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You are here: Home / STYLE / Our DIY kitchen makeover reveal – before and after

Our DIY kitchen makeover reveal – before and after

December 20, 2016 by Molly 18 Comments

DIY kitchen makeover meal planner

This week marks exactly three years since we moved into our very first home. It’s the fourth house we’ve lived in as a couple, the third we’ve lived in as a family, the second we’ve lived in in Devon but the first – the very first – that we’ve actually owned. This house is special, in all sorts of ways. However, despite the love we have for the house, there’s one thing we’ve always hated: the kitchen. We didn’t have the cash to splash on a completely new kitchen, ripping out the old units and replacing the worktops with sleek new ones. So instead we had to get a bit creative and do a major DIY kitchen makeover ourselves.

Here are the results…

BEFORE:

DIY kitchen makeover BEFORE

AFTER:

DIY kitchen makeover AFTER

The kitchen we have dates back to around 1993. The units were covered in a scratched blue laminate, with glass fronted cabinets meaning everything was on show. This forced us to keep our food in the larder, which meant everything else – plates, microwave, glasses etc – were crammed into the cupboards. Practically speaking, it didn’t work. The cupboards didn’t shut properly, there was barely any worktop space, and I was forever having to empty out full cupboards to find exactly the saucepan or bowl I needed.

The only window into the room is overlooked by the side of the house next door (we live in a terraced house), so there’s barely any light in the kitchen. At some point, a former owner had put in an interior window along one wall, but the glass was covered in fake faux Tudor style fretwork which looked dated and kept the kitchen feeling completely cut-off from the rest of the open-plan downstairs. I hated it.

BEFORE:

DIY kitchen makeover breakfast bar BEFORE

AFTER:

DIY kitchen makeover breakfast bar

Taking out pane of glass in that space instantly opened it up, gave us more light into the room and made it feel a whole lot more sociable. My dad came over for the weekend while my mum looked after the girls, and we smashed the glass (a strangely satisfying yet incredibly messy job) because it had been glued in and refused to budge. The NLM and my dad then built a breakfast bar on the other side and put new wood panelling around the inside edge of the window.

The new breakfast bar instantly makes the kitchen feel a part of the rest of the downstairs space, and the kids love eating their breakfast there in the mornings. It’s a lovely space to sit and chat to whoever’s cooking, with or without a large G&T. (See the product listings below for details of the chairs – a steal at £40 each.)

DIY kitchen makeover bar chairs for breakfast bar

While they were busy with the breakfast bar and window, I got to work painting the walls in Ronseal’s anti-mould paint in white matt. It’s a one-coat paint but I did two just to be on the safe side (and also because we had a rather gross old red wine stain up one side of the wall which proved to be stubborn to cover).

I also painted the cupboards with Ronseal cupboard paint. We’d already stripped off the laminate plastic (top tip: iron the cupboards first to melt the glue, then the plastic simply peels off in seconds) and swapped out the glass fronts for sheets of MDF. Later, Dad and the NLM put new handles on them – ones I picked out from Homebase.

BEFORE:

DIY kitchen makeover halfway through

AFTER:

DIY kitchen makeover hanging planters

I also painted the dark blue, yellow and red tiles in the white tile paint by Ronseal. This is a one-coat paint, but I ended up using three coats because the old tiles were so dark and the black grout proved to be a bugger to cover. We had a party at the weekend and no one could believe the tiles were painted – everyone assumed we’d ripped out the old ones and put in new ones (a job we didn’t have the time or energy for!) so I reckon the effect is pretty successful.

Once we were done with the painting, we hung a large piece of driftwood which we’d found at the beach, along the top of the window. This is where we used to have a sticky old rollerblind – which was long since broken! With a few hooks from IKEA, the driftwood made the perfect place to hang a couple of hanging planters (Macrame Ceramic Hanging Planter Set – Green) along with space for three saucepans. This gives us a bit of privacy without blocking the light AND provides extra storage – triple win.

