This couple transformed their
dated old kitchen for less than £1,000

In a world where renovation costs are constantly soaring, driven by inflation, labour shortages and rising material prices, many homeowners are coming up with budget-friendly ways to breathe new life into their homes.

Katie Brown, 35, and her partner Robin McGill, 38, have taken on this very challenge in their own property, transforming their outdated kitchen cabinetry for a remarkable £250, saving themselves thousands of pounds in the process.

When the couple bought their semi-detached Victorian property in Kettering in 2020, they knew that it would need updating.

‘It was structurally sound and had some of its original features,
such as the tiled hallway flooring, but it was really dated,’ says Katie. ‘I don’t think it had been touched since the 90s!’

Their plan was to slowly update the home themselves in their spare time, balancing their day jobs and caring for their two-year-old son William, while documenting their DIY venture on Katie’s Instagram account @sweethomeketteringa.

‘We’ve mainly painted and decorated, reintroducing Victorian features, such as picture rails in the living room, bigger ceiling roses and restoring fireplaces in all the bedrooms, along with new flooring,’ says Katie, who admits they were both complete DIY novices when they bought their home, with Robin even struggling to put up a shelf initially.

‘To keep costs down, we attempted most of the projects ourselves, reusing and recycling materials where possible and learning new skills along the way,’ she says.

And when it came to the outdated kitchen, their do-it-yourself approach was no different.

‘Originally, we thought we’d have to rip out the kitchen because we
weren’t fans of the style,’ says Katie.

‘But after seeing other homeowners updating cabinet door fronts on social media, we decided to cover the dated wood carving detail on the doors with a flat piece of MDF that was more to our style.’

‘It’s a solid wood kitchen with soft-close drawer mechanisms. It didn’t make sense to rip it out and replace it with something potentially worse,’ says Robin.

The couple started by identifying which cupboards weren’t required – there were too many cluttering up 
the room – ripping out as many as they could and then patching up the side panels.

Next, they measured up the front panels, ordering them ready-cut from cutmy.co.uk, and attaching them using a no-nail adhesive from Wickes.

After priming and caulking
the edges, they finished them in Rust-Oleum’s kitchen cupboard paint in Pinewoods. For the splashback and worktop, the couple initially wanted to keep the timber and replace the tiles.

However, on inspection they realised the tile edging was superglued on to the tiles and the worktop, and removing the tiles would cause significant damage. The cost of new worktops, as well, was enough for them to adjust their plans.

‘Instead, we painted them using Rust-Oleum’s Porcelain and Happy-as-a-Clam kitchen tile paint. It’s a great paint brand, you don’t even have to add a sealant,’ she says.

Using Frogtape, Katie marked out the zigzag pattern and restored the grout lines using a grout pen.

The couple did hire professionals to sand down the worktop, which had a thick orange varnish, but Robin added a top coat of Osmo oil himself to save money.

‘We won’t need to sand it down again, just re-oil it occasionally,’ he says. ‘But it’s not a labour intensive job – it only took about ten minutes.’

For the dated glass cabinet doors, Katie applied a ribbed glass film to modernise the look.

‘It was super-easy,’ she says. After cleaning the existing glass, she measured and cut the film to size, sprayed the sticky side with a soapy water solution and positioned it using a squeegee to remove any bubbles underneath.

Robin then trimmed off any excess film. ‘I think it only took about 15 minutes in total,’ says Katie.

Next on the job list was replacing the old carpet with a new child-friendly and room-appropriate flooring. ‘The carpet was laid directly on top of an uneven and cracked concrete sub-floor. If you rolled a marble it would roll all over the place,’ says Katie.

After receiving a quote for £800 to re-screed the floor, the couple opted to give it a go themselves, following YouTube and TikTok tutorials.

‘It wasn’t that difficult and only took us about two hours,’ says Robin.

They replaced the carpet with 
a good quality vinyl flooring purchased on sale from the local Kettering Carpet Supply – always mindful of their budget.

‘Our main aim was to create something bright, fun and inviting, but also hard-wearing and easy to clean and maintain having a young family,’ says Katie.

‘Each project has taken time, as we generally complete them pay-cheque to pay-cheque. Plus, we do around 95% of the work ourselves fitting it around work and family life. We love putting our own stamp on 
our property.

‘My main advice for those who want to give it a go themselves is to focus on preparation. Don’t skip the small steps because you’ll regret it later,’ 
she says.

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