LLike most millennials, I have grand visions when it comes to my kitchen. I drool over deVOL, admiring the shiny sea green tiles and salivating over the furniture adorned with shiny gold hardware. pantry! Island kitchen! These are the elements that make up a dream kitchen, which makes up 90 percent of my posts on Instagram.
reality? The price is too high.
It's no secret that kitchen renovations are expensive and time-consuming. A recent study by Which? found that new kitchens cost between £7,000 and £100,000, depending on size and style. But I'm a 31-year-old DIY savvy guy who spends most of his free time scrolling through social media looking for hacks and budget-friendly ways to renovate. Improve your kitchen on a budget.
Budget under £180. Yes, it is. My secret weapon is peel and stick tile, one of the latest home reno trends to grab a DIY set.
Beautiful tiles in your kitchen (and bathroom) are the ultimate status symbol in your interior, but they're not only expensive, they also require a good grouting technique. Peel and stick tiles, on the other hand, do exactly what it says on the tin. Perfect for renters. Can be applied over original tiles, walls and floors, no grout required. And it will peel off immediately.
Still not sure? Keep an eye on social media, where fellow DIY enthusiasts have been experimenting with this trend for months. Videos with the hashtag “peelandsticktile” have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. It's now mainstream, with B&Q, Dunelm and Homebase selling their own versions in a variety of shapes and colours. However, I bought it from Etsy because there were so many options.
The original kitchen had white PVC cabinets and gray laminate worktops
I inherited an early 1990s kitchen. Picturesque white PVC cabinets, white cottage-style tiles, and gray laminate worktops. There was nothing new, nothing nostalgic, nothing nice.
This isn't the first time I've tried a kitchen reno hack. During lockdown, I painted and upcycled almost everything in my house as a distraction technique. I applied pink tile paint to the dirty kitchen tiles. The paint looked okay, but it didn't hold up well to wear and tear. What really surprised me was the 9.50 lb (1 m) marble vinyl wrap that was placed over the countertop. I cheated on the look of my marble kitchen, and it's still surprisingly spot-free.
The kitchen was redecorated to green and pink during lockdown, then redone to greige and green.
Although the room faces south, it's not open plan so I wanted to make the undeniably run-down kitchen feel as bright and modern as possible. For the paint, I chose Lick Home's Greige 02 Soho Warehouse Eggshell (£45 for a 2.5 liter tin) to balance out the deep green color of the tiles I had in mind. And new gold hardware to tie everything together.
Painting your cupboard doors is an easy and inexpensive way to transform your kitchen. It took me a weekend to do everything. Standard paint preparation is required, but no priming is required. I gave it a good wipe with sugar soap to remove any oil or dirt, removed the old handle, and taped the unwanted part of the wall. paint. The 2.5 liter can was enough to coat each cupboard with two coats, and even more.
Once the painted cabinet doors and frames were all dry, I installed the new handles. It combines vintage style cup handles for the drawers (6 for £24) and knurled knobs for the doors (10 for £28), all brass. In my case, it cost just £52 when I bought it from Amazon. I've seen similar ones at Dunelm, B&Q and many other hardware stores.
All that was left was the tiles. Although it seemed like a lot of work at first, it actually turned out to be rather therapeutic. This is tedious and requires a lot of patience to “line up” around it, especially if there are obstructions such as sockets. The tiles are made of vinyl PVC, so I used a Stanley knife and cutting board, but I found that sharp scissors worked just as well.
Cut tiles with a Stanley knife
The linear tile blocks are 30cm x 30cm and come in packs of 10 (10 pieces cover just under 1 square meter). I bought a 2 pack for £64.80, enough to cover my kitchen area. Adhesives are strong, so it's important to make sure you're happy with the placement of your tiles before firmly securing them to the wall. My tiles came with a handy squeegee tool to hold the tiles in place where the “grout” (actually just white plastic grooves) is.
Measure, cut, fit, trim, repeat. All in all, “tiling” only took a few hours. They're not perfect, and I don't think I'll fool any interior design guru, but combined with brand new cupboards and handles, my efforts could be mistaken for a complete kitchen remodel.
final kitchen makeover
The best part? It's unobtrusive, easy to use, and easy to remove. Easy to wipe clean, wear resistant and cost effective. Even if your hexagonal marble tiles become outdated next year, just peel them out and replace them.
Some people may shudder at the thought of peeling and pasting tiles or painting cabinets. It's not for everyone, but it's an easy way to brighten up your kitchen. I'm stuck on this idea. I think I'll try the floor next.
my budget
• Paint £45 (I only used half the tin).
• Handle £52
• Tile £64.80
• Total £161.80