BEFORE:

DIY kitchen makeover cupboards

AFTER:

DIY kitchen makeover new cupboards

We’re a colour-loving family and I was keen for the kitchen to feel like a cohesive part of the rest of the downstairs, where we have yellow feature walls with bright pops of colour scattered throughout (turquoise and pink feature heavily) along with eclectic accessories. Luckily the new kitchen gave us the perfect blank canvas to play with, and with a few additions there’s plenty of colour in there now.

teatowelkitchen-after-mar-tinskitchen-after-mar-5

I love the new kitchen and the fact that the whole makeover cost us less than £330. It’s made the room feel a part of the rest of our home and is now so much more of a practical and sociable a space.

kitchen-after-mar-4

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Paint:

Ronseal one coat tile paint, brilliant white, satin (covers 8m² per litre), £21.99 for 750ml tin  | Ronseal anti mould paint for walls and ceilings, white, matt (covers 12m² per litre), £19.99 for 750ml tin |Ronseal one coat cupboard and melamine paint, brilliant white, satin (covers 8m² per litre), £21.99

Materials:

MDF for cupboards (B&Q), £15 | Wood for breakfast bar (B&Q), £20 | Strips of wood for interior window (B&Q), £10

Furniture:

Butcher’s block, Gumtree, £30 | Bar chairs, Premier Housewares on Amazon, £40 – currently sold out but  Eiffel Style Designer Bar Stool Dining Chair- Black are similar, as are the SoBuy® White ABS Plastic Bar Stool, Kitchen Breakfast Barstool with Wooden Legs, FST34-W.

Accessories:

Natalie Lea Owen teatowel, Roost shop, £12.99 (buy directly from the shoppable edit at the bottom of this post here). | Macrame ceramic hanging planter by Temerity Jones at Amazon, £26.95 (turquoise is sold out but still available in Macrame Ceramic Hanging Planter Set – Green. | Storage tins, Cooksmart Seville Storage Tins, Set of 3, £9.99 | Flour tins, Trago Mills, £3.50 each. | Turquoise saucepans, Trago Mills, £14.99 for set of three. | Banana leaf, banana and grapefruit posters (30 x 40cm), Desenio, £9.99 each. | Chalkboard, Home Bargains, 99p (stuck with white sugru mouldable glue, £6.99).

TOTAL SPEND: £328.84

 

**

Thanks to Ronseal for working with me on this post. Also contains some affiliate links. For more details of how I work with brands, check out my Work With Me page.

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Filed Under: Interiors, STYLE Tagged With: DIY, family interiors, interiors ideas, kitchen makeover, my home

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Comments

  1. Lotte Brouwer says

    December 23, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    Wow! What a fabulous kitchen makeover, and I love those Eames chairs by the kitchen peep hole! xx Lotte (http://yespleaseblog.co/)

    Reply
  2. Becky at PinksCharming says

    December 23, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    Wow this is amazing, what a transformation! I have always been a bit wary of painting tiles and cupboards, so it’s good to see how well yours have turned out. We are saving for a new kitchen but I’m wondering about giving this a go short term xx

    Reply
  3. Sarah Rooftops says

    December 21, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    I love it! We’re currently figuring out how to make our cramped kitchen more usable – I’ve got a few more ideas now!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:00 am

      I think the thing that’s made the biggest difference for us is the storage issue. Just moving around things and reorganising our cupboard space made a huge difference!

      Reply
  4. Donna says

    December 21, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    That looks amazing, especially for the overall cost. A great transformation! x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:00 am

      Thanks Donna! We’re really pleased with it. And with the money we saved!

      Reply
  5. Claire Evans says

    December 21, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    Oh Molly, it’s an amazing makeover for that budget! I’m going to use lots of these tips when sprucing up our kitchen next year. I wish we had a similar layout with the breakfast bar too. Well done! x

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:00 am

      Thanks Claire! So easy to make some big changes on a budget – just need a little bit of time to put them in place!

      Reply
  6. Jem says

    December 21, 2016 at 7:46 am

    My kitchen needs an upgrade from its current 90s homebase look (v similar to your old one) and as I’ll likely be selling in the next 12 months this post is perfect. Even covering our manky tiles would be a good start.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:01 am

      Definitely recommend the tile paint option. So much quicker (and cheaper) than taking off old tiles and putting in new ones!

      Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:01 am

      Definitely recommend the tile paint option. So much quicker (and cheaper) than taking off old tiles and putting in new ones!

      Reply
  7. Emma says

    December 20, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    Looks fantastic Molly, and what a great price too!

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Thanks Emma! x

      Reply
  8. Alison says

    December 20, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    Molly it looks ACE! Really love it. The breakfast bar is a stroke of genius. Love the splashes of colour and the white tiles/cupboards.

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Ah thanks Ali – we’re so pleased with it. You just need to come visit so we can drink gin and tonics at the breakfast bar while the NLM and Mr P do the cooking! x

      Reply
  9. Anna International says

    December 20, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    Oh wow! Looks absolutely amazing and so hard to believe such a difference can be achieved on such a tiny budget! Love the new breakfast bar, such a great idea. You must be thrilled! And now you can relax and enjoy it! Happy Christmas! X

    Reply
    • Molly says

      December 22, 2016 at 9:03 am

      Thanks Anna! We’re so pleased – especially as it’s been done before Christmas. Didn’t realise what a huge difference it would make!

      Reply

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  1. 15 Best DIY Home Refurbishment Projects - Saxton Blades Blog says:
    October 1, 2018 at 1:24 pm

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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If you feel bad about your body you’re less like If you feel bad about your body you’re less likely to do nice things for it, including moving in a way that feels good and eating in a way that feels good. (FYI health is about more than just exercise and nutrition, but let’s get deeper into the exercise thing for a second...)
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Research shows kids who have low body image are less likely to get involved with sports and more likely to skip PE. 
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Want kids to move more? Stop teaching them that one type of body is better than another - because if their body doesn’t look like your version of a healthy / beautiful / successful body not only will they be more likely to feel shame over their body, they’ll be less likely to engage with the very behaviours you want them to do more of (or be more likely to engage with them in an UNhealthy way - compulsive exercise is dangerous).
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Instead:
💕Try talking about the intrinsic benefits of exercise over the extrinsic ones (ie. how it makes you FEEL instead of how it makes you LOOK).
✨Create opportunities for movement where ALL children feel welcome. 
💕Show children diverse representation so they can see sporting heroes with a range of body types and know that movement is for EVERYbody. 
✨Take a zero tolerance approach to appearance based bullying, body shaming and comments that perpetuate weight stigma (including even the hint that fat = bad). 
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(If you’re a teacher or youth leader interested in knowing more about this topic, a #BodyHappyKids workshop will help - follow the link in my bio 🥰❤️)
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[Image description: A multicoloured slide with an overlaid screenshot of tweet by Molly which reads ‘If your intention is to “get kids healthy” then you need to be aware of how weight bias, weight stigma and poor body image are active barriers to health. The end.]
Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a crying shame only the piles of laundry got to see it, quite frankly. Finally, a pair of pre-loved jeans bought online that are true to size, consistent with the rest of the brand’s sizing and actually fit! 🎉 
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PS heads up - I’ll be doing a Q&A about body image and kids in my Stories on Friday. The Q sticker is up in my Stories now if you’d like to submit a Q! 💕 #BodyHappyKids
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[Image description: Molly is standing in front of the mirror looking very pleased with the fact her new jeans bought from Depop fit her. She is wearing pink patterned jeans with cherubs on them, a pink check jumper and pink trainers. There are piles of laundry on the bed behind her.]
Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been our main form of entertainment this year. Anyone else? 
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I honestly now get excited about putting my boots on and being outdoors, even in the rain. I’m going to start hugging trees next and going on wild camping weekends that involve doing a poo behind a tree and making my own fire. Joke.... maybe. 
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Just another reminder that all movement is valid, exercise doesn’t need to have to be about burning calories or even tracking steps in order for it to be “worth it”. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend ❤️
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement
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Image description: Molly and her two daughters stand on a bridge in the countryside. They are all wearing hiking boots and outdoor clothes and smiling.
My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
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