Renovating a kitchen without ripping it out

[Hayls]

Dh is coming home for lunch in 20 mins and I need to have some quick figures to hand to persuade him that we CAN afford to redo our kitchen now rather than later. It's quite a small box shape with 7 low cupboards (sink over two)and is generally in good nicj as it's only about 6 years old but very old fashioned and I need to know how much this would be:

worktops to cover all cupboards (and a bit extra to make a breakfast bar)- dh wants real oak but comparison of this and a nice laminate would be great

new stainless steel sink and mixer tap

cheapest new steel gas cooker with separate grill available (found one for £240)

Tile round sink and cooker or a stainless steel splashback for above cooker

We're going to sand the doors and repaint them and put on new handles- can anyone convince me that this isn't a huuuge and horrible job?

Please please give me lots of suggestions! I was thinking of painting the doors a dark cream colour and the walls a very light grey with new (yep) steel handles...any thoughts? FIngers crossed I can persuade him, as he'll do most of the work- doesn't trust me to do it to his high (picky) standards

TIA

[throckenholt]

have a look at screwfix.co.uk and the B&Q website - they should give you some number to play with.

You can also put on new doors which would be much quicker and easier than sanding/painting.

[passtheprozac]

hi, dh is kitchen designer so could probably give you some good suggestions, and prices and stuff.

[SoupDragon]

Do your doors have grooves and panelled bits? If so, sanding and painting could be tricky.

[Hayls]

SD, the doors do have panels on them. Will that make it really tricky? Think I've managed to talk him round- yippee! My friend just told me that B&Q were selling really good doors in the sale for £5 eeach so that might be worth a look. Just off to do some more investigating now.

[littlerach]

We just re painted our unit doors, think it was paint by International or Crown, in Jersey Cream. Has come out so much better than I thought! We had to lightly sand the doors first but didn't need to prime them. It did take a while to dry and needed 2 coats. The first coat looked awful and blotchy but the second one looks fine.