Sprucing up a kitchen for not much cash...

[flyingjase]

...any ideas?

I'm probably knocking my house down & starting again in 2-3 years time so don't want to spend much cash on it, but I have a nasty '80's faux pine kitchen and I'm not sure I can live with for the next few years.

I thought about changing the doors on the cabinets but the cabinet sides would still be pine so it would look a bit silly.

Ideas will be gratefully received on how I can refresh it on without spending a fortune.

Jason

[diesel head]

A picture of the kitchen would be really useful, what about painting the pine??

[flyingjase]

diesel head said:

A picture of the kitchen would be really useful, what about painting the pine??

Does this help?

[dave_s13]

New doors, worktop and a tin of paint.....sorted.

[flyingjase]

diesel head said:

A picture of the kitchen would be really useful, what about painting the pine??

Do you need a special paint? Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing about DIY!. The cabinets have a shiny finish so I don't know whether paint would settle ok on the surface.

[oldbanger]

paint the pine using something durable like eggshell paint.

[T_Pot]

tiled floor, or cheaper lino to make it cleaner and fresh. new work tops to compliment the floor.

tile the walls on top of the worktops, and if you really want, get new doors for units, or at least new handles.


any good?

[flyingjase]

T_Pot said:

tiled floor, or cheaper lino to make it cleaner and fresh. new work tops to compliment the floor.

tile the walls on top of the worktops, and if you really want, get new doors for units, or at least new handles.


any good?

Makes sense. So do you paint the new doors and then paint over the side of the existing cabinets with the same paint?

[oldbanger]

flyingjase said:

diesel head said:

A picture of the kitchen would be really useful, what about painting the pine??

Do you need a special paint? Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing about DIY!. The cabinets have a shiny finish so I don't know whether paint would settle ok on the surface.

If they're real wood, it's probably varnish or similar, which could (probably should) be removed first or the paint's likely to chip or flake off more easily.

eta or you could just sand lightly (and then wipe off the dust) to allow the new paint to key in.

Edited by oldbanger on Thursday 15th January 18:43

[groomi]

flyingjase said:

I'm probably knocking my house down & starting again in 2-3 years time...

flyingjase then said:

...Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing about DIY!...

Oh dear. I look forward to that thread in a few years time!

[T_Pot]

flyingjase said:

T_Pot said:

tiled floor, or cheaper lino to make it cleaner and fresh. new work tops to compliment the floor.

tile the walls on top of the worktops, and if you really want, get new doors for units, or at least new handles.


any good?

Makes sense. So do you paint the new doors and then paint over the side of the existing cabinets with the same paint?

Personally, i wouldnt paint them at all

possibly, look at a woodstain though to make them a more oak looking colour, nice dark granite seck work top and a white tiled back splash with the odd black tile

[VxDuncan]

flyingjase said:

diesel head said:

A picture of the kitchen would be really useful, what about painting the pine??

Do you need a special paint? Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing about DIY!. The cabinets have a shiny finish so I don't know whether paint would settle ok on the surface.

At the very least you'll need to degrease them with something like sugar soap and key them (light sand with find sandpaper). It may actually work out cheaper (and a lot easier) to have them chemically striped, them you can do what you like with them.

[B17NNS]

Paint it with eggshell in an ivory colour. Change the knobs for some brushed stainless types, New contrasting worktop (dark grey?) and away you go.

Look here for a bit of inspiration.

Edited by B17NNS on Thursday 15th January 18:48

[singlecoil]

If you decide to paint, bear in mind that the knots will show through eventually (even if you use knotting).

I used to do a lot of kitchen painting. I would suggest first a THOROUGH clean, you get a lot of condensed grease on kitchen surfaces. Sugar soap is a good material to use, and apply if with scotchbrite which will help to key the paint.

Then a couple of coats (at least, maybe more if you get any showthrough) of water based paint (much less smelly and dries a LOT quicker) Dulux Vinyl Matt is the one to use (the posh ones are too thin), followed by a top coat of Vinyl Silk. Be careful to paint along the grain, random directions look like st.

Edited by singlecoil on Thursday 15th January 18:47

[toasty]

Really cheap? Keep the pine and get some modern brushed metal knobs or handles.

And replace the worktop for <£100

[singlecoil]

I would vote for keeping the worktop unless you are able to cope with tiling issues which will arise (that worktop has been 'tiled in') and some tiles may well break if you try to remove the worktop.

Cutting good joints and neatly trimming the end is something that takes time to learn, you are not going to do it well on your first attempt.

[B16JUS]

the pine would prob look nice against a black granate or granate look worktop some led's in the plynth, knock a line of tiles out and maby replace with another colour ?

J

[diesel head]

Looks to me like the worktop has been sealed in with silicone, (might not be just looks like it) if the op is luck and he removes this carefully the old worktop may just side out from beneath the tiles, then replace with like others say a dark granite effect worktop, replace the door handles and sorted.

[singlecoil]

diesel head said:

Looks to me like the worktop has been sealed in with silicone, (might not be just looks like it) if the op is luck and he removes this carefully the old worktop may just side out from beneath the tiles.

Maybe, maybe not. Tilers normally rest the tiles on the worktop and then squirt a bead of silicone along the interface. Maybe he will get away with pulling out the worktop and maybe he won't. Personally I wouldn't try it unless some spare tiles were available

[T_Pot]

flyingjase said:

Does this help?