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Yes, you read that right. We re-did our entire kitchen for under €200. Floor, cabinets, counters, hardware, the lot! And we did it in one week* without losing our minds or ruining our marriage.
*one week-if you discount the fact that we ran out of steam at the very end and didn't get the handles back on the drawers until two weeks later!
I'm not going to go deep into explanations in this post. I figure room reveals are all about the photos so I'm going to stick to that, full-on descriptions can wait until I break it down into tutorials (which will be following on in the next week or two)
So this is what we started with:
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| This is the very first photo I took of the kitchen after we got the keys, my hand must have been shaking with excitement! Or 90's tile-induced disgust. Definitely one of those things. |
And this is how we lived with it for 10 months:
We painted the walls white, added a chalkboard wall, brought in an Ikea island.
None of it was so bad that we felt we had to change it straight away, but it just really wasn't "us", so we knew it would have to go eventually. And gradually as we changed more things in the house and brought our own taste to the other rooms it just started to look worse and worse by comparison.
I had kinda been putting off doing anything because I wasn't sure what I really wanted to do with this space. I had visions of open shelving on top instead of cabinets, subway tile to the roof, wood flooring throughout...but then I realised that none of those things were going to be do-able any time soo, so I could wither live with it as it was, or try to make it more "me" as cheaply and easily as I could in the meantime.
Cut to....painting everything, duh!
And....ta-dah!!!!
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| I think those stools have a coat of bright spray coloured paint in their future, what do you think? |
I think it's approximately 3.74 million times better. What do you think? Let's look at some side by side comparisons (or actually, one after the other, cos I can't figure out how to do side by side without going back and re-editing, and I 'aint got time for that!)
Here's the wall with the cooker before, lovely beige cupboards and terracotta coloured tiles....
And here it is after, with the cupboards and backsplash painted white, new handles on the doors and the counter covered with marble effect contact paper...
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| That's a chicken in the oven...in case you were wondering. |
We used to have the microwave in this corner, but it took up loads of space and gathered dirt underneath like it was it's job, so we moved it.
Instead we now have a lot more space here, and a coffee station. Trust me, that is an essential in this house.
(shout out to my mother in law for giving us this Nespresso machine for Christmas a couple of years ago and facilitating the transition in my coffee consumption from occasional indulgence to crippling addiction~thanks Rose!)
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| If my house was on fire, this is probably what I'd save. Screw the memory sticks full of irreplaceable family photos! ;) |
Notice the little glint of gold on the toe-kicks? That's Duck Tape my friends. Duck Tape that comes in gold! Tough enough to do practically anything, pretty enough to jazz up your kitchen, I'm in love! And I must give a shout out to Kimberly over at Swoonworthy for bringing both this and marble contact paper to my attention via her blog (which is amazing, if you haven't visited yet you definitely should!)
And yes, the terracotta/beige checker floor is no more! Seriously, a couple of coats of paint solves pretty much anything.
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| This right here is why it takes so freaking long to get a post together around here! Sabotage! |
The microwaves new home, and a little plate wall I threw together using some plates and trays I've been picking up in charity shops for years.
The dishwasher we inherited from the previous owners, wonky drawers, and that god-awful floor, my eyes!!!!!!
Ahhh, much better!
The lovely laminate counters and more of my beloved terracotta tiles....
Banished forever! Or at least until I decide to peel the contact paper off again.
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| Yes, I am trying to make my photos look more instagram-y by adding random fruit :P |
And another look at the counters, cupboards and painted floor all together.....
So, to the details!
When we decided to try and update this space we really wanted to keep costs down as much as possible. As I said before, this is a temporary fix until we can afford to do the big re-vamp we would really like.
So I took myself and my tiny budget out to Homebase and came back with many tins of paint and a plan I thought would let us do this with minimal tears and zero marriage-destroying fights over whose stupid idea this was.
Awesome.
The plan went as follows:
Wednesday night: Spray paint new hardware, clean and prime backsplash.
Thursday naptime: Paint backsplash.
Thursday night: Remove kitchen cupboards, sand and do first coat of paint.
Friday: Dump offspring with unsuspecting family members for weekend, second coat of paint on cupboards, prime floor.
Saturday: First coat of paint on floor, final coat on cupboards, sit around reading papers feeling like the childless people we once were while everything dries, second coat on floor.
Sunday: Hardware back on doors, doors back on kitchen, grudgingly accept children back.
Monday night: Apply contact paper (sticky back plastic) to counters. To be totally honest this step didn't happen for another week cos the pattern I wanted wasn't in stock, but it only took two hours to do once I had it.
Tuesday: Put all furniture back in after allowing floor paint to cure for 48 hours.
And that was that! For the first time ever I didn't wildly underestimate how long each step would take and so it was all very organised and not painful at all!
The cost breakdown was as follows:
Paint for cupboards - €25
Paint for backsplash - €12
Paint for floor - €50
Primer - €20
New handles - €30
Gold spray paint - €12
Wall paint - €0 (left over from bedroom)
Contact paper - €20
Duck tape - €10
Grand total - €179!!!
I overestimated how much contact paper I would need so we actually ended up spending well under €200, woohoo!!
I'm sure you have questions about how we did it and how it's all holding up, so I'll be doing separate posts on everything we did to go through that properly.
Also, after I'd painted everything I thought that the white kitchen against the white walls was really..."meh", so I did what I usually do when I'm considering a new paint colour. First, I thought about what I wanted and picked up some testers. I applied the testers to the walls and studied them as you're supposed to, looking at them in every kind of light and at different times of day, gradually narrowing them down.
I was going to take my time with this, I was not going to rush it and regret my decision, I was going to do this right.
And then, one night in a fit of enterprise when I didn't have the chosen paint at my disposal I threw all the consideration out the window, grabbed a can of something I had left in the shed that "might work" and slapped it on.
Seriously. Everytime. It's ridiculous.
So now I think the walls are probably too dark. I was actually looking at shades of pink, as I already have black, white and grey in the kitchen and a pink would both liven up the space and tie it in with the living room and it's very pale pink walls.
But whatever, overall it is sooooooooo much better!!! I can't really believe how much better it is until I look at the photos side by side.
There are those that will say I'm crazy for painting a tile floor, that it won't last and it'll scratch, and to those people I say...you're right. I've already had to touch it up, and I probably will have to do that on and off as long as we keep the floor like this, but do you seriously think it's better to live with something you hate than to take a chance to make it better?
Even if I do have to touch it up regularly, who cares? It's still better than looking at "the tile that taste forgot" everyday until I can afford to get rid of it!
And when I can afford to get rid of it, I'll have had plenty of time to think about what I really want in here, rather than what I think I want, or what pinterest tells me I should want! We probably could have afforded to change the counter now, and maybe the backsplash, but if we're going to do an overhaul a year or two down the line then what's the point? I'd rather wait and make one big mess than a lot of little ones ;) And like I said, I change my mind about what I like probably every week, so a little time to reflect can only be a good thing!
One last look at the before and after.....
It feels like having a whole new kitchen, and it works so much better with the connected living room now. I'm delighted with it! And when the time comes to change it I won't care about ripping things out cos the whole thing cost €179!! That's a successful update in my eyes :D
So what do you think? Am I crazy? Would you ever consider painting tile? Talk to me!
