Advertisement
Home HOMES Renovating

Reader reno: It only cost $110 to transform this mum’s kitchen

An amazing facelift.

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.

Advertisement

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.

Kitchen before facelift
Before: A ’90s colonial-style kitchen (Credit: Nichole Menzies) (Credit: Nichole Menzies)

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.”

Advertisement
After: A classic Hamptons' look
After: A gorgeous contemporary take on Hamptons’ style (Credit: Nichole Menzies) (Credit: Nichole Menzies)

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. 

Advertisement

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!
Kitchen makeover
The doors get their first coat of paint (Credit: Nichole Menzies) (Credit: Nichole Menzies)
Painting the doors
Nichole set up a painting and drying station (Credit: Nichole Menzies) (Credit: Nichole Menzies)

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

Advertisement

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

Advertisement

All items were from Bunnings except for the screws which I got from the Nut and Bolt Factory.

Kitchen makeover
Result? A fresh new look! (Credit: Nichole Menzies) (Credit: Nichole Menzies)

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!

You might also like:

Advertisement

How to refit a kitchen

3 kitchen renovation mistakes to avoid

Before and after: a budget kitchen renovation

Advertisement

Related stories


Advertisement