Kitchen Decoration

krlyr

Doors could be replaced, too, at lower expense than whole new carcasses.

We were going to go down the route of sprucing it up on the cheap, but there were so many things that would have let it down - one whole wall was horrible blue and green tiles, I debated painting them but was unsure how nice the finish would be (it would have looked horrible if it hadn't gone well, since it was floor to ceiling tiles!). We did have some spare tiles in the cupboard, so I was going to try painting one to see how it looked - but it would have meant commiting to at least one tin of tile paint. The carcasses had horrible beige strips on the edges, so new doors wouldn't have done the job (vs. just plain white carcasses), the flooring was that not very nice cheap laminate so needed replacing, the walls weren't the smoothest so it'd have been a bodge job with lining paper, etc.

As an alternative POV..we decided if we were going to spend, we might as well do it properly! We still did it fairly cheap - shopped around for the best deals on appliances (Currys had several 'trade in your old appliance for £x off', and the microwave was a bargain at half price - someone had bought it within a fitted kitchen and returned just the microwave, so Homebase were selling it off cheap on its own), several bits were Ikea bits (sink, taps, handles, breakfast bar legs), some eBay bits (nearly new bar stools - normally £50 each, paid ~£15 for the pair), and the units were on deal upon deal upon deal thanks to a Bank Holiday weekend! We saved on labour too by using friends of friends or family members in the trade, it meant waiting for them to have lulls in their workload to fit us in, but saved us a fortune (and they did at least make sure we were hooked up with means to cook, even if it was leaving the old oven in the middle of the room for a while or just making sure we had a working plug socket for the slowcooker or George Foreman!)

We spent about £7000 in the end, could have got it all new a bit cheaper as we went for better branded appliances to last us (and to match..with a very white kitchen, we wanted nice looking stainless steel appliances so it wasn't overwhelmingly white, and the pricier brands had the nicer finishes to them), opted for slightly more expensive tiled flooring (thought it would stand up to the dogs best), and got some niggly bits done that we could have left until later (replacing skirting etc. instead of sanding down and making do, removing/hiding some pipework, having an outside tap fitted while all the water pipes were exposed, having the chimney breast properly plastered instead of the temporary boarding that was there, etc.).

Overall, it was a bit scary spending so much more than expected - I'd worked out I could have done it on the cheap for about £1000 (that included eBay units - I found the perfect auction with some fitted-but-never-used units, 2 miles down the road..still gutted that I let OH talk me out of the idea!), but we both love the kitchen, and for us, it's worth the expense as we've decided when we extend we'll keep the kitchen as it is (originally thought we might move it into the extension for a bigger/better layout, but it works well as-is)

VfM4meplse

chelseablue wrote: »

I did similar with my kitchen. Wanted it tarted up to sell but didn't want to spend out for a brand new kitchen

Agreed, kitchens and bathrooms sell houses.

Unless a potential buyer is absolutely in love with your kitchen, the chances are that it will be high on the list of home improvements once the property changes hands. Having clean and functional wet spaces makes people a bit more patient than if they are grotty. So if it's the EA driving your decision, OP, I'd go ahead and refresh the kitchen as cheaply as possible. Just pay attention to the finish.

pollyanna24

I bought the house 10 years ago with my ex. Since then, the ex has gone, my brother brought in. Now I am about to buy my brother out.

I have no intention of selling, but I am doing up various rooms in the house to "celebrate" it being mine.

I quite like the kitchen. I feel if I was going to replace cabinets and such like and go the whole hog, I would want to do it properly and would probably redesign the whole kitchen as in move things about (it's a fairly large kitchen).

I just want to brighten it up for me and my two little girls.

pigpen

well if you like it stuff what anyone else thinks!

A lick of paint and a scrub with sugar soap and a toothbrush and neat bleach on the grout.. it will be perfect again.

GreyQueen

Your plans sound good but I'm another who would counsel against using tile paint. It never ends happily. Cutting back manky grout and regrouting is a bit of a faff but really makes tired tiling look box-fresh.

Sprucing up your living spaces really gives a lift to the mood, in my experience even a fresh paint job and a few new (or chazzer new) accessories can perk a kitchen up no end.

Ben84

My kitchen was probably old when yours was new! Some of the cabinets are from the 20s when the house was new, and the rest are roughly 1970s. Lots of brown and green going on in there. I actually like it. If you like your kitchen, then there's not really a problem to fix.

Potential buyers however will vary in their opinions. Some will want everything done new, others will think it's fine as it is, and some more will want a house with old stuff they're happy to replace and do it all their way. However, if you're not selling up any time soon, I wouldn't worry about it.

Newly_retired

Our buyers were first time buyers and were only too happy with the seven year old kitchen we left, including a couple of appliances. Everything was well designed and in good condition. I just painted the walls and ceiling, cleaned everything thoroughly especially the tiles, and that was that.
I think they planned to redecorate rooms gradually, but our new bathroom and decent kitchen were going to last them a few years more.

So I would clean and repair if you like, but don't paint over tiles.

Spendless

We have used Tile paint on the tiles in our bathroom, as they were original Vitralite ones and though some people may think they are great, I didn't. Ours are like

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vitrolite+tiles&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=775&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia5oy3ju7KAhXFpw4KHSKTCRcQsAQIHg&dpr=1#imgrc=ouFLb_1jola3uM%3A

but they are now painted white. Mindful of this thread I had a good look at them today, as they've been done for some years, around 7. On the walls they are fine, no problems, but round where the seal of the bath is and near the window pane (though it's double glazed) the paint is peeling away, I expect the issue is to do with damp/condensation. It would be fine doing it for a few years to put you on as long as you could afford to replace at the point they chip. Unfortunately we can't, though we did expect to be in a better financial place at this point at the time we painted the tiles.

dragonette

You could paint the walls or the cupboard doors rather than the tiles? I did my cupboard doors with a layer of primer then kitchen paint, and its held up fairly well. The v sad and yellowed mock-stone laminate is now either cream or sage green. Having a colour that suits the room can make a huge difference too, the green in mine helps to hide that there is no window and its a fairly tight space for working in.

A good scrub (or replacement) of the grout would prob make a huge difference too. I did see an idea online somewhere (possibly apartment therapy) about brightly painted toe-kicks under the cupboards. That might be a small and fun thing to add.

However, this is only if the image of what you want at the end is worth all the work ofc. Family and EA's opinions matter not a jot, as long as you are happy with it and its fairly functional for you, then theres no reason to make big changes (I imagine tile paint would be a fairly big job, or at least a nuisance-y one)

Anne_Marie_2

You can also get tile stickers or transfers to put over your existing tiles.