Doing it on the cheap! (or HOW MUCH?!)

Well done. Nothing like saving to make you feel good.

Sounds good phoenix I would like to change our kitchen but can't afford it and don't think we can paint cupboards, but wondered if a new counter top to replace tired one would help. Does anyone think granite would be prohibitively expensive or any other recommendations? Will our cheapish Magnet cupboards - other makes available - hold a heavier top? Ideas gratefully received.

Lazigirl* granite would be expensive!

Have a look at Ronseal Cupboard & Melamine paint, which is what we used. It is supposed to be one coat, we found it took 2, but have a good result.

Our kitchen was supplied by the builder (we bought the house as a new build and unfinished, only 2 houses on the site) and was a Wickes one, so definitely at the cheap end of the scale.

Dont think you can't paint it, have a look at the reviews and before and after photos, we took the plunge and it seems to have worked.

The local handy man who painted it was very impressed with the paint, it was the first time he used it and was sceptical at first.

phoenix a good job I was sitting down when I saw the cost of a few doors etc. You could buy a brand new kitchen (maybe not quite Harrods) for that price with a couple of electrical items like a washing machine and dishwasher thrown in. As my dad would have said- he (thought) he saw you coming!

A good job you asked a local handyman to do the painting because I feel it in my bones that Mr. P would not quite have got around to thinking about it yet because paid work intervenes! It all sounds good.

I don't think Mr L would be up to it........but I have to add he's not lazy!

Thank you for your posts, appreciated!

Mr P gets up at 4.30am, to leave at 6am. (He doesn't like to rush!) He gets home around 5.15. He has quite a commute.

Not surprisingly, he isn't that keen on tackling diy projects after work, but does do what he can over the weekend.

If he had done the painting, we might have had it done by Christmas, with a bit of luck!

So, in the grand scheme of things, it made sense (partly for my sanity) to "get a man in"!

Adrian is a good soul, even though he refers to "my good lady wife" and asks to use the "little boys room". He is 6ft 5" , hardly a "little" boy, but very good at painting staircases, ceilings etc.

Well done Phoenix. We moved into our house a year ago and found a very tired orange pine kitchen with a revolting floor and dated wall tiles. We didn't want to spend a lot as the cupboards were good quality. We had the floor and walls re-tiled, installed some new lighting and my husband painted the cupboards. Little Greene paint as it it oil based eggshell and more durable than F&B. We splashed out on some decent handles and now have, basically, a new modern kitchen for probably less than £2000.

The cupboards are far better quality than we would have bought if we had gone for all new. Always worth thinking these things through.

Sounds lovely phoenix. Well done!

There is a company called Granite Transformations who measure your old worktop then make a very fine granite top to go over it- costs a fraction of solid granite worktop and can be put over old laminate worktop but looks solid and you can put hot pans on etc. A good money saver to revamp old kitchen.
www.granitetransformations.co.uk/

Thank you Gonegirl we will still have the dust trapping ledge associated with Shaker style doors, but I think that is a small price to pay!

We have lived with that style since 2005, I'm sure I can put up with it for a bit longer, after all, it's only the (very) occasional wipe down!

Well done phoenix on the DIY but also for avoiding an expensive refit.
Just reading your story makes me realise I'm still in the 1980s regarding prices and doubt I'll ever get a new kitchen. Luckily I'm moderately happy with my non- fitted vintage kitchen. It suits vintage me.
I found a joiner who has repaired the cutlery drawer as the base had fallen through.
I do quite fancy a new sink unit. The trouble is that sizes are different now so you can't just get new fronts on old carcasses.

I had the same problem, Grammaretto was told by the new door front company that my units, although newly fitted in 2005, were no longer standard size!

I'm sure your joiner who repaired the drawer can help you.

Blimey, had no idea those replacement doors/drawer fronts were so expensive. Were they gold plated? Some people must pay those prices or they wouldn’t be in business. Just over 7 years ago our whole kitchen was just over five grand. Good to know you worked round it and achieved the right result for you.

I did also contact a more local company (apparently a franchise, not a franchise of the original one) and they did tell me to allow around £200 per door (well, I suppose at least they did give an indication of price).

My kitchen has 16 doors, and 4 drawers! The original quote did include end panels, trims etc, and the other company who said to allow £200 per door, I am hoping that would have included those bits and bobs, but it would still have been an expensive exercise.

Ok, I've still got a kitchen with dust trapping ledges, but the money saved makes me feel that I can definitely put up with that!

Thought: better to have dust-trapping ledges than have the dust floating straight into the vats of lentil and tomato soup n’est pas?

Mais bien sur, mon ami! (have I got that right? )

phoenix I cannot believe someone was going to charge £200 per door. In London, the going rate for an ordinary door is around £200 not for one small kitchen door. It appears to be cheaper here.

I can well understand with so much driving and a day at work that Mr. P does not want to be rolling his sleeves up during the evenings and the weekends are short because again one cannot expect him to be slaving away 12 hours a day. Much easier to get a man in so to speak. At least you see the work being done.

Glad I found this.. dust catching shaker doors I knew there was a reason I’d said a year ago when thinking of an extension that I didn’t want shaker doors and you’ve reminded me. I look at the catalogues and always like shaker best but I’m getting lazy in my old arthritic age so no ridges for me! Thanks

Charleygirl I suppose that the £200 per door figure would have included all the trims needed, end panels, plus fitting etc.

Much cheaper than the first company, but still quite a lot.

I’m another one who would love a new kitchen but can’t afford it so we have had new worktops and a new set of taps instead. We are very much of the mind that if we can’t DIY it, then it won’t get done. Between us DH and I are quite a good team and can turn our hand to almost anything from plumbing, electrics (him) to painting, wallpapering etc. (Me) we also dabble in joinery and DH and I recently made a fancy new table top for our “dropped to bits” garden table. It looks better than the original.

Im thinking of replacing my worktops sink and taps (yikes) only thing is I will have to have those joiner type metal strips to joint the work surface.As cannot do the proper joints.

Going to do it myself(when the mood take me) and I have done all my homework.
Will take picys once I start the project
I would love someone to come and fit the worktops and use the proper joints but will cost arm n leg.so we shall see.

Update!

The final cost for 2 new cabinets (to replace the silly end shelves) supply and fit 4 new doors, supply and fit new cornice and pelmet (the supplying and fitting was separate, but lumping it together) paint it all and new handles came to...........£1,030.

Ok, we still have the dust collecting ledges at the bottom of the Shaker doors, but for the amount we have saved, I think I can live with that!

We are both very pleased with it, although Mr P has decided that we now need a new tap hence other thread.

Must confess I have splashed out on new oven gloves and tea towels in lime green, for a bit of colour, but the figure quoted up there ^ reflects what we actually spent on the parts of the kitchen that we got quotes for, if that makes sense?

Glad you're happy, Phoenix!

I had a quote for £7k odd for new cupboard/door fronts and worktop etc, for our ancient but perfectly functional kitchen.
Didn't bother.

Some years ago had a quote of £4K for replacement fitted wardrobes in our bedroom. Existing ones worked fine but were nasty looking white melamine.

When dh was away on business I emptied them, painted them with cream melamine paint, and replaced all the nasty handles (a lot!) with wooden knobs.
Huge transformation - total cost £65!

Well done Witzend it's amazing what a difference a coat (or 2) of paint and new handles can make!

We couldn't find handles for the new cupboards that matched the existing ones, so had to buy new ones, but they look better than the other ones, and weren't expensive.