A thrifty mum has totally transformed her dark, dated and very wooden kitchen for just £100. Having recently moved from London to Surrey, Becky Lane has given her kitchen a bright and airy makeover on a tight budget.
Related: White kitchen ideas – 22 sensational schemes that are clean, bright and won’t ever date
Becky, who shares her DIY and renovation projects on her Instagram, @21oakham, spoke to Tap Warehouse about how she managed to complete the project while keeping costs down.
After all, kitchens are up there among the most costly renovations you can do.
Before
Becky says that paint took up the lion's share of the budget. 'I bought four pots of Wilkinson chalk furniture paint (£10 each) as I wanted a matte finish instead of satin or gloss,’ she says. Becky painted the tiles in Ronseal tile paint (£10) and then used a varnish over the top (£9).
‘For the floor, I used an extreme power cleaner with a drill brush scrubbing set which I already own from another project.’ Becky also picked up some door handles for £14 from eBay and spray painted them, costing £15.
As for her time frame, Becky only took one weekend and a few evenings when her children were asleep to get the makeover done. Feeling inspired? Take a look at our guide on how to paint kitchen cabinets for a seamless finish.
After
Plus, our budget kitchen ideas will help you take on the challenge cheaply without compromising on style.
‘The kitchen was dark pine and not to our taste,' says Becky. 'But also made the space feel very dark and depressing when we wanted an airy, modern feel.'
The first step was to sand and clean all the units, panelling and tiles. Then, she painted the tiles with three coats after preparing the area and masking up the switches and sockets.
Next, Becky painted all the wall panelling and units. ‘I found this was the longest part of the job with the wall panelling which soaked up the paint quicker than expected,’ she says.
‘Once all the paint was set, we were left with a silver steel sink which didn’t go at all with the gold fixtures. As I’ve never seen a sink spray painted before, I was worried the paint may chip away due to use.
Related: See how this drab kitchen was given a brilliant blue makeover for just £300
‘We decided to leave the basin as it gets the most amount of wear but spray the sideboard and the surround. It’s really set off the kitchen, we love it.' The final job was adding the new gold handles which help with finishing the overall look.
Loving the whitewashed look? Our guide to the best white paint for walls will help you pick. For more inspiration on how to renovate on a budget, check out our guide.
Will you be trying some DIY this weekend?
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