A week or so ago I wrote a post about our home goals for 2019. They’re pretty much the only goals I set and I’m hoping that by restricting myself and not setting a million different objectives all over the place I stand a chance of maybe achieving one or two.
We’ve long been talking about our plans to build a ground floor extension, giving us the open plan kitchen/dining space we’ve always dreamed of overlooking the garden. Now though it’s all a bit on hiatus as I navigate my new self-employed life. If you have a little bit of money and want to replace your kitchen, from an economical point of view Kitchen Warehouse provides some stunning designer options at an affordable price. For us though since we’re planning an entire rebuild it’s a little bit more complicated.
But what to do when the existing kitchen just doesn’t fit the bill? Turn to the trusty Instagram collaborative that’s what! A few days ago I gave a little guided tour of our teensy cooking space and asked the interiors community for their feedback on some failsafe quick and easy options to give the place a little reboot.
It’s funny isn’t it how back when older houses were built, the kitchen just wasn’t a focal area. Even though our kitchen has been modernised since the time the house was built, it’s not been well thought out and our kitchen units don’t make the most of the limited space we have. Typically of 1930s houses we have a lovely big living room and dining room but it almost feels like the kitchen was just an afterthought. Fast forward a few decades and of course kitchens are the much sought-after communal space, probably garnering the most attention during renovation projects.
It’s crossed my mind on several occasions that there are a number of projects I could look into to really transform our kitchen even if only aesthetically and my lovely IG friends came up trumps with their how-to guides and suggestions on what may work so I thought if I get it all down in a post it might actually happen:
- Paint the cupboard doors – all our appliances are integrated and the cupboards are so tiny we can barely fit anything in them but giving them a lick of paint and probably replacing the handles would at least modernise them a bit
- Replacing the window glass – with most of our windows now we’ve properly replaced them with modern double-glazing which is far more energy efficient than the existing ones. However we left the kitchen and dining rooms since they’d all be removed anyway when we extend. The leading makes them look so old-fashioned and I think getting a glazier to just replace the leading with plain glass would make a big difference, plus new window handles. We replaced the window handles in the bathroom and they look so much better.
- Tiles – again, our tiles are fairly inoffensive but also very tired and a bit dated. Giving them a simple lick of paint or look for a splashback we could place over the top without the need to remove them would save time and hassle and brighten the space
- The tap – OH, the tap. It’s literally clinging on for dear life as the worktop around it has all rotted away. It would possibly look fine if I can source a new work surface somehow but a replacement would look much more stylish.
- Work surface – and speaking of work surface. The dark brown wood effect ones may look fine from a distance but it makes the room feel darker and quite old fashioned. A few people have told me about tips and tricks to update them without needing to replace them so a facelift could well be in order
- Flooring – we’ve actually already replaced the flooring, being one of the first things we did when we moved in. We used to have dark brown vinyl floor tiles so just got an inexpensive cream vinyl to replace them. But oh my goodness, it’s texturised and impossible to keep clean. I have my heart set on those small hexagonal tiles so will do some research and see how much it would cost to install
- A lick of paint – my first paint job when we moved in is a legendary one. The walls were dark red so I painted everything white. And I mean everything, the same white. I didn’t know you needed different paint for radiators and woodwork etc. Needless to say after nearly 5 years of life in general let alone with a cat and dog, it really could do with a new colour
I think I’ve convinced myself that with a little effort and hopefully not too much money I could create a kitchen that would at least see us through the next couple of years with a bit more style and panache until we do eventually get our extension off the ground. Do let me know if you have any suggestions for me or have done a budget kitchen makeover of your own!
Post in collaboration.
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