The kitchen is probably THE most expensive room in the house to redo. From new units to new appliances like a fridge freezer and washing machine, a full kitchen refurbishment can easily run into the tens of thousands of pounds. However, there is plenty you can do to give a tired looking kitchen space a new lease of life, even when working on a tight budget.

How To Refresh Your Kitchen On A Budget

1. Buy Some Budget Homeware

There are some stunning budget homeware ranges out there so it may be time to update your old and tired looking tea, coffee and sugar canisters, fruit bowls or even crockery if it’s on display.

Poundland have a surprisingly modern and funky range – which includes pastel cooking dishes, mini fryer baskets for display/serving and lots of baking equipment and utensils.

I personally love IKEA for home pieces, they have pretty much everything you could imagine for the home and then some. In particular, they have lots of savvy space-saving hacks for the kitchen and they are super affordable.

Wilko’s is another favourite when it comes to buying things for my home. Catch their end of season sales for the best bargains – so many of the items around my home come from here – including tea towel bales that were reduced £1.

B&M & Home Bargains are other places to find amazing homeware on a tight budget.

2. Repaint Your Cupboards

Repainting your cupboard will make the biggest difference in your kitchen, however, it is a HUGE undertaking to do yourself, so you’ll need to be prepared to put in the work.

Cupboard doors will need removing, cleaning and sanding before painting can begin and even then this can take a couple of coats to look good.

New handles can then be added before being reattached.

If you have glass on any of the doors this could be covered with a frosted covering to hide away the contents of the cupboard.

3. Re-cover or Paint Your Worktops

Worktops are another area that can impact how the kitchen looks overall. There are a few options here. The most costly, of course, is to replace them but that should probably be a last resort if you’re planning on sticking to that tight budget.

Recovering, usually with a roll of sticky Vinyl, is a quick, easy and cheap fix. It can take a little while to get the hang of but the results can be stunning.

Another option is to paint, with a specialist worktop paint. It’s worth doing your research before attempting this as not all surfaces will be suitable.

4. Repaint Tiles

Repainting tiles is easier than replacing them, but it’s still not the easiest of jobs and the results can be varied.

My advice is to give the tiles a good clean with soapy water or sugar soap beforehand and use a small roller to apply the paint as evenly as possible.

Using a brush with such thick paint means it can go a little bit clumpy.

5. Find Better Storage Solutions

While it can be nice to have lots of new storage items for your kitchen, having lots of things ‘out’ can also make your kitchen look cluttered, especially if it’s already a small space.

Decide how much you want on display and how much needs to be hidden and go from there.

•  Walls can be used for storage – magnetic knife strips fixed to the wall  will free up drawer space
• Tea towels can be hung from a row of hooks to add a splash of colour
• Use plate stackers which  double the number of plates that can be fitted onto a shelf and means you can store different sizes on top of each other
• Adding hooks or bulldog clips to the inside of cupboard doors adds storage options.
• Re-purpose glass jars for storage of dried goods like pasta, four and rice

6. Respray Fridges, Freezer, and Radiators

Another super quick fix to give your kitchen a redo is to repaint radiators and other white goods to take them back to their original bright white glory.

You’ll need some specialist paint for this but it is widely available at places like Wickes and B&Q and is a relatively easy job to complete.

7.  Invest In New Flooring

Getting new flooring for your kitchen may sound expensive but there are cheaper options out there, such as Vinyl. As laminate is rarely completely waterproof it’s not always to best option for use in the kitchen.

If your current flooring is a dark colour, covering or repainting could make a big difference.

8. New Appliances

When thinking about new homeware, why not think about new appliances at the same time?

Do your research into which are the best on the market, which are durable and good for the price you have to pay for them. Once you have done your research you can purchase what you decided was the best option.

For example, air fryers are all the rage at the moment, and if you don’t have one of these then you’re certainly going to be missing out!

Just make sure that if something does go wrong with your appliance you get some help from the manufacturer. For example, it might need a new neon indicator if the lights aren’t working, or it might need replacing altogether.

Some Final Tips For Updating Your Kitchen On A Budget

There are always small steps you can take to improve the look of your kitchen without any major redecoration needed.

• Lighter spaces always look bigger, so try removing blinds and curtains, changing light fittings and choosing brighter light bulbs.
• Having a deep clean can work wonders, so take a day or two to tackle those deep cleaning jobs you’ve been putting off.
• Plants can make any room look brighter and more welcoming
• If repainting, choose kitchen paint that can easily be wiped clean