New kitchen and bathroom - budget

[Lizzy1975]

Hi all - I'm in the process of buying a house and its kitchen and bathroom will need a complete overhaul. I've 15K available, would love your thoughts on whether it would be do-able within this budget for mid-range (eg not high end obviously but also not cheap as chips). Also where do you start with kitchen and bathroom and design? TIA!

Depends on how large kitchen and bathrooms are and what style you're after. Some styles/designs are much harder to achieve on a budget.

I will say it's very tight. I think it's doable but you will have to make compromises.

Does the kitchen need new flooring? It's quite a big expense so if not that really helps.

Tell us more about what you're after and we will all help

Its tight but as Mrs Florick says it depends on the size of the house.

For inspiration try googling or houzz.com or houzz.uk

You'll get to know what you like and dislike and then you can add certain descriptors to narrow the trawling
Be warned - it can consume your life!

We are hoping to do kitchen and bathroom on a tight budget, but they arent massive rooms so we've settled on an ikea kitchen because I love the inserts etc (I'm a sucker for storage)
Not sure if we'll compromise or increase as we need literally everything and some things I've forgotten to factor in as you take them for granted like the actual lights/fittings (remembered sockets and switches though!)
Good luck and come back for help - this site is a godsend!

Lizzie. Come back and tell us more!

You're coming into the right time of year to be looking for materials etc.

Most kitchen cabinet makers and bathroom supplier have their biggest sales during January. So select what you want now and buy when it's 25% off in January.

This will be the difference between very average lower end fittings to higher end. And still within budget.

Will your bathroom have a bath and a shower separately?

Are you planning to move say sink/ toilet position? If you are its a few hundred extra in labour costs so bear that in mind.

If you're tiling bathroom floor. Do squeeze the budget so you can fit electric under floor heating. It should only cost you an extra £300 pending on size of bathroom. And don't be talked into a higher watt heating. It's expensive and you don't need more than 100 or 150 for back ground heat/warm feet.

As for kitchen there so many options. What do you like?

Ha ha - so sorry, I don't get much opportunity to get online these days!

Okay, the kitchen is 8'8" x 8'4" and the bathroom 8'7"x7'9" so both pretty compact. However the bathroom leads off the kitchen so there's an option to make the bathroom smaller and increase the kitchen size (I assume, we haven't checked walls yet).

I like modern, clean lines and great storage that gives the illusion of tidiness (three small kids here).

Just to also throw in to the mix, in the future as the kids grow I'd hopefully extend the house, to make a much larger kitchen area. Can't afford to on 15k right now but it would mean a change again to the kitchen and possibly bathroom in a few years time. Is that completely mad and a waste of money?

Lizzy.

Don't make the bathroom any smaller.

As for kitchen. Are the carcasses (insides) of current kitchen ok?

If yes then just change the doors and get new worktops fitted. It will look like a new kitchen but for a fraction of the cost.

If the current kitchen isn't ok or the layout is completely wrong then I would look at IKEA. Esp if you will be extending in a few years. You will get a lot of kitchen for your money.

Given that you're kitchen isn't huge you won't have to spend a massive amount.

Bathroom is fairly small too. The upside is that it saves on costs.

Do you want a shower separately? You could just squeeze it in. However it adds to cost.

Have a look at Bath Store. Also look at eBay as lots of plumbing suppliers sell there and are cheaper than shops for the same thing.

I think your £15k will easily do it.

Also if your bathroom as a really good extractor fan and a window, then don't waste money fully tiling it floor to ceiling. Just tile around sink, bath and shower.
This also allows you to change the colour of the walls in a couple of years time if you fancy it.

Get a sink ontop of a vanity unit of some sort for storage
And then a mirror cupboard so you have extra storage.
This sort of thing:
www.bigbathroomshop.co.uk/Bathroom_Furniture/Vanity_Units/Trent_90cm_Base_Cabinet__Basin/cid7897pr60838.html
As you can see the vanity unit is large and has matching mirror cupboard.
Or
www.bigbathroomshop.co.uk/Bathroom_Furniture/Vanity_Units/Sequence_Basin_and_Cabinet/cid7897pr62786.html
Or this to save space?
www.bathempire.com/atlanta-light-oak-combination-units-tag.htm

And also look at this for kitchen ideas and rough prices

www.kitchencollection.co.uk/Shop/kitchens#search/Modern/1146/5928/GuidePrice-Galley/all