This budget kitchen makeover will save you £1000’s whilst giving you the inspiration you need to turn your basic kitchen into a stylish modern family kitchen.
Our home is a typical 4 bed detached house that is now 20 years old. The kitchen is the original builder’s kitchen which is solid and well made. However it is now a little dated and the colours are not my choices, but we wanted to update it on a budget.
It amazes me that we have been in our house for over ten years now and finally last year we got around to updating the kitchen with a budget kitchen makeover. I had been considering how to update the kitchen for a couple of years but there was nothing actually wrong with the kitchen design we had in place.
I couldn’t see any way of changing the layout that we had. Sure I’d love a kitchen island or a breakfast bar but there isn’t space for that! Our kitchen is a functional basic kitchen and whilst I was tempted to knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room/study that would have been a huge change and commitment to open plan living that I’m not sure we are ready for!
Therefore the next best thing was to look at how we could facilitate a budget kitchen makeover because we didn’t see the point of ripping out cupboards just to put the same style back. It’s not environmentally friendly to do that and really there’s no need. Therefore we opted to make good with what we had. It wasn’t about the money per see, more that we couldn’t justify the cost of a full kitchen refurb.
In the end, we were able to bring in our budget kitchen makeover for under £3500 and I’ll tell you how we did it because it is still a huge transformation that I am impressed with.
6 stages to our budget kitchen makeover for small kitchens
Stage 1: The kitchen respray:
The first thing we did was arrange to have all the cupboards and kitchen doors spray painted. This is such a huge transformation and can be done for an absolute steal! Rather than ripping out kitchen cupboards, we arranged to have them professionally spray painted using specialist paint. You can use Rust-Oleum Kitchen Cupboard Paint available from Amazon and do it yourself if you really want to save money on a kitchen makeover. However, we opted to get a professional in for this step as I wanted to ensure that we had a really good finish.
The range of colours is unlimited! I was literally told to choose any colour and he can make the same shade in the spray paint needed. I immediately turned to Farrow and Ball colours as I knew the type of colour I wanted. I choose a grey tone. The quote for the kitchen respray was £2400 which I was more than happy with.
We used a local company who were brilliant. It took three days to have our kitchen cupboards resprayed, day one is prep day where all the doors are removed and the rest of the kitchen prepped. The appliances and internal parts of the cupboards are all wrapped so that paint does not get on them. We had all the kickboards and edges prepared for spraying too.
Day two is when the kitchen is sprayed, the doors were taken away to do in the workshop but all the edges and fascias were done in one day. During this time the kitchen was completely out of bounds which was a pain, but still much quicker and easier than having no kitchen at all!
Day three is when the doors were refitted and finishing touches were made. We were blown away by the workmanship and quality that this kitchen respray offered. The results were first class and it looked like brand new cupboards.
Before Image
Stage 2: Laminate flooring
One thing I had wanted to change for a long time was the flooring in the kitchen, hallway and downstairs toilet. We had inherited the original rust-red tiles and we thought it would be a huge job to have them taken up. I knew that the tiles would need to be cracked and a whole new flooring put down. To me, this signalled huge money – except I was very wrong! I should have found out years ago really but flooring has got so much better and now we were able to have a new flooring placed on top of the original flooring.
We looked at Karndean, laminate and modern lino. After much deliberation, we opted for a laminate from B&Q. The cost of this was under £300 as we were able to use a discount code and also get cash back from TopCashBack. The flooring was put down by a friend for us which also saved us money. The laminate was probably the hardest to fit and was certainly back-breaking but it is hardwearing and looks absolutely fabulous. I would probably suggest one of the other two flooring types for a budget kitchen makeover in the future as the laminate was tricky to fit as we seem to have lots of fiddly corners!
Stage 3: hansgrohe Tap
Another clever update to a kitchen is to change your taps. We already have a lovely ceramic sink and drainer, but the tap looked tired. We opted for the hansgrohe Pull-out Spray Single Lever Swivel Spout 240 Chrome Kitchen Mixer Tap which is available from SaveMoneyCutCarbon. Hansgrohe is an eco-focused company that insists on the highest quality in manufacturing and design with rigorous testing. We wanted a tap with great eco-credentials as we are all trying to make better smarter choices and also save water where we can.
Did you know that by installing Eco Taps or Mixers you could cut your water consumption by up to 60%, helping you save money on your water bill whilst doing your bit for the environment?
This swivel tap is a great choice for busy families like ours, it has a practical pull-out spray head. We can use the button to switch between normal spray and an aerated shower spray that allows you to rinse without splashing. This makes it ideal for rinsing fruit like berries, which we seem to get through at a fast rate!
My dad was able to fit the tap himself in just over an hour or so. We already had an isolator in place which made replacing the tap more straightforward. A pull out tap from Savemoneycutcarbon is also ideal for reliability as they offer world-leading brands with long warranties. They are also ergonomically designed for ease and convenience so you get things done faster.
Stage 4: Kitchen Door Knobs
One of the easiest and quickest ways to give a small kitchen a budget makeover is to change the door handles. We opted for brushed copper buttons which are available from Amazon. We made sure that we bought some that were the exact same size as what we had. This ensures that you don’t have to worry about hole sizes or anything like that. You will also know that they will look good because it’s the same overall look as you previously had. Remember a designer originally put the look together so should work quite well.
Stage 5: New Light Fittings
Next, we changed the light fittings in the ceiling and in the utility room. Again what we had previously was tired looking so we opted for a modern copper fitting which again we got from B&Q.
Stage 6: Small Appliances
Finally, we updated some of our small appliances and decorative items to match the new colour scheme. We picked out a rose gold Morphy Richards kettle. We did keep the Laura Ashley clock which was something I loved and picked up in a sale. It was a bargain during a store close down for just £25 I think. It had been reduced by over £100 and I just love the colour! I also added a few pot plants to my windowsill in an attempt to bring the outdoors in!
Final thoughts
With a little bit of planning, you can also achieve a budget kitchen makeover that will totally transform your small kitchen. We have gone from an outdated 20-year-old functional kitchen to a much more modern family kitchen for under £3500. The kitchen looks totally different with a kitchen respray, new laminate flooring and finishing touches of a new Hansgrohe tap (you can see their full range here) and kitchen cabinet knobs. We have shown that you don’t have to spend a fortune to update a kitchen.
For more money-saving posts check out these money saving hacks and also my other blog Mums Savvy Savings.
