover it with a temporary surface like plywood (one side finished then use cutting board oil to seal) or find 24 in inch copper or stainless flashing and apply with contact cement (sand down any lumpy places first)
As for the cabinets... Use a 80 or 100 grit sand paper to rough up the door fronts and faces (the missing doors can be replaced with more plywood, both sides finished. Then the cabinets can be primed and painted... any color(s) you want.... or try something fun like decoupaging them with interesting wallpaper, posters, wrapping paper. Pinterest.com can give you some ideas too.
Since you have plain doors, a piece of plywood or MDF would make an acceptable door. Take the sizes to Home Depot, buy a full sheet and have them cut to size. Then you paint those along with the rest of your cabinets after making sure your cabinets are clean and scuffing up the finish with sandpaper so the paint will adhere.
Countertop is a little more difficult. You may be able to get under the loose edges and scrape enough of the old glue out then dab in contact cement with an acid brush. Allow to dry for 15 minutes then use a rolling pin and as much pressure as you can muster to bring the laminate back down.
You would need a few tools but you could put new laminate on after removing what is there. I would try this but I have tools that most do not have in their home workshop. Another possibility is to peel the laminate off and replace it with 4x4" ceramic tile. Especially in the plain tile there are special pieces available like corners and bullnose tile to make the job look first-class. You'll need a tile saw because you will be cutting a lot of tile. If you have the persistence to pull this off you may not want those new cabinets.