Old kitchen

[Gemzee]

Hi,

We gave just bought our first house. What would you do with this old kitchen - on a small budget? We can't afford a new kitchen right now so are thinking of painting the cupboards but no idea if anything would go well with these tiles. I have attached pics showing tiles, cupboards and worktops. Any ideas please?

No real ideas but you can buy tile paint so you could paint the tiles white which would give you more options to paint the cupboards?
I don't know if its the light on the photo but your kitchen looks quite dark so I'd be definitely trying to lighten it more until you can afford to replace if you want to.

I would paint the cupboards.

You can get tile paint, you could replace the tiles and do it yourself to keep costs down as it's the labour that's expensive.

Plenty videos on YouTube etc on how to do it

On a very small budget? I'd paint the cabinets, replace door handles, leave the tiles, and invest a little replacing lighting and accessories.

I think it depends how long you're looking at until you can afford to replace the kitchen?

I'm in the process of buying my first house (aiming for end of Feb) and have kitchen, utility and bathroom that eventually need replacing. DH and I have decided that any money spent "tarting up" what's already there is wasted, as although it's dated and not to our taste it's all perfectly functional.

Obviously if you're looking at a long time before you can afford the work then do what you can to make it nicer to live with though

We upcycled our kitchen. Crucially, it was in excellent shape, and the doors were solid oak. We were also redoing the utility room and pantry which straddle our kitchen, and wanted to tie it all in together. We had the doors sprayed in Pavillion Grey, which matched the units we installed in the pantry/utility, and retiled the kitchen and utility. It wasn't cheap, but there was a lot of work, and we think it could well have bought us at least another 10 years.

I'd check the material of your kitchen doors - it would be a complete pain if you repainted, but then it started peeling or chipping almost immediately. I think retiling and new handles would be a big difference immediately.

Oh and a new worktop (we had a lot of granite, and although it wouldn't have been my first choice, there's no way I was replacing it in our refurb]).

Assuming a smallllll budget.

I’d work to a white or cream / slightly pink / brown / natural tone in the kitchen.

From expensive to cheap

• if you can afford it New tiles will make a big difference (metro tiles in herringbone could be very nice…)
• new door handles on the kitchen units
• new kettle, toaster, bread bin, tea and coffee caddy in cream or light tone
• A sisal / hessian carpet runner with rubber grip backing to cover the not great floor tiles - nice and durable.

• a magnetic / metal “to do” board OR metal rails to hang cookware OR some art on that big expanse of wall near the door
• a nice window plant
• Give the cupboards a good clean