How to revamp your kitchen on a budget
While there are some brilliant budget brands out there, kitchen renovations still don’t come cheap. But with a few savvy buys and a little DIY, you can still get yourself a kitchen revamp on a budget. A lick of paint will always do wonders, but there’s plenty more that you can do. These affordable design ideas can offer your space a new lease of life without breaking the bank…
1. Re-paint kitchen cupboards
Something like a classic Shaker kitchen will never go out of style, especially if you opt for a quality kitchen in the first instance. Re-painting a kitchen is a great way to give your kitchen a revamp on a budget – whether it just needs a freshen up or you want a radical new look by changing to a bold colour. Opt for specialist cupboard paint where possible for a hardwearing finish. Johnstone’s Cupboard Paint is suitable for both MDF and melamine kitchens, which have traditionally been trickier to paint than real wood cabinets.
Johnstone’s Revive cupboard paint in Deep Blue Gulf
2. Change cabinet handles
Adding new kitchen cabinet handles requires minimal effort but it can really update the look of your kitchen. Not all of them come cheap, but if you shop around you should be able to find a smart pair of kitchen cabinet handles for around £12. Cup handles will add an industrial touch to your kitchen, while a simple style like the leather pull tabs from Ikea (below) offer a relaxed, quirky look, and wooden handles keep things soft and natural.
Östernas leather handles from Ikea
3. Install open shelving
Many home owners are replacing top-heavy wall cabinetry for stylish open shelving, and if you’ve got storage space to spare in your kitchen, it’s an easy-enough DIY project. Removing kitchen cupboards is a far easier job than installing them, and then it’s just a case of filling and smoothing any holes in the wall before repainting walls and installing shelving. After that comes the fun part – styling up your new open shelving!
Photo: Garden Trading
4. Refresh your worktop
If your current cabinetry is salvageable for your upgraded kitchen, one place you may want to invest is in a new worktop, and this renovation isn’t necessarily as disruptive as you imagine. The likes of Granite Transformations offer a clever top that can be made to fit over an existing work surface, meaning the process is super quick and easy. A full worktop replacement can be completed in around one day, and costs from £3,000.
If you are considering fitting a new surface, but you have your heart set on a luxury, yet durable Quartz worktop, consider a product such as Maxtop. These surfaces are made from solid Quartz on the surface, around a unique honeycomb centre, which brings down the cost to just £180 per linear metre.
Photo: Maxtop
5. Replace cabinet doors
By choosing not to re-arrange your kitchen when upgrading it, you can make big savings on materials and labour. Perhaps surprisingly, the kitchen makeover below uses the same original cabinetry frame, re-fitted with new doors. Trend Transformations kitchen makeovers cost from £3,000, and the whole process takes one or two days.
If you are looking to add more storage or work surface space, consider adding freestanding pieces, such as moveable kitchen islands, to supplement your existing cabinetry.
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