Creative mum quoted £32k to transform her kitchen did it herself for just £2k
- Catherine Norris, 36, was quoted £32k to renovate her kitchen
- Instead, she decided to do it herself using Pinterest for inspiration
- She managed to keep the cost down to under £2k and her kitchen looks fantastic
If you’ve been quoted an eye-watering amount to renovate your home, don’t despair: follow in the footsteps of this savvy mum.
Catherine Norris, 36, a mum of one from Leicester, was quoted a staggering £32,000 to renovate her kitchen, but managed to complete the project on her own for just £2,000.
Catherine, who runs her own business, Memory Thread Co (www.MemoryThreadCo.store), sourced materials from Dunelm, Amazon and ASDA to keep prices down.
Catherine told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “As a family, we all really love cooking and baking, but I hated spending time in my old kitchen!
"It was dark and tired and sad. We got some eye-watering quotes at the end of 2019 for a new kitchen to be put in, so I started thinking about how we could refresh what we had instead.
"I browsed through Pinterest to find inspiration and really liked the look of sage green cupboards and bright white walls with copper touches - and at the same time I wanted to create a cosy botanical boho seating area at the bottom end of the kitchen.
"We had a horrendous brown carpet, so in February we had a local company, Mittons, put a new LVT floor down, which cost £1,150. And with lockdown looking more certain to happen, I bought paint for the cupboards, tiles and door handles.
"I used Frenchic for everything, and the total cost was £110. I also painted an old tub chair and a side table that both had seen better days with the Frenchic paint.
"The lockdown restrictions did make purchasing what we needed difficult. Instead of popping to Homebase which is just up the road we had to order everything online and some things were running out of stock fast, especially in the larger chains.
"It seemed like the whole country had decided now was the time to fix up their homes too! White emulsion for the walls was impossible to find, but fortunately we just had enough left over from a previous project which we found stashed in the loft.
"I took a punt on the wallpaper without seeing a sample, because everywhere was selling out. I finally found it online from an independent shop and bought it for £65!
"We ordered the sofa from Dunelm for £299, and most of the decor from Amazon or ASDA, all online.
“There were artificial plants, a copper vase, a copper lamp, and a copper lantern from ASDA which totalled around £100. The mirror was £60 and the rug was £25, both from Amazon.
"In total for everything - for the new floor (which was the most expensive thing), the paint, wallpaper and decor - we have a new and modern kitchen for less than £2,000, less than 10% of the cheapest quotes we were given late last year.”
Catherine is delighted with how the project has turned out, and found the transformation to be an excellent activity to undertake during the lockdown.
"It took around a month to prep and paint everything in between working and homeschooling my daughter," she adds.
"I was really very glad of the project keeping me busy in the mist of all the craziness and uncertainty of lockdown, it was a welcome distraction.
"And it’s a kitchen that I want to spend time in! I love cooking in there now, or sitting with a glass of something and chatting to my husband as he sorts out tea.
"My daughter has so far made an amazing chocolate cake and a delicious spaghetti bolognaise. Fingers crossed for more food produced by the smallest member of the household soon! It’s a bright and happy room now and it lifts my mood to go in."
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “It’s disheartening when you really want to transform your home but companies give you extortionate price after extortionate price to take on the project.
“However, Catherine is proof that you shouldn’t despair, but instead get stuck into the renovation yourself!
“She’s proven that creativity, hard work and sticking to a tight budget can work wonders for your home!"
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