AIBU to ask how I can improve my kitchen, with a photo.

[Figaro88]

The photo is not my actual kitchen but it is the same units and work top. 12 months ago I moved into a 2017 new build HA house before I come across as being ungrateful I am not, I am very thankful for a permanent roof over my families heads. A couple of the dc friends parents have made comments when collecting their dc from play dates/parties of "oh you live in one of the HA houses then" but only after being in the kitchen, I am now a bit self conscious about it. It has to be the kitchen as the houses all look identical from the outside. So how can I stop it screaming HA when people come into the kitchen? I am wondering if it is the anti slip plastic floor tiles like in supermarkets or the lack of cooker hood, really wish their comments didn't bother me. The tile behind the cooking area goes up to the top of the upper units. I have a 6ft 5inch long window in the kitchen as well so we get a lot of natural light coming in and the kitchen is just a kitchen dinning room is seperate so it is 3.5m×3.5m.

If you know someone with a B&Q trade card it will make your money go further. Also second 'boxing' in wall units either with top and bottom pelmet trim or (trying to think how to describe it) fascia panel. It gives a much more completed look. Use a side panel on end run of units (top and bottom, if bench top allows to give a finished edge. Can you afford (or do you already have) integrated appliances - maybe another option. Cooker hood would also be practical and make it look more finished. Maybe go for bold colour/paper on opposite wall so eyes are drawn there. Nice light fittings and floor tiles/covering also.

Yes the plug sockets are the same, red switches for the cooker and all.

I would definitely upgrade the sockets and while you're at it go for one of the doubles with the built in USB charger.

Get a few water slide transfers to put on some of the tiles? I used to have them in my bathroom and they were very easy to apply, stayed put for 10 years and weren't that hard to take off (I used nail polish remover). I found these on Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Slide-Transfers-Inset-Customs/dp/B07857GS6W/ref=sr_1_2_m?s=diy&keywords=TrimSil&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1551801465&sr=1-2 but the ones i originally had came from Homebase. I also have embossed ceramic decorations that I stuck on a few tiles in the kitchen.

I would be included to paint the wall a less neutral colour, and maybe hang a framed print up.

I think £350 should have it looking good. Flooring, blind, paint and some pics and accessories and a plant or two and it will look great. Mine is ready for a repaint and I need to replace Lino as it’s gone blotchy (seems to have taken against Flash liquid) but it’s amazing how a few simple and cheap changes can totally alter how it looks.

If you have somewhere to store the cupboard doors you could probably change them fairly easily.

Do you know where the cupboards came from? if you want to replace the cupboard doors, it helps if you can buy from the same place. Alternatively I used this company to get replacements made for my kitchen doors (I tried painting the original ones and they looked AWFUL) www.kitchendoorworkshop.co.uk/

You could replace the cupboard doors? They are fairly cheap, we did it at our previous house and it changed the kitchen completely

tile stickers
vinyl wrap

DIY on a budget on Facebook always has pics of what people did to HA houses. What you can do is amazing!

Try painting the walls a rich vibrant colour to start with, replace the flooring and get a bright blind. Flowers/plants and pictures make a huge difference. Think of your units and tiles as a blank canvas that just needs embellishing. And stop being self-conscious about it!

Anything that is sticker or sticky don't do it op, it looks cheap and shit in no time, and don't paint the cupboards, I've dont it and in a couple of years you'll regret it, it's fine painting them if they need it, but it's a perfectly good kitchen,

Replace rhe floor, replace rhe handles, get the trim, and paint the walls and it will be fabulous.

I don't know if you can tile over the floor tiles. Instead, I'd go for vinyl flooring. You can often get end of rolls fairly cheap, it's what we did for our kitchen and bathroom. It also tends to be cheaper than tiles too.

As pps said, you could change the doors, but I wouldn't bother, there's nothing wrong with them, but it's easy enough to change the handles, as long as you get ones with matching screw placement.

Get some kitchen and bathroom paint to paint the walls. It stands up better to condensation and can be wiped clean.

Tile stickers and transfers are often for square tiles, but it looks like your tiles are rectangular, so you might find it hard finding them to fit your tiles.

Finally, ignore comments from people who judge you because you live in a HA house. They're not better than you.

Congratulations on your new home! I hope you have many happy years there, and enjoy making it your home.

But what do you think of your
Kitchen? Do you like it as that’s all that matters surely. Honestly no one would like my house as it’s decorated 1970s retro but I decorate it to our tastes and couldn’t give two figs what someone else said about it. £350 is a lot of money to spend just because other people have made a comment about it?

I would put down black and white check tiles (so the black matches the black work tops). You can get adhesive tiles nowadays so you can do it yourself without getting a handyperson in.

Then I think I'd paint the rest of the kitchen bright white (to match the splashback) and get colourful blinds and accessories. I've got menu chalkboard up in kitchen some banksy posters.

Fwiw i think you should change your acquaintances!

It's a typical basic builder's /HA kitchen.
Mine is something similar, but there is cornice top and bottom and nicer handles so it looks "smarter".
Please don't Fablon your doors and worktop, it will just look like a "HA kitchen" that's been fabloned.
Maybe add some floating shelves and paint the walls a more definite colour.
Nicer floor.

Or alternatively, get your DD to make friends with other children whose parents aren't so rude and snobby.

Thank you for you kind comments. I know I am silly to worry what other people think, I think their comment took me by surprise as I would never be so rude.
Been to B&Q go got some ceramic floor tiles, my dad is going to lay them starting Friday, he has adhesive and grout left over from when he tiled their new kitchen so didn't need to by those. I took a drawer with me and matched some cupboard trim it was £18 for 2.5m if I remember rightly so got enough for the top and bottom of the units. Does anybody know how you attach this? And I went to Dunelm as it was next door and got the whole matching set of storage jars, bread bin, utensil holder, fruit bowl etc. I need to decide on a blind thinking I will go with a black one of some description so it matches in with the things I just bought and a paint colour. Any suggestions on paint colour will be gratefully received, I like colour so don't want white/cream etc.

Forgot to attach the photos of the things I got from the shops!
Also I am not going to use sticky back plastic or paint the units as I could possibly make them look worse.

I love teal against beech.
Spend time choosing the right colour - the wrong turquoise can look cheap, the right shade can look really luxe.

Sorry I am so forgetful at the minute I also got a black 4 bulb kitchen light fitting and a black 75cm black cooker hood with chimney that will match my black cooker and appliances. My dad will put that up for me after I have painted the kitchen, we have a great extractor fan on the front outside wall the cooker hood is more for decoration and the light will come in handy.

Those storage jars are lovely and will really lift your kitchen

Love the slate effect tiles.

Thank you WhereDoesTheToiletGo

a few blinds none of them may be your taste but just a blind can completely change the look

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/roller-blinds/22520/calcutta-stripe-olive.html

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/roller-blinds/16656/cedar-chilli.html

www.blinds-2go.co.uk/roller-blinds/15207/passaro-natural.html

Please don't feel ashamed for living in HA property. Not everyone can afford to buy. It doesn't sound like the comments were derogatory but, if they were said in a nasty way then these people aren't worth knowing.

It looks like a member of my family's HA kitchen.

I don't think the units are horrible - like you say the top cupboards just lack cornices and pelmets.

I would suggest changing the colour of paint on the walls would make the most difference. I would also change the wall tiles and, if allowed, put in a cooker hood. Maybe have spotlights in you are allowed as I presume you have fluorescent lighting.

I don't think the floors are a problem.