This kitchen went from bland to grand with nothing more than a tin of paint and some MDF

Gone are the days when we're stuck with the colour of the kitchen we inherit – now it's easy to update them ourselves and get the look we want. If you're after some inspiration for beautiful kitchen colour schemes then look no further as this makeover shows how a bland white scheme can be turned into something inviting and impactful simply by painting the cabinetry.

Painted green kitchen makeover

Faced with a sterile-looking kitchen, Instagrammer Martyna Sobol was keen to try her hand at stamping her own style on the room. 

'When I purchased my house, I wanted a project,' she recalls. 'I wanted an empty canvas where I could transform every room into something more personal and unique. And when I viewed this house, I knew straight away what to do with the kitchen.'

Before

The dated design was perfectly functionable, but definitely needed bringing up to date. 'Before, the kitchen was white and boring and had no style,' says Martyna. 'It had standard gloss doors, which I didn’t like and I wanted to add some colour to the room to make it look more stylish and feel more personal.'

Up for taking on the DIY herself, Martyna visualised how the room could look and knew she could transform it into something very different. 'I always look for alternatives and try to do any project myself,' she says. 'To transform my cupboard doors, I purchased MDF panels (which I had cut to size) and glued them onto the existing cupboard doors, before painting them.'

'The most difficult thing about the project was the time needed,' she recalls. 'All the work was done in the afternoon and weekends as I work full time and have a little boy to look after.'

After

Deliciously deep green cabinets make a welcoming feature, while new worktops and a new white sink instantly make the room feel more modern. 

'I painted the units using Frenchic's Victory Lane shade,' says Martyna. 'I'd used Frenchic paint before and I knew straight away that it would be an easy way to transform my kitchen into something different – plus it's easy to apply and it dried in no time. The effect is amazing and it came out just like I’d imagined.'

Above the cabinetry, a chunky industrial-style shelf (create the look with a scaffold board and Amazon's heavy duty metal shelf brackets) holds accessories, while the kitchen benefits from a new oven and cooker and some gold taps too. 

Instead of buying new cabinet handles, Martyna reused the old ones and sprayed them gold to update them and tie them in with other gold features such as the tap. Try these gold kitchen handles from Amazon for a low-cost alternative. 'I also removed the old vinyl floor to discover nice white tiles underneath,' she says. 

All in all, the new-look kitchen cost around £3,000, including the appliances, materials, tools and decorative items. Not bad for something that looks completely different and it shows how easy it is to revamp a room without paying huge costs.