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New year, new kitchen – my plans for a thrifty renovation

Some items have been gifted

Oooh it’s the 12th December already! Who else thinks that December is the fastest month of the year? Blink and you miss it. I’ve barely got any decorations up yet! That said, I’m already planning ahead to my new year, and that’s because I’m super-excited about my kitchen renovation. So today, I’m sharing my plans (and some horrible ‘before’ photos) so let me know what you think…As the only room in the house that hasn’t been given a facelift yet, I’m hoping to begin work on the kitchen in the new year. It really needs a makeover but we’ve not really had the time – or inclination – to get started on such a big project. Here’s some ‘before’ photos that I snapped when we first got the house keys:The thing with kitchens is that there are so many elements to consider; it’s not just a case of painting the walls – although that would be a good start – it’s about the cabinets, the plumbing, the lighting, the worktop, the windows, the appliances, the flooring. The list goes on and on.The one thing I have got sorted is the kitchen sink, ironically enough. I actually bought my sink last February. We hadn’t even moved into the house at that point but found a lovely big sink at a fraction of the price and snapped it up. So it’s been sat in our shed for nearly a year and it’s about time I found a worktop to fit it into.

I’ve spent a long time deliberating over the worktops. One reason being that we are planning to keep the cabinets as they are. So the layout will stay the same, but I’m sure we can freshen up the cabinets with a coat of MODE spray paint by Rust-Oluem. I’ve had a box of this spray paint and primer in my shed for a few months, but at least I’ve tried this out on one of the cupboard doors and drawer front (quick pic below), so I know it does the job perfectly. We’re saving a huge amount of money by keeping the unit frames, and are just planning to paint the doors with a bright turquoise colour. I can’t wait to see the cupboards finished!So, back to the worktops. I’ve found a company that offers some unbelievable prices, HC Supplies, and have ordered a range of samples from them. It’s difficult to know whether a worktop will suit when you’re looking at it online, so it’s very handy to have the colours/patterns in my hand to be able to compare them side-by-side and in-situ. By the way, always measure up properly and double check before you order – I almost chose a solid wood worktop, which looked absolutely gorgeous and was a great price, but that measured about 5cm too wide for my cabinets!I laid out the samples in the kitchen, beside the turquoise paint, and decided on this sparkly white quartz gloss worktop. The old worktop was so ingrained with dirt that we just couldn’t save it. I’ve asked the company to deliver it during the first week of January so that we have no excuse to crack on with the project as soon as the new year arrives. You can imagine how excited I am – it’ll be like Christmas all over again when that worktop arrives.I also picked out some blinds by Style Studio for the kitchen. We’ve had no coverings over our windows all year, so the kitchen felt a bit like a goldfish bowl and I didn’t really want to spend much time in there after dark. We’d been putting off getting curtains or blinds for this room because we were considering changing over to traditional sash windows while we were already turning the kitchen upside down.But now I have finally picked out some lovely 50mm Venetian blinds for the kitchen. They’re water-proof and easy to clean so I don’t have to worry about warped wood caused by the cooking steam. The thicker slats look a lot like shutters, giving the room that seaside holiday-home vibe! I’m going for fresh matt white blinds, although I do love this look with the teak wood above, but it could end up looking too dark in our small kitchen.The walls will be painted white, and I might look for a little bit of wallpaper to add a splash of colour. I’ve still not made any decisions on the tiles for the splashback, so let me know if you come across any bargains or deals. I do have a few of the tiles above left over from our bathroom makeover, but probably not enough to do the whole splashback. I’m going to keep an eye out during the January sales and hopefully find some white tiles at a good price.

So far, so good. I’m gearing myself up for a very messy, renovation-filled January but I’m looking forward to the end result. I’d love to get my kitchen back in order and crack on with some baking!

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂

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Cassie is a freelance writer with a Masters degree in Lifestyle Promotion Studies and is trained in Personal Money Management. She loves to ‘get the look for less’ so regularly shares thrifty-living advice, DIY interior design ideas and low-cost recipes on her blog.

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