Sunday 25 February 2018

Kitchen DIY

During the new year winter months, I always think it is a good idea to get a house project underway. We needed a kitchen and utility makeover. Our white units had chips in and the coating had turned a yucky yellow. We tried cleaning it all but that didn't work! Our second thought was to buy new doors but IKEA don't make this sized kitchen anymore which left us with a dilemma with a surprising lack of options other than to buy a whole new kitchen even though there was nothing wrong with the functionality of the old one. 


Then one day at the start of January I saw some spray paint and decided to see if we could spray the doors. I didn't have high hopes if I am honest, I thought it might look a bit of a bodge but it worked brilliantly. It was not an easy task for us because we do not have a garage so we had to keep taking a few doors at a time to my mums garage and spraying them there. The dog had to be in the crate because while we had the doors off he would have eaten the contents of our lower cupboards!



Slowly but surely we replaced each door. Each one sugar soaped before spraying with three coats. It dried in 20 mins so it wasn't too bad. Next up my very own handy Andy fitted new work tops which we bought from IKEA. It lifted the whole kitchen and made everything on the worktops look so much nicer.



Lastly the tiles. As with all of these types of jobs, the more you do, the more something else looks tatty. The blue and grey started to look a bit overwhelming so I bought some tile stickers from Etsy to brighten up the tiles and the gap in between the units. More sugar soaping and an hour later, it was the finish we needed; the illusion of new tiles.



The final piece of decor was a giant wall art sticker reading 'kitchen - tasters required'



So if you are thinking/dreaming you need a new kitchen try out some of these revamps to save your pennies. This is what we used:

Rustoleum Spray paint £7.50 x 5 = £37.50
Etsy Tile Stickers £17.00 per pack of 24 x 3 = £51.00
IKEA Worktops £86.00 x 3 = £258.00
Etsy Wall sticker = £18.00
A new extractor fan = £52.00
Screwfix LED light strips = £20.00

TOTAL = £436.00 You could add a zero on the end of that if we had bought a new kitchen and it was great not to have the upheaval. It feels good to use the hyperbole, 'we did it 10 times cheaper,' and actually achieve it.

A bit before:

and after:




One very well timed winter job. I have read about other bloggers who are feeling the need to freshen up at this time of year. 
What do you think?

Jo xxxx

13 comments:

  1. Wow this is a brilliant and low budget make-over that looks really expensive. Well done for all your hard work and ingenuity!

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  2. Oh my! That is sooo good and on such a small budget. Well done all of you.

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  3. Amazing what you can do with a bit of imagination...your kitchen looks fantastic and what a saving.

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  4. Your kitchen looks cosy and inviting, I'd love to stop by for a cuppa :-)
    Great job with the renovation. It looks very professional and you have obviously a keen eye for beauty (I knew that already of course). I am intrigued by the spray paint! I am completely useless when it comes to DYI, I can't even handle a hammer or a paintbrush. I am desperate to paint my living room and the hallway (very shabby but not shabby chic). Looking for a reasonable quote as I doubt it'll ever get painted if we don't pay someone.

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  5. Wow, you've done well there. Your kitchen makeover was a great success. It looks lovely and fresh. For years we've been thinking about sorting out the kitchen floor, maybe later in the year we may just do it.
    The previous owners didn't use a flexible adhesive, so there are many broken tiles, they also had a thing for mastic sealant guns, overused and badly done. Cathy x

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  6. That's a lovely makeover for your kitchen.

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    1. wow, what a great makeover, that looks fab.

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  7. You are brilliant as ever Jo, what a wonderful makeover. The Kitchen looks fantastic.

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  8. A great result. I would never have thought of the spray paint idea. Very clever and a good way to save time and money.

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  9. I love it all! There is always a cheaper option I feel. Another option for tiles is to spray them too, I did this with my kitchen tiles with special tile spray it has held up well with wipes and splashes. I also decorated over half term, my living room and dining room I have to say my dogs did try and get involved. xx

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  10. Jo it's amazing! What a difference it makes. I do love room makeovers, they're such fun to read about. Your internal doors are lovely - are they original? X

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  11. Yes our house is Georgian. Jo xx

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