Updating our kitchen for a fraction of the cost

**Collaborative post**

We have lived in our house for around 17 years now and parts of it still remain undecorated since before we moved in. Spending so much time in one place (I work from home so it’s also my office space) has made me really dislike several parts of the house.

Cost is usually the reason we haven’t gotten around to decorating or updating some of these areas, they are ones which can be left as they are so spending money which is more useful elsewhere always seems silly and wasteful.

However over the last year, I have been putting a little aside to concentrate on updating and refreshing those forgotten areas – my bedroom was finally sorted out last year, with only a new carpet needed now, and I started one side of the kitchen by painting the walls blue – I’m unable to finish as we are still waiting for the builders to come in and rip out and replace our downstairs bathroom (it’s looking like next year now due to another lockdown) and that made me want to crack on with the other side of the kitchen.

Our kitchen is a huge space, I know we are lucky to have such a big space but it does mean that any upgrades and redecoration is a big project and not a quick 5-minute fix.

One thing I didn’t like was the colour of our kitchen units so last week I took them all off, sanded them down and cleaned throughout with sugar soap ready to paint.

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I purchased Frenchic Furniture paint for this job in the Lazy range as it has an added primer, self-levels and has a wax added to the paint – meaning it is very easy to use and requires very little preparation.

I chose the colour Salt of the Earth lazy range for the cupboards and drawers and then used Gentleman’s Club colour trim paint for the kickboards as these tend to get dirtier so I wanted a darker colour in a hardwearing paint option.

I found that it was far easier to remove the doors and drawers and to paint them while flat on my kitchen table (I placed on newspaper/wrapping paper to protect my table). First, they needed to be sanded lightly. For the bigger doors, I used an electric sander but then just sanded the others down with a sheet of sandpaper.

They were then washed down well on all sides with sugar soap and left to dry out properly. While they were drying I cleaned up the door handles with Elbow Grease spray.

The sides of the doors/drawers I found were easier to paint with a brush but the flat fronts easier with a small foam roller. I painted each door/drawer with around 3 thin layers of paint, letting each layer dry well in between before starting the next.

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Once completely dry I added wax to the fronts, I know the paint had an added wax but as the kitchen is such a high traffic area I end up washing down the cupboards loads where things have marked them or been spilt on them so wanted a little added protection.

To complete this cupboard makeover took me 3 solid days as there are so many units in the kitchen but it really was worth it and I just love the new look kitchen now.

I just love my kitchen bar area I created during the middle of the first lockdown

The next job on the agenda for this room is to replace the flooring, again this will be a huge job as the room is so big so I need the flooring to be hardwearing and last a long time. I am currently looking at wooden options in the engineered flooring sale as this would fit the bill of being hardwearing and I would be able to have it treated so it could be washed and there could be the option of sanding in a few years if needed.

I would also like to add a rug of two to areas I end up standing in most often – by the hob and the sink, as I dislike wearing shoes in the house and my feet get cold in the kitchen. I am loving this one currently which is from Amazon (aff link)

I can’t wait now for our bathroom being completed so I can paint the last wall in the kitchen Blue and I am finished, I think!

It’s amazing how just changing the colour of the doors can make so much difference to the kitchen.

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