Kitchen makeover - pointless or will it help ?

[MarthaBerry]

My kitchen is solid wood from 2003. Shaker style. Walnut colour but due to worktop and floor, looks v v dated but a new one is out of the question. Is a makeover a good idea or am I chucking good money at plastering over the fact it is just old ?
Current plans include new worktop and reconfigured storage to free up work surface and new vinyl
flooring and even that’s £1000.
will it look crap ?

No not at all. Sounds like a good solid kitchen - try https://rustoleumcolours.co.uk/shop-by-project/kitchen-cupboards/?srsltid=AfmBOor9mqD7-8O5xu7nMc5YVtipTwQ3EZ17GFuy28ES7DaHySORpWec

I have used this and it is so good, just take your time and make sure you clean the cupboards first.

Walnut is totally back so just replace the worktop and you’re done!

Have a look at what is current for handles, worktop etc, could you change those? Also sometimes it's not the basic doors but the trims/styling that date, for instance excessive big pelmets or canopies or twiddly little shelves, if you have anything like that can it be simplified?

Take a few pictures and put it through Chat GPT ?

Biggest updates would be handles.
Vinyl floor - would be a big no from me, but depends what you have now I suppose.

Do you want to post a photo or two then we can suggest some other tweaks.
Shaker never goes out of style so don't worry here.

What are the units like? Are they all solid without damage? Its usually rhe one under the sink that gets rotten from leaks. If theyre all in good condition, there isnt a reason not to update it. Do you need to reconfigure the storage?
I take it this is through a company that specialises in kitchen makeovers? Ypu could get a carpenter to give you a second quote for a worktop replacement. Obviously this depends how big your kitchen is to how good the price is.

I did a makeover on my kitchen and it didn’t look that great after long. What are your doors like? Simple shaker or more ornate?

it might be worth costing up a kitchen and new floor because it might be cheaper than you dread. You can always keep appliances etc to keep costs down

Units are solid but there’s the odd chip on doors I am hoping to repair. Already got handles and Chat GPT said light work top instead of the black we have now. We need a new floor as the click together grey floor has gaps and just looks tired but we would be better redoing with a proper wood floor or decent laminate I think. New kitchen is way out of plans as I know it will be thousands and thousand I don’t have and don’t want to add to mortgage. Well I would but husband won’t -
it makes me miserable seeing such a dated room when everywhere else has been done. Bathroom is nearly 8 years old but still looks great as we went super neutral

The white kitchen we inherited when we purchased our current (200 year old) home in 2024 was the one fitted when it was last renovated in the mid 1960s.

DH and I are serial renovators so we were always going to be making big changes, but as a temporary fix I painted the (mostly solid timber) cabinets with Edward Bulmer eggshell in a lovely colour and swapped out the plastic-looking handles for solid brass ones from Corston. There was a gaping void beneath the sink, adjacent to which was an ancient floor-standing boiler. I used a pretty fabric to make a 'skirt' to hide all that.

It made the experience of cooking - albeit airfryer and microwave style - far more pleasant. We intended replacing the tap but the pipe joints had seized so we lived with that for almost a year. We didn't change the worktops (formica) or flooring (lino) as we knew we'd be ripping it all out soon!

The painted finish lasted so well we decided to incorporate some of the in-frame drawers into our new kitchen and I've since painted our new cabinets to match.

It was definitely worth doing imo!

Walnut kitchens are very on trend now! These are some photos from Pinterest - solid wood floor, a light colour worktop and new (brass) handles look like a good idea to have a very nice kitchen.

Can you post some photos? I bet we can come up with very cost effective ideas that would change it completely.

Here’s the chat gpt idea. Current floor is awful grey colour - this is herringbone mock up in light oak. Cupboard colour is pretty accurate

Sensitive image apparently. My kitchen is so dreadful !

floor pic. Let’s try this

Floor also coming up as sensitive !

Just different workshops, light or white, would make such a difference. What’s the sink like? And matching door handles, (or deliberate mismatching). Do you have two different Lino patterns on the floor? A rug can make a difference.

Sorry, saw that ChatGBT did the floor. I prefer your one to the AI one. I like your cupboard doors.

My current is the grey. The light oak is the AI

And I’ve half changed handles to gold so far

I’d go for a warmer floor colour personally.

I think the cabinets are nice enough, its the tiles that are making it look dated. I had exactly the same tiless in 2003. Would retiling be an option. Something plain could look good. Your own floor looks better than the chat gpt.

I’d love to retile but don’t know how ! And that is £££ to pay someone isn’t it ? God I just want to rip it out but spend so much time in there making bloody meals that I hate the way it looks

I'm pretty sure that type of type is coming back into fashion too. Honestly I think you could get away with new handles, new worktop and then a floor that matches your cupboard colour (needs to be a lot warmer than light oak).

I think if you painted a wall the colour that either picked out one of the tile colours or a completing colour, you could make it all more cohesive

I agree with this. Worktop Express seem good for worktops. With a new worktop the tiles will look different. If you still hate them, paint with tile paint or learn how to tile and tile them yourself.