How this homeowner saved £10,000 on her kitchen makeover - all her tips and tricks

Buying a property can be an expensive process, so when it comes to stamping your style on it, sometimes you need to think outside the box and put in a bit of hard graft to keep costs down.

That's exactly what this homeowner did, when faced with a kitchen that needed a revamp. Using budget materials and taking on a lot of the DIY herself, the kitchen makeover didn't cost the £10,000 it would normally.

In fact, this savvy owner managed a £120 DIY kitchen makeover, completely transforming her space at a fraction of the typical cost.

Dramatic kitchen makeover

After renting their home for six years, Lauren Cundy, an administrator, and her husband Scott finally managed to buy the place and couldn't wait to put their mark on it. However, as the mum of four from Derbyshire found out, there are ways of keeping those decorating costs down. 

Before

The plain white kitchen was due an overhaul and Lauren and Scott came up with the idea of painting it after they painted their front door. 'We were so pleased with the results we thought: "why not do the kitchen?"' says Lauren. 'We used Frenchic's Al Fresco paint, which requires very little prep work – just some sugar soap and a light sand. 

'We actually started by stripping the vinyl from the top cupboards using a heat gun, but we weren't 100 per cent happy with the result, so after speaking with a Frenchic supplier, he said we would be able to paint straight onto the vinyl.'

'So that's what we did with for how to paint the kitchen cabinets on the bottom, and the feel and overall end result were much nicer. We used a Frenchic brush to apply the paint, too.'

'Scott and I tend to do things on a whim,' Lauren told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK. 'I'm forever creating boards on Pinterest with ideas on how I'd like our home to look.'

After

You can see the difference the painted kitchen cabinets made, especially since the couple used such a dark, dramatic colour.

'With this Frenchic paint, I'd recommend you wait two hours between coats,' advises Lauren. 'Even though it dries really quickly, try not to be tempted to do another coat before two hours as it's a self-levelling paint and it needs that time. We used one 750ml tin to do the whole kitchen.'

'We also kept the original worktop to save on cost,' she continues. 'We sanded it down and applied around three coats of Danish oil to protect it.' 

When it came to the tiled kitchen splashback, Lauren was keen to give that a refresh too. 'We used Wilko tile paint on the tiles,' she says, 'and I'd say out of everything this was the worst job by far! The paint was really thick, so I'd recommend that anyone giving it a go does light layers and waits until the tiles are fully dry between coats.'

To save money and avoid spending around £60 on new cabinetry handles, the couple spray-painted the existing handles with Rust-Oleum Gold Elegant Metallic spray paint.  

On the other side of the room, some scaffold board shelves hold accessories and plants.

'We actually found the shelves in our garage, holding the wood we store for the winter to fuel our log burner,' says Lauren. 'We sanded them down and oiled them with the leftover Danish oil from the worktops. This saved us around £30.'

Instead of changing the radiator, the couple spray-painted it using Rust-Oleum Stove & BBQ Paint.

'We already had all the kitchen appliances, so there was no extra cost for those,' says Lauren. 'And we plan to do the floor at a later date. If your kitchen is in working order, but just needs its sparkle back, then this is a perfect alternative and really cost-effective. ' 

'We're so pleased with how it turned out, and our friends, family and landlord think it looks amazing, too. We’ve saved thousands, as a new kitchen would be in the region of £10,000, so we’re super happy with the savings we’ve made.'

Find out more about Lauren's makeover here. 

What's your favourite part of this kitchen?