24-05-2022

Want to Renovate Your Kitchen? 5 Simple Ideas

 

We spend more time than you’d think in our kitchens. From making a quick brew in between WFH Teams calls, to spending hours making a Sunday roast or baking a cake, they are the hubs of the home.

You may even eat family meals or work from home at the kitchen table. So, you want your dream kitchen to be a peaceful, inviting space. If yours is looking a little outdated and drab, you don’t need to avoid it. There are plenty of DIY kitchen design ideas to get it looking wonderful again!

Home improvement doesn’t have to cost the earth. Everything below can be done on a budget to save money. We aren’t talking hiring a kitchen supplier, ripping out cupboards and replacing appliances. We mean a lick of paint and refresh of the walls, getting your organisation skills in order, and adding a pop of colour.

And with tool hire from Speedy, you can undertake jobs which you thought would be impossible to DIY. There’s no need to spend money on a professional to do the tasks below; hiring quality equipment will get the job done in no time, safely, and on a budget.

Always wear the appropriate PPE when doing DIY around the home. For a kitchen renovation, you’ll likely need eye protection, dust masks and gloves.

 

Easy DIY Ways to Renovate Your Kitchen Space

Below are some simple ideas to improve your kitchen space, which are easy to fit in around work and other commitments and won’t stretch the purse strings.

 

Idea 1: Add some new tiles

A lot of kitchens will have existing tiles around the worktop area or acting as a splashback. If they’re looking past their best, or are a boring dated design, why not replace them? Maybe your kitchen doesn’t have tiles, and you’re fed up with pasta sauce stains on the wall and shining your stainless-steel splashback.

If you want modern and clean, Metro tiles are the way to go. If you want a Mediterranean feel, there’s hundreds of patterns out there. Or why not try farmhouse-style if you want something rustic in an older property? The tiles can be as small or large as you like, to suit your lifestyle and keep them clean.

You will need:

 

You can remove your old tiles by using a suitable chisel or scraper. Wear protective gloves and a mask and use your dust extraction unit as it can get quite messy. Then once the wall is clean, free from old grout and dirt, with any holes filled in, you’re ready to go.

Always start from the centre of your wall, and never apply more than 1m2 of tile adhesive at a time. Start with the large tiles first too, leaving the cutting until the end. If you’re using ceramic tiles, a ready mixed paste adhesive will be fine. If using porcelain tiles, you’ll need to mix a powdered adhesive using a paddle mixer.

Tiles can be used as a splashback above the oven, or around the entire kitchen workspace. Finish off with some grout. A contrasting colour, such as black grout with white tiles, can make them really pop.

Steam clean everything after tiling using a steam cleaner, even the tiles once they’ve set. You’d be surprised where dust can reach, especially near your food preparation surfaces. Steaming should help to remove any final bits of grout from the tile surface too.

 

Idea 2: Paint your kitchen cupboards

White kitchen cabinets can make a small room feel much bigger and brighter. Dark cabinets and doors can make an open plan kitchen space feel cosier. A pop of colour can make any room feel a lot more fun and family friendly.

Basically, what we are saying is cupboard doors can come in any colour. Don’t stick with boring old pine kitchen units if you don’t like them.

You will need:

 

Do everything one door at a time so it isn’t too chaotic. Remove the cupboard doors from the hinges if possible and remove the handles. Remove any self-adhesive film so you’re just left with the plain wood or MDF door. Sand it down (a belt sander may be required for this) to create a rough surface that the paint can stick to, before using sugar soap to remove residue.

Prime first, using a suitable wood primer. When dry, start painting. Using a paint sprayer here will be best for several reasons. Firstly, it is much quicker, so you’ll be able to get your doors done in no time. Secondly, the paint will get into any nooks and crannies that a roller or brush will struggle with. Thirdly, you will be left with no streaks or lines, and the paint won’t be too thick either.

When painting something like a cupboard door, you really need to do thin layers rather than one or two thick layers of paint. Thick paint just means it is more prone to warping or chipping over time.

