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The average cost of a new kitchen in the UK is between £20,000 and £30,000.
Although this amount depends largely on your preferences, the kitchen is still the most expensive room in a house to modernize.
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Jill Oliver, also known as @jillyshumblehome on TikTok, received several quotes for renovating her kitchen, ranging from £15,000 to £18,000.
Because she didn’t want to spend that much money, she started making changes herself, using items and materials from stores like B&Q and B&M.
She told Fabulous exclusively: “I refreshed the kitchen because it felt old and dated and just wasn’t what I wanted.
“I really liked the Shaker style kitchens and I didn’t have the money of around £15,000 to buy a new kitchen.”
Upgrading kitchen doors
Jill explains: “The kitchen started out as light brown, then I painted it grey during Covid but I got tired of it and it was too dark.”
Instead of replacing the shiny gray kitchen doors, Jill transformed them with wood and paint.
She measured the doors and bought MDF ‘pre-cut from a local timber merchant’.
“I had a board torn into 7cm wide strips and that cost about £30,” said Jill. “But I took my time to get the measurements for the MDF right because I didn’t want to order the wrong size MDF and waste all my money.”
After checking the lengths of the wood, she glued them to the doors using No More Nails glue to create a border. A tube of this glue can be purchased on Amazon for just £4.50.
Jill used 4mm thick MDF for the edges and noted, “if the wood is too thick, the cabinet doors won’t open properly.”
After Jill had allowed the glue to dry, she applied Zinsser Allcoat with a roller brush. This is a base coat primer priced at £22.99.
She then applied a few coats of Farrow & Ball’s Purbeck Stone No.275 Eggshell metal and wood paint.
Building a kitchen island from Kallax furniture is one of my favourite DIY projects.
Jill Olivier
The paint can be purchased from B&Q for £31 a tin, and while it is on the pricey side, it has been “specially designed to provide a durable and long-lasting finish on a range of surfaces”.
Jill talks about choosing the paint and colour: “I found it difficult to choose a type of paint because there are so many different types of paint.
“Instead of a cabinet paint with a built-in primer, I opted for a primer and an eggshell finish because it has a slight sheen.”
All doors and skirting boards were painted the same colour, after which new handles were installed and the old hinges were replaced with new hinges with a soft-close function.
Cost overview for Jill’s kitchen transformation
- Kitchen Doors – £155
- Floors – £1200
- Oven hob and splashback – £685
- New sink and tap – £220
- Integrated dishwasher – £289
- Kitchen Island – £230
- Quote – £15,000-£18,000
- Self build cost = £2779
Floors
Because she had ‘spent so little money’ on the kitchen doors, Jill decided to ‘replace the doors [her] carpeting, which was the most expensive at £1,200”.
Jill used to have wooden floorboards that were quite orange, but she had them removed and replaced with a lighter wood look floor. The difference it makes to the room is truly amazing!
Countertops
Jill also replaced her stainless steel skin with a new white one, complete with a new tap for £220. She also upgraded her hob and splashback for £685 and added an integrated dishwasher for a seamless look for £289.
Kitchen island
Jill really wanted a kitchen island and decided to build one herself for £230, although she did say that the cost would depend on the materials used to finish the worktop.
She bought a 2×2 Kallax piece of furniture from IKEA and attached four legs to it.
Next, she attached a square of MDF to the back and sides with more No More Nails glue. Then she added the MDF edging that her kitchen cabinets have. Then she primed and painted the whole thing.
She left the front compartments open for storage.
For the worktop she used a 25mm thick MDF panel, which was then wrapped.
Jill explains: “The wrap was from Cover style, a friend of mine had just started wrapping kitchens and asked if he could wrap the top.
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“But you can buy good wraps online and at stores like B&Q, B&M etc.”
She told her TikTok followers about the end result: “Building this DIY kitchen island/peninsula from a Kallax unit is one of my favorite DIY projects.
“It feels much cozier and we spend more time here now than before.
“I want to let you know that the radiator is not blocked by this. There are holes on both sides to allow the heat to flow.”
To finish off the kitchen, Jill painted the walls in Valspar’s Strong White, which she felt was a perfect match for her. She also purchased a shelf on Etsy to hang some accessories.
Jill said, “I think my favorite part is how by simply adding MDF to plain, simple doors, I transformed them into the shaker style.”
And as for what advice she has for others inspired by her kitchen transformation, she said, “Overall, I would say this is absolutely not a complicated or difficult task to do or achieve. It’s just finding the confidence to try.”
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