Kitchen needing work, any less expensive solutions I may have missed?

[Cornflakegirl7]

I'm in the process of buying a house and once bought, I won't have much money left.

The kitchen has some missing cupboard fronts and drawers and some of the remaining cupboard doors have cracks etc in them.

So far my choices seem to be;

1)Spend all of my money on a new kitchen (I'd rather not as it seems irresponsible plus I dont particularly want a new kitchen, despite the breakages I do quite like this one).

2)Spend what will likely be about £3,000 on new cupboard doors making and fitting

3. Have a scruffy kitchen for now and pay as I go along for new cupboard doors/drawers as and when.

Is there any other solution I may be missing?

For context, there's only me, so the kitchen being scruffy doesnt affect anyone else and functions fine. I could potentially glue the cupboard doors that have cracks etc.

The kitchen has been discontinued so it isn't a case of just buying new bits and fixing them in unfortunately.

I'm single and can just about afford this house but it is a good investment in a great area and I've managed to snap it up a lot cheaper than its potential worth. I'll make money on it.

WWYD? I can take photos if necessary. Juat wondered if there might be something else I could do that I am unaware of?

I would like with if as is for a bit. Annoying but as things are broken you might discover more things break as you use them so it will give you time to see if its a patch up or complete change required.

I'd leave it for a bit too. I'm single too and I've lived with my shit kitchen for 4 years while I've been saving up for a new one. It also has cupboards with no fronts and flooring is badly fitted. The layout is also crap. But in the next year or so I should be able to replace it now and I know exactly what I want due to living here for 4 years!

If you look on a local Facebook for sale page or Gumtree you may find someone selling old units cheaply from which you could scavenge the doors? Or Ebay? They tend to be standard sizes though you might possibly have to change the hinges.
We kitted out DS's little kitchen with lovely, almost new units which someone was giving away on freecycle.

Getting a new kitchen is not irresponsible. I would totally get a new one. 3 grand on cupboard fronts seems a lot. Spend 10,000 and get a lovely new kitchen in time for Christmas. Magnet / Wren / Howdens all do 0% finance deals at the moment.

Are the units non-standard sizing so you’d have to get replacement doors made?

Definitely get new doors, but wait until there is a sale or a special offer somewhere, then it shouldn't cost as much as you think.

This was around 15 years ago - but I managed to completely re-do all my kitchen cupboards and drawers when B&Q were getting rid of one of their ranges - I got everything I needed for £1 per item! It was less than £20 altogether I think.

You would be very lucky indeed to find an offer as good as that, but there are sales and offers so I would wait until you find one.

As long as the cabinets are sound I'd go for new doors and worktops. It can be done cheaper than 3k if you shop around and fit yourself - doors and drawer fronts are pretty easy to replace, worktops get a handy friend or relative to help.

Buy a second hand kitchen. We got ours inc appliances and granite work tops for £500.

Are the cracks in the doors just cracks in the vinyl covers? If yes, you can remove the vinyl and paint the MDF underneath. It looks fine.

I did this - the vinyl peels off easily and I used Zinsser Allcoat Exterior Water Based Gloss paint. Any missing doors can be scavenged off an old kitchen someone is getting rid of and given the same treatment.

Depending on placement/ how bad they are, remove the damaged doors altogether and paint the insides to restyle them as open shelves? Or add cupboard skirts instead of doors if they’re lower level and the style of kitchen would suit it?

Thy are non-standard unfortunately. And made of wood! Thank you for the replies all, didnt expect so many!
A second hand one is a good idea, I've actually done that before! Found a barely used one and had it delivered, cost me £250 including delivery.

Thats a good idea. 🙂
I'll upload some photos later, going over there shortly.

Some of the broken/missing units

This is what it did look like

Paint it new handles and get rid of of monstrous cooker hood

I’d get some strong glue to repair the ones falling apart and repaint the whole thing with chalk paint (so no sanding involved) and use a proper seal. It should last a good few years more.

As it’s quite a large kitchen, could you remove some cupboards and and use the doors of those where the others are broken?

That looks like a decent quality solid kitchen albeit a bit well worn. Looks like it should be fine with some patching up (might need some new shelves here and there) and as pp said maybe some paint over all the orange wood.

I wouldn’t shell out for anything more than a patch up until you’ve lived there a while and know what you want a bit more. You may find that the layout is really annoying for example in which case it might be worth saving for a new kitchen rather than just new doors.

I absolutely LOVE that cooker hood! I appreciate I have old fashioned quirky taste however.

This is how I feel. I like the kitchen, and I don't want to go in and get things replaced before I have got a proper feel for the place and what might work.

Taking off doors and putting curtains on the fronts can look good if that's your style, especially interspersed with open shelves. You could have some good fun with painting and fabric. You could see how many complete doors you have and just go crazy with some open, some fabric and some with a door. Got nothing to lose, if it doesn't turn out well then you know you need to save up for a new kitchen!

Our kitchen is falling apart, we’ve removed some of the lower doors in a row and replaced them with some curtains, we were then able to put those doors on the wall cupboards that had broken doors.

We would like a new kitchen, but its too big a cost at the moment.

Ooop’s lol

its just looks a bit shoehorned in
if you could re gig wall units and loose a single wall unit ether side possibly replace with a shelf you’d see it more as a feature rather than than something that’s been squashed in

Come to think of it, yes it does! I don't have much of an 'eye for' things such as that.

Yes, fabric from charity shops and those little stretchy net rods. Relatively easy.