Don’t forget to paint the other visible parts of the kitchen units, too. You may need to pull out some appliances to ensure the job is fully complete and cover up areas with masking tape and dust sheets if using the airless sprayer.

To finish it off, you can use the existing handles or buy new ones. Even just spray-painting existing handles black or gold could change the look of the kitchen entirely.

  • SPEEDY TOP TIP! Why not paint the bottom cupboards a different colour to the top wall cupboards? Painting the bottom half in a dark colour and the top half a light colour can minimize the heavy appearance of upper cabinets.

If you feel like your door styles are a little outdated and boring too, why not use MDF to act as a border panel/trim around the edges? This style of cabinet, also known as a Shaker kitchen, is modern and makes your kitchen look entirely new without an entire kitchen remodel.

 

Idea 3: Paint everything else, too!

Why stop there? There’s now a paint for every occasion and use available, from tile paint which won’t flake off when it gets wet, to paint for furniture such as dining tables and chairs, and even for PVC window frames or wooden flooring. Some home renovation Instagram accounts have even painted their kitchen worktop.

If you thoroughly read how to prepare and do the job correctly, there is no reason why you can’t use paint to drastically change the look of your (almost) entire home.

You will need:

  • Paint
  • Primer suitable for your surface
  • Dust sheets
  • Airless paint sprayer (or paint brushes and rollers for delicate areas)
 

You will need to clean and prime any surfaces before painting. This is especially relevant if you’re painting tiles; a blast of steam can get grout looking fresher. When painting small areas, always cover other surfaces with dust sheets or old cloth.

Of course, you can just paint the walls and internal doors if you’re not feeling quite so brave.

 

Idea 4: Swap cupboards for open shelving

Struggling to think how you can add decorative accents to your kitchen? Do the upper cupboards just seem a bit too heavy for your space, blocking light and making it all feel too enclosed? Why not swap some wall cabinets for open shelving?

They can be decorative or practical, adding coloured jugs, accessories and pictures or using as storage for your cookbooks or dried goods in jars (such as tea bags, coffee and pasta). The space will feel more open. Just don’t remove too many cupboards all at once, in case you then struggle for hidden storage!

You will need:

 

Depending on your shelf design, how to fix them (and how much space you need) will differ. But first, you need to empty and remove any existing wall units. Fill in any holes left behind before painting the wall if needed.

Then, you’re ready to put up your new shelving. Use the spirit level to check everything is even – you don’t want items slowly rolling down your shelves! Give them a wipe down before arranging the items as you wish.

  • SPEEDY TOP TIP! Renting your home, or not sure about whether you’ll change your mind? Just remove the doors and leave some cupboards open, instead. Keep the doors, hinges, and screws all together, so the change is easily rectified.

 

Idea 5: Add pops of colour using accents

Whether you add plants and greenery, such as an herb garden on your windowsill, or buy a brand-new colourful roller blind for your window, there are some really easy ways to add colour, texture and personality to your kitchen. These items aren’t just for living areas. Even picking a theme and sticking to it for your kitchen storage canisters, tea towels and oven gloves can make an impression.

Why not put your colourful cookbooks on show, or add a gallery wall of pictures? Wallpapering a single wall could even be a big change. If you don’t have much bench space for adding a vase of flowers or a fancy decorative egg box, are there any appliances you could store away because you don’t use them often?

 
Ready for more DIY inspiration?
 

Thank you for reading the Speedy Services blog, we hope you found this how to renovate your kitchen guide useful, start to transform your home today.

Speedy Services, the UK's number one hire company has over 3000 different tools for you to choose from including, with daily, weekend and weekly tool hire available at over 200 service centres nationwide, online and in selected B&Q stores. With 4-hour delivery on many of our products, it's safe to say, we've got you covered.

  • Please visit our Skills and Projects page for more inspiration and help for your DIY projects. 
Categories
Archive
Find a Depot
200 depots nationwide
Speedy in your pocket
Get our app
Get a Speedy Account
Sign up here