When you consider that kitchen renovations can cost anywhere from $10,000 upwards, it’s amazing just how far a mere $110 went to transform Nichole Menzies’ kitchen. But that’s how much it cost in paint, new knobs and screws to give her space a much-needed facelift.
Before the makeover, the kitchen was a predominantly brown ‘90s colonial-style kitchen.
“Everything was functional but it was time to say goodbye to the timber,” the mother of three explains.
After being stood down from her job because of the Coronavirus, Nichole found that she had a bit more time on her hands and wanted to tackle the job herself and “create a beautiful, fresher space in our house.”
Here, we caught up with Nichole about the details of her kitchen makeover.
What kind of look were you after?
I was after more of a Hamptons look with the white timber cupboards and a simple black knob.
What was the biggest challenge?
Getting the doors dried enough so they didn’t get smudge marks when I flipped them, as well as the 3.5 day time frame I gave myself.
The renovation process
- Removed all the doors using my AEG cordless drill from the door hinge as well as the old knobs.
- Removed all the items from the drawers and placed into washing baskets so we could have easy access while the refurb was happening.
- I did a light sand on all the surfaces with my Ozito orbital sander with a 120 grit, then used sugar soap to clean it down. There was built-up scum so I had to scrape that off with a paint scrapper.
- I did all the drawers fronts first using 2 coats for 123Bin Zinsser as I found that one coat wasn’t enough for a super smooth finish.Then I applied 3 coats of H2O enamel using a Small Uniden foam roller and a fine angle paint brush for the fiddly bits.
- While this was drying between coats, I tackled the shell, sides and kick boards in the kitchen. Every surface got a wipe down, light sand, 2 zinsser and 3 enamel coats.
- Next was the undercoat primer for the splash back tiles using a microfibre roller. This needed to dry for 8 hours before the top coat could be applied. I then did 3 top coats with the tile paint over the next two days so it had enough time to dry between coats. I used Black Knight products for this.
- The drawers were put back in place with new knobs attached.
- Next were the doors, which took the longest as both sides needed to be painted. I set up a painting and drying flipping station. I repeated the sanding, scraping and cleaning process along with 2 Zinsser coats and three top coats on one side. The small brush was my lifesaver when doing the edges!
- With everything dry I screwed the doors back on again with my cordless drill and attached the new black knobs.
- With the kitchen looking all fresh and white, my not-so-white window sills were next!
How much did you spend?
This was a face lift on a very tight budget being (1.) my husband didn’t know I was doing it; (2.) I’d been stood down from my job reducing our household income; and (3.) there wasn’t really anything wrong with our kitchen in the first place. But I can proudly say that it cost me $110 in paint (as we already had some half tins in our garage, as well as rollers, roller trays, paint brushes, new knobs and screws!
Budget breakdown
Zinsser Bin123 – $29
British paints H2O enamel – $30 (it’s water base so it washes up easily and has very low odour)
Screws – $2.50
Uniden foam roller 2pack – $5
4 packs of 6 black knobs – $42
All items were from Bunnings except for the screws which I got from the Nut and Bolt Factory.
Favourite part?
I had total satisfaction that I did the entire thing myself, without any help or guidance – and my favourite part was getting a beautifully finished white modern kitchen!
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