Christmas is often a time that family and friends gather together and therefore we’ll have more people than usual visiting our homes. Plus, we’re probably catering for them so our kitchens will be working at full-blast throughout the festive period.
So, if you’re planning to improve your kitchen, now would be the perfect time to kick off those updates and get the room completed before December. If you order the items you need right now it shouldn’t take long for the cabinet doors, countertops or appliances to be delivered and fitted.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to welcome guests into your house and gather around a new island for festive nibbles in your freshly decorated kitchen? And surely it would be handy to have a new work surface for all the food prep for Christmas dinner?
But you don’t need to spend a fortune (and all your Christmas savings) to get the cosy kitchen update of your dreams – here are some tips to get a luxe look quickly and frugally…
1. Refresh the worktops
There’s often no need to replace a whole kitchen in order to completely transform the space – in fact, it’s more sustainable to work with what you’ve already got. For example, you can simply remove your old stained wooden worktops or scratched laminate countertops and change them for luxurious new quartz worktops instead.
This is possibly the quickest and least labour-intensive option for refreshing a kitchen before Christmas. In fact, your new granite or quartz worktop could be installed within as little as one week! And you won’t believe what a difference it can make to elevate your existing cupboards and everyone who visits will assume you’ve done an impressive kitchen remodel when you’ve only splashed out on some gorgeous new work surfaces.
2. Update the cabinets
Similarly, there’s no need to remove your whole kitchen and start again. The cabinet carcasses can easily be reused, meaning you won’t need to make too much mess in the kitchen – just unscrew the doors and either paint them or replace them. It’s thriftier and more eco-friendly to reuse what you already have anyway!
I previously decided to update my old melamine cabinets using spray paint to completely transform them into a whole new kitchen. This upcycling project didn’t take me too long and it made the kitchen last an extra 6 years! Plus, don’t underestimate how much of a difference new handles can make – a plain cupboard door can be completely elevated with a glitzy new handle.
If you opt for the opposite colour to the existing kitchen, it’ll look totally new to your guests and, coupled with a new worktop, will allow you to keep your old kitchen looking fabulous for decades to come. A great way to create a kitchen that works all year round is to choose light colour doors with marbled surfaces and gleaming gold-tone taps and handles.
This creates a snowy Christmassy vibe at this time of year and will look equally fresh throughout the Spring and Summer – just adding a few accessories can completely change the feel for the seasons.
3. Paint the room
One of the cheapest options to revamp a kitchen is to repaint the walls in a fresh new colour. Even if you don’t touch the cabinets or surfaces, changing the wall colour to something vibrant, or painting a white room in a darker hue, can make a big difference.
If you want to create a cosy ambience in the kitchen that’s ideal for the autumn and winter, those darker colours on the cabinets, slick granite surfaces and warm tones on the walls will look great. Or you could just add artwork and accessories in autumnal colours to bring a bit of seasonal drama to the space.
4. Add extra space
I don’t mean extending the room – I’m talking about adding more storage and preparation space by adding a kitchen island. If you have a U-shaped kitchen or long run of cabinets, it’s easy to add an extra section to the end to make an L shape that serves as an island. Or you can add a cluster of new cabinets in the middle of the room.
All you’ll need are two or four low-cost units (depending on the position of the island) and you can tie them into the rest of the room by using the same worktop. It’s a rather cool design detail to have cabinet doors in a different contrasting colour on the island to really make it a feature of the room.
If you’re painting the existing cabinets you can use the same paint on the new doors, or if you’re just replacing the doors, order a few more to make sure the island matches and looks like it was always there.
The benefits of an island at Christmas (and all year!) is that it gives guests a space to gather around if you’re serving up drinks. Plus, it gives you more prep space for big meals and your visitors can chat to you while you carry on cooking. Also – and this is my favourite reason – it’s an instant buffet table for your festive nibbles and cheese board!
I hope these frugal ideas will help you to transform your kitchen in time for Christmas. Let me know in the comments below what you’re planning to do in your own home to freshen up the kitchen. And I’d love to hear your thrifty kitchen hacks for making a luxe space on a budget. 🙂
Pin it for later
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
