Kitchen upgrade advice without breaking the bank

[Ayeayeaye25]

We have a large kitchen diner which needs a revamp/update.

We have solid cabinets, light oak shaker style doors (which I still don’t mind-most are in good condition). We have awful dated handles and a black battered work surface (which has seen better days). Both the latter two could do with being replaced and a black ceramic hob.

DH wants to put in a new eye level cooker, replace a couple of the cupboard doors, have a new work surface, move things around a bit and get new handles but the kitchen fitter doesn’t know if you can still get the same doors (we are waiting to hear).

If we had to replace everything it would cost a fortune but not sure I would like it that much more with the intended tweaks. We have had the kitchen in for twenty years but added some cupboards when we got an extension done fifteen years ago.

Any top tips and has anyone painted units or got someone in to do this and if so do you like your finished kitchen again or has the paint chipped or came off how easy is it to keep clean in terms of durability etc (I live with some messy people) or do you still crave a new kitchen. Or could you recommend anywhere for new doors?

We got a local guy to spray our doors (both sides) and cabinets. He colour matched F&B and the paint has been pretty robust. Cost £1700 which was half the price of another quote and 1/10th of the cost of a new kitchen

We updated our kitchen by getting new doors and drawer fronts. It transformed our kitchen and was so much cheaper than a new kitchen.

What do you actually want out of it? How much is visual improvement and how much is practical reorganisation / incorporation of new items?

We used one of those companies like Debbie McGee advertises. Absolutely brilliant. The kitchen doors that were replaced had been painted and were looking the worst for wear. Our second make over was to have quartz tops put on top of existing work tops and matching wall boards (as I hate grout with a passion) It looks so much better at a fraction of total replacement

Where did you get your new doors from?

DH wants to future proof it as we are sixty he has health issues and smarten it up so it looks better and feels better.

Do you have a before and after photos?

Given you have solid cabinets, I would paint or have them painted, add new modern handles, then change the worktops for wood (oak finished with matt Osmo top oil, several coats) or quartz.

There are loads of kitchen door suppliers online with a completely insane range of doors that they'll make to measure at very reasonable cost. I'll be surprised if you can't get something at least very close to what you already have. If you are replacing handles, you'll obviously have to make sure you get something that fits in the same holes, which might be a bit of a compromise. In your position I'd be inclined to get a full set of new doors. Of course depends how many doors you have - but I re-doored my whole kitchen in my last house a few years ago for not much over £500 (I reused existing handles). I used a place called Homestyle and was very happy with quality, but there are loads of others out there