Woman Transforms Kitchen On A Budget With £10 B&Q and £5 Wilko Bargains
- Freya, 29, wanted to fix up her Edwardian kitchen without breaking the bank
- She sourced her supplies from Wilko, B&Q and Poundland
- Bargains include £10 worktop stickers, £5 spray paint and £1 rollers
Moving into a new property is stressful at the best of times, but the situation can be made worse if you hate the existing decor in a particular room. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to transform an entire space on a budget, as one savvy DIY-er has proven.
Freya Farrington, 29 from Greater Manchester who is a YouTuber and social media influencer, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘My partner Tom and I bought and moved into an Edwardian property back in October. Over the last few weeks we have begun our renovations so in the meantime, I wanted to improve the spaces we were living out of.
‘I didn’t like the existing style in the kitchen so I wanted to blast the walls white and change the floors so it felt cleaner, lighter and more like home. With it being a temporary fix until we save to extend and build our new kitchen at the other side of the house, we wanted to do this very much on a budget.’
With that in mind, Freya sourced her supplies from Wilko, Poundland and B&Q. ‘For the white walls I got Leyland Matt White paint, which was on offer at B&Q so I got two big tubs for £20.
‘Instead of replacing the knobs on the drawers and cabinets, we decided to keep them and spray paint them black using a £5 can from Wilko.
‘For the flooring we used a neutral cheap vinyl from a place called Warehouse Carpets on the Lomeshaye Industrial Estate in Nelson. They often sell off-cuts of carpet for heavily discounted prices. We got this flooring for a bulk price of £600 to cover the three rooms we lived out of downstairs, including the kitchen.
‘For the worktop and splashbacks, I used marble vinyl d-c-fix from B&Q which cost £10 a roll. I bought three altogether.
‘The cupboards were painted with quick dry furniture and cupboard paint from Wilko in an ivory shade. They cost £10 per tub and I used two of them.’
Freya’s other supplies were £5 Wilko radiator spray paint, Wilko primer undercoat paint for £9, a Poundland mini roller set for £1, a Poundland grout pen for £1 and a Poundland knife set for £1 for cutting the d-c-fix to size.
She also initially painted her tiles using GoodHome Durable Arica Satin Multi-surface paint for £34 from B&Q. Fortunately she had her other tools, such as large rollers, already available from previous projects.
The first steps were to tackle the doors leading into the living room and decide how to cover the wallpaper. ‘We took the door off, as only one was attached, to open up the space. We then decided to apply the paint over the top of the wallpaper.’
Freya used the Leyland Matt White emulsion, spraying it onto the walls and applying Polycell quick drying Polyfilla to fill in any gaps along the way. While the paint dried, she focused on the cabinet handles.
‘I used a screwdriver to remove them all and instead of replacing the handles I stayed on a budget and spray painted the ones we already had. I picked up a spray paint for just a couple of pounds, super cheap - much cheaper than if I were to buy all brand new handles.’
The next job was painting the cabinets. Freya applied Wilko ready to use sugar soap for £2.50 on each surface before applying the primer. ‘I discovered it wasn’t necessary to put primer on them, so I didn’t apply it thoroughly and didn’t even do all of the cabinets in the end.’
Freya then painted the cabinets with a large roller and small paintbrush, applying two coats. Next up were the tiles, which she transformed from cream to grey. Her favourite paint makeover was the door, which she made black. ‘I’m so glad I decided to go with that colour, it really makes the door stand out.’
Once all the paint was dry, Freya screwed the cabinet handles back on with an electric screwdriver and focused on the floor. ‘It was previously vinyl, which we decided to switch out for a grey concrete effect to go with the neutral element.’
‘We had professionals apply the flooring, but sticking on a budget they just went over the top of what was already there. We did this to save on labour time, but also because we had no idea what they could end up pulling up. Now it’s done, it’s quite the transformation!’
Freya then focused on her worktops. Scrubbing them down with sugar soap first, she then applied a lighter d-c-fix than the one she originally purchased. ‘Filling in the tiles with the grout pen didn’t work, so we decided to go for the marble worktops with marble splashbacks.
‘I switched out the original marble d-c-fix with a lighter shade, as the one I got before was quite a dark pattern. I got four rolls at the same price per roll as before, so that the splashbacks could be done too.’
The final touches for the kitchen were a wreath on the window, which was gifted, and four prints with black metal frames from online retailer Desenio at a total estimated cost of £81.
Now that Freya has finished the budget renovation, she’s been impressed with how it’s held up and shares the latest on her renovation projects on her YouTube and Instagram profiles. ‘If I could do it again, I would have filled in or levelled out the tiles so that the marble sticker applied easier. In person and close up, the splashbacks are far from the perfect finish. However, it’s done really well since we first applied it so I’d definitely recommend it if you’re on a budget!’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Freya has done a great job transforming her kitchen on a budget. Wilko, B&Q and Poundland are some of the best shops for finding bargain supplies.
‘More and more people are starting to use d-c-fixes on their kitchen worktops. It’s a cheap and quick solution which can be done in an evening without having to pay for a professional - result!’
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