Kick Your Kitchen Into The 21st Century

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Stuck for something to do over the bank holiday weekend? With a little bit of planning you could re-model your kitchen and still have time to spare!

Provided you can just spruce up the units you already have there’s no reason why you shouldn’t hang a fresh new look in your kitchen just in time for the summer. Replacement doors are an option if you have a bit of money to spend, updating your 80’s formica to something 21 st century but there is a cheaper, more exciting option; carpaint!

If your old cupboard doors are sound but drab and grubby simply go to your local autofactor and grab a few can s of spray paint. The range of colours and finishes that are available beats anything you’d normally find in a kitchen showroom. The paint is durable and designed to cover a multitude of sins. If you’re creative you can use the paint to achieve any number of effects from simple stencilling to graffiti, flame-job and pinstripe.

Once you’ve got the fresh ‘new’ units you can stand back and admire your handiwork. But something’s wrong. Detailing! You’ve forgotten to update the handles and knobs! A good choice of handle can add interest and style to a previously mundane door. Again you can get some beautiful handles from the kitchen and bathroom store, brushed steel or aluminium, glass and brass.

Workspace is always an issue in any kitchen, add shelving and move things up or down. Taking advantage of your overhead space can free up acres of space at waist height, exactly where you need it. If you invest in some butchers’ hooks and a Sheila Maid you can create the perfect method of storing all your pans and baskets out of the way but always within easy reach.

Making your kitchen a smoother place to run is also an important part of a remodel, it’s not just about looking good, it’s got to work well too. How about getting mesh baskets to go in your food cupboards? If you’re like me you’ve got things at the back of the cupboard that you’ve long since forgotten about. You’re equally likely to have received a black eye from a can of beans you’ve put too high in a cupboard which you’ve then nudged free. Using a basket as a drawer/tray means that you can take the entire contents from a shelf and see a 360 as well as holding things securely in place.

Any home-store is sure to have a reasonably priced range of matching crockery and cutlery. I don’t think I have any two plates the same and it looks a mess! Serving dinner to your guests on ancient, chipped, mismatching plates isn’t going to be overlooked, no matter how snazzy your new doors are so invest in a trendy new set.

All that’s left is to slap a new coat of paint on the walls, put up a blind over the window and install some growing herbs. A few hours work, a few pounds spent and you have a brand new, functional and funky kitchen.

Dan Cash loves to get all manly at bank holidays and start doing DIY. Anything from fixing kitchen taps to shifting the integrated fridge freezer around the kitchen.

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