We’ve lived in our house for 2.5 years now and for approximately 2.5 years I’ve hated the kitchen. Renovating kitchens can start costing big money though, money we don’t have and money I’d rather put towards our wedding and honeymoon. So we’re tackling the whole thing in a budget and seeing how it turns out. I’m going to write quite a few posts around the kitchen renovation as we’re taking on a lot of projects ourselves (with the help of Josh’s Dad) and finding lots of ways to save money so they’ll be a whole range of posts covering costs, DIY’s and of course a before and after when it’s done! Today though I thought I’d share what our actual plans are. Just a quick note, the renovation will be happening in stages to allow us to save in-between each stage of the project so I’ll split this post into the stages.
Stage one
Firstly we’ll be repainting the whole kitchen and ripping up the vinyl flooring and replacing it with tiles. The walls are very patchy where we had to fill in lots of little holes that were in the walls. We also moved the boiler out of the kitchen when we first moved in which left a very ugly patched up wall behind that needs resurfacing and sanding down, a couple of tiles in the same area also need removing as they were originally cut out to fit around the boiler. The vinyl flooring that’s down is black which does absolutely nothing for our small kitchen, it was also damaged when we moved in and over the last couple of years the rips have got bigger. We were going to put fresh vinyl down but decided to tile it as it’s more durable especially with two cats. We’ll also be making our own breakfast bar from scratch, the original plan was to buy a bar table but now Josh and his Dad are going to make one the entire length of the wall which will utilize the small space so much better and look like it’s part of the kitchen as opposed to a table that will look out of place.
Stage two
The cupboard in the kitchen are the same cupboards that went in when the house was built 14 years ago, they’re cheaply made cupboards and it’s obvious from looking at them. We don’t have the money for all new cupboards so we’re going to be looking at respraying them and replacing the handles instead. Luckily we know someone who resprays cupboards so when the time comes we’ll be getting their opinion of the best thing to do.
Stage three
The oven, hob and sink are more than likely the same ones the builders put in and again they look cheap. The oven and hob are white and the sink is white plastic (which is just an awful idea anyway). All three things have definitely seen better days and desperately need replacing to tie the room together. When the time comes we’ll be going with silver appliances to fit in better with the grey kitchen we’ll be having. This is probably going to be the most expensive part of the renovation which is why it’s happening last.
The finishing touches
Of course we’re not going to spend all this time and money doing up the kitchen without adding some finishing touches. We’ll be having a new toaster and kettle to match the new colour scheme, new glassware, adding a few simple accessories to the breakfast bar, hanging a large print and getting an industrial style clock like the one above.
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