Painting laminate kitchen units... And can I do anything with this worktop?

[JustBeingJuliet]

I'm slowly but surely sorting out my new house, but I have zero budget. Zilch. Totally skint! Bathroom has been done for less than £500; tiled and lay the flooring myself, just need someone to connect up the shower now and thank god it will be finished! My biggest bugbear now is the kitchen.

It's an ex LA house complete with council fitted kitchen that has been in about 15 years. It's bloody awful! I have beech effect units, and a beige coloured worktop that has marks from every single thing the previous owners ever chopped on it, plus a huge burn mark next to the cooker, where I can only presume they plonked an on fire chip pan or something! I will not be able to afford to replace it for about 10 years at the rate I'm going, so looking for some cheap and cheerful ideas to brighten it up until I can gut it.

I've bought new handles for the units, I have a tin of kitchen paint to do the walls, I got some cracking new lights in the B&Q sale for grand total of £7 and the tiles aren't bad (dark grey and cream). So, can I paint crappy laminate cupboard doors? It can't look any worse than it does already! And the worktop? Really cannot afford to replace it, plus it looks like it's been glued extensively to the units, so I feel taking it off will rip chunks out of them. Can I paint? cover with Fablon? Tile? I absolutely hate how it looks at present, so can't possibly make it any worse!

Any tips? I would ideally like the units either cream or grey, worktop either wood effect or a dark grey/black. Can I do this?

[JustBeingJuliet]

Ooh I'm liking the idea of freestanding kitchen storage :) Hadn't even given that a thought as I think I'm preprogrammed to think kitchens have to be sleek and fitted!

[SophiesDog]

Form follows function...think about what you need and go from there.

You may find you don't need rows of chipboard units and miles of worktop.

It's certainly cheaper not to have them.

[Katymac]

A short term solution to worksurfaces might be to use cheap vinyl flooring - you can get a long length so each single piece covers the entire piece of work surfance

[Battleshiphips]

I've painted my laminate cupboards with homemade chalk paint and they look great. They were cheap beech effect and I've painted them cream. They haven't chipped or marked and they've been done for around 4 months. I am also planning on tiling our work surface as I've seen a few done like this and it looks lovely. I'll try and dig out some pics so you can see what it looks like. Everyone thinks I've got new units.

[mandy214]

There was a tiled work surface in our kitchen when we moved in. It was horrid. The grout was disgusting and it could not have been hygienic in a million years. It may look lovely for a couple of weeks, but I doubt it would stand up to continuous use in a family kitchen without degenerating very quickly and becoming unhygienic. It was the first thing to go.

[SophiesDog]

Apart from hygiene issues I would be very hesitant indeed about tiling onto a laminated surface.

I don't think there is a tile adhesive in the world that would actually adhere to it!

[Belleview]

I think I'd fablon the work surface so it won't chip and its wipe able and looks ok, then use worktop protectors.

[Belleview]

This stuff looks interesting www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IXJATGU?keywords=Fablon&qid=1438171175&ref_=sr_1_6&sr=8-6&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Belleview]

Simple worktop saver
www.amazon.co.uk/Joseph-Worktop-Saver-Clear-Large/dp/B001F0RUGG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438171386&sr=8-1&keywords=large%20worktop%20saver&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Battleshiphips]

My dsis tiled her countertops about 5 yrs ago and they still look lovely. They are granite style tiles and the grout is sealed. She did rough up the laminate surface before tiling.

[JustBeingJuliet]

Somebody has suggested THESE and then varnish over the top to seal. I guess that's similar to using Fablon type stuff isn't it?

[wowfudge]

For your work tops I would fill any obvious dips and use Fablon to cover it. We used to have a pantry with quite rough wooden shelves and my mum covered them with Fablon for hygiene purposes as much as anything. Lasted years with no deterioration.

[JustBeingJuliet]

Just an update on this!

I managed to get a cabinet door identical to my kitchen, plus a spate piece of worktop, off freecycle and have had a practice with paint etc. Chalk paint from aldi works very well on the laminate units; two coats plus wax and it seems to withstand knocking and scratches, so I'm investing in some Annie Sloan chalk paint in cream and going for it on the doors (aldi only had steel grey in stock and it's a bit dark for the cupboards).

Painting the worktop isn't going to work as it just doesn't cover well, but I got a cheap roll of Fablon from B&Q and have had a play, and I think it's going to work well, so I'm getting enough of that in a slate effect to cover all the worktops. Have also decided to use the grey chalk paint that I have to paint the tiles, as I think they will look better then.

I'm removing the doors off one double wall unit (it's one that's kind of on its own opposite the door as you enter the room, so looks a bit lost anyway!), and I'm painting the carcass and wallpapering the back wall in a statement wallpaper with some stick on lights and I think it'll look pretty good!

I've managed to get a new sink off eBay for £9.99 which is the exact same size as the old one (which is dented and doesn't drain properly) and have my eye on a pull out mixer tap to finish it off.

I've got kitchen paint already, in a silver-white colour, and I'm looking at new blinds for the window in a dark red/grey/silver pattern (kettle, toaster etc are all dark red) and I think it will look fab!

Quite excited about starting it now :)

[JustBeingJuliet]

I shall do photos once it's all finished :) Not doing it properly until we get back off holiday and ds is back at school so hoping to finish it during September.

[Acer77]

Paint the units - it'll be fine if you prime the doors first.
As for the worktop have a look on eBay - I don't know how big your worktop would need to be but you can get 3 meters of wood laminate worktop for £70 and its new! Might be better than second hand because it will fit properly....

[Acer77]

Sorry I didn't read the last few posts - doh! Glad you found a solution!