The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home. Though the two-and-a-half years average we spend cooking in the kitchen over the course of our lifetime may be relatively small – certainly in comparison to the time we spend sleeping or lounging – it is hugely important and instructive time nonetheless. Memories are forged in the kitchen just as often as meals, earning it priority placement on your renovation checklist.
However, kitchen renovations don’t exactly come cheap. Given the cash-strapped nature of most households in the UK, it wouldn’t be a far stretch to assume that your renovation budget is a tight one – and that completely replacing your kitchen isn’t quite on the cards.
This doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t effect serious change in the heart of your home. There are many little ways to approach updating your kitchen, that don’t need to cost the earth and which can create a fundamentally fresh-feeling transformation. What such ways should you consider?
Painting Cabinets
Easily one of the simplest updates you can manage DIY, repainting your existing kitchen cabinets can be an utterly transformative way to bring some new vibes to your kitchen environment.
Realistically speaking, there is likely little wrong with your cabinets on a functional level; unless your kitchen is completely inadequate for storing and using your equipment, you probably don’t need to replace your units for any reason other than aesthetics – so why not simply tackle the aesthetics of your existing cabinets?
Repainting your units is a simple affair, made easier by the quick-release hinges used on most modern cabinet installs. Removing the doors from each cabinet allows you to paint them without missing any spots, and without accidentally daubing paint where it shouldn’t be.
Painter’s tape can be used judiciously to create patterns or two-tone styles that scream ‘vogue’; don’t forget to take the handles off before you start, though!
Replacing Hardware
While you’re prepping your kitchen unit doors for painting – and while the handles are off – you might consider replacing your handles altogether!
New handles can completely change how your kitchen units look and even feel, which makes all the more difference when combined with your new paint finish. You may need to fill your old handle holes before you drill your new ones, though.
Installing a Backsplash
Another crucial element of your kitchen’s décor is your backsplash – typically a tiled affair, which runs along the back walls behind your worktops and hob.
It’s not unusual for tile designs or patterns to get a little dated, and it’s well within your rights to fall out of favour with a given colour otherwise. Replacing your backsplash is a little more involved than other DIY updates, but can nonetheless be done to a high standard without needing to call the big guns in.
Before you start, you’ll need to invest in the right tools. You’ll need a grout spreader and rake, for one, as well as a rotary tool for cutting tiles to size and for removing old grout. With tile spacers, putting your own tiles up can be made a trifling matter – and can give you a completely new-feeling workspace to boot.
Updating Lighting
A final renovation task to complete the new look of your kitchen is the replacing of your kitchen’s lighting. Anything electrics can feel too advanced or even risky to attempt DIY – and you absolutely shouldn’t attempt to DIY your lights if you feel in any way unconfident.
But replacing your light fittings is much easier than it looks, and there are low-effort DIY alternatives to messing with electrics besides. For example, you could add LED light strips under your wall-mounted cabinets, to illuminate your worktops with a cool task-light glow.
