Budget Friendly Quick Kitchen Update

Updating any space can be stressful and knowing that you are only doing a temporary update while you wait for that big renovation can cause even more stress and make you second guess the decisions you have to make.

My parents do a ton of hosting throughout the year and their plan has always been to blow out one of the walls and bump out the house, creating a larger kitchen and entertaining space. This plan is a couple years away from happening, but their kitchen was dark and dated, and my mom wanted to update the space regardless of their renovation plans down the road.

We set a deadline of before the holiday season, as we do a lot of hosting throughout the year. Setting a timeline for when you want to get a project done allows you to work backwards and figure out when different parts needs to done or ordered. Breaking down the renovation into manageable sections is the first thing to do, when tackling it on your own.

Paint colours are always a good place to start. The walls are the largest part of any space, choosing a more neutral colour that will not date itself but will allow for colour and trends to changed as you please.

So what is the best approach for painting cabinets yourself? You have a couple different options to consider.

• Higher gloss finishes are easier to wipe down and show less of the dirt and grime, opposed to a matte or eggshell finish. Enamel paints are best option for painting kitchen cabinets, it is a high-gloss finish and dries harder, which creates a better barrier against scratches and stains.

• Chalk paint, pre-mixed or you can make it yourself. This is a durable paint options that had an eggshell finish. What is nice about chalk paint is that it has the durability with a lesser sheen. If you choose to buy pre-mixed chalk paint you will have more limited options, but there is something to say about not having to do it yourself. If you make it yourself you need to make sure that you mix enough to paint everything. If you do not have enough mixed you run the risk of each batch having a slightly different colour and/or sheen.

• Get a professional to spray them. While you will be spending a little more, it is a lot less work for you. They will come in and prep the area, blocking everything off before spraying. Most use a waster-based polyurethane paint, which is essentially a stronger, more durable enamel paint.

When painting the cabinets yourself you need to take some extra care in prepping to ensure the paint will stick. Washing the drawers and cabinet faces with soapy water and TSP or a strong grease and dirt cutter. Then regardless of what kind of paint you are using, give everything a light sand, this ensures that the paint has a better chance of adhesion.

We chose a couple different light greys for the main walls and a dark charcoal grey for an accent wall in the dining room. Rather than getting all new cabinets or replacing the doors, to save money we painted the cabinet doors ourselves. We chose a two-toned palette for the kitchen. This brings interest to the space and keeps the kitchen bright while giving the illusion of more space.

We decided to make our chalk paint for the cabinets, this way we were able to customize our colour, and have a higher durability. The base cabinets are painted in a dark charcoal grey. This helps to hide the appliances and the food that will inevitably be dripped and smeared on the fronts. The upper cabinets are painted in a creamy off-white.

Islands are a great element to have in a kitchen. They offer a place to socialize, extra counter and work space and more storage. You can either treat it as part of the kitchen and paint it the same colour as the lower cabinets, or as a piece of furniture and paint it a different colour and add a complementary counter top.

The style of my parents is rustic farmhouse, so we treated the island as a separate piece of furniture. We painted it a deep burgundy colour, added decorative iron L-brackets for extra support for the counter top.

Knowing that they would be doing a major renovation in the next few years, we opted for marble printed laminate countertops. They are less expensive, while still giving the look of marble. We used the same frame as the previous counters, all we did was square the edges off. While stone is always the ideal choice for countertops, when you are on a tight budget laminate is a great option.

Coffee bars are becoming more and more popular. They are also a great way to give purpose to smaller side counters. And having all your coffee supplies in one spot is very convent. We created a coffee bar, which when are hosting will turn into a dry bar to the one side of the kitchen. Knowing that the style of the house is a rustic farmhouse, we warmed up the space by adding a butcher block counter, which you can buy pre-finished and cut to standard lengths at any hardware store. For the backsplash, rather then using the same subway tiles as the rest of the kitchen, we used faux tin ceiling tiles, which we white-washed, so they would not be as shiny.

Subway tiles are always a good choice for any backsplash. They are cost effective and come in a variety of colours and finishes. Subway tiles are timeless and have been around for over one hundred years, their applications are endless.

Any renovation or home update is hard to do, especially when you have bigger plans for the future. But this doesn’t mean you have to be stuck in a dated space. A tight budget doesn’t mean you have to compromise on design and style.