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As much as you love your home, you may not feel quite the same way about your kitchen. Between the outdated cabinets and old wallpaper, you might hate the room so much that you prefer eating in restaurants to cooking at home. Once you talk to a few contractors and hear about the cost of kitchen renovations, you might assume that you have no choice but to live with your dull and bland kitchen. You shouldn’t worry though because there are some simple kitchen renovations that you can do yourself. These renovations can take as little as a long weekend and help you save thousands. There are even some ideas that you can do with a bit of help from your family and friends.
Demolition
Many cheap kitchen renovations start with some demolition work. Now is the perfect time to rip out those old cabinets and pull up old carpet or tile to see what lies beneath. Renting a skip gives you an excellent place to store all of those old construction supplies and get more room to work. It costs around $300 to rent a skip, but the total cost depends on the size of the skip and how long you need it. Hiring a demolition expert to do the job for you can cost two to three times that amount or even more. If you want to take some time to work on your kitchen, you can rent a skip for a few weeks or an entire month and still pay less than it would cost to hire a local contractor.
Painting
A new coat of paint can completely transform your kitchen. Consider adding a fun and bright touch to the walls in a bold sunny yellow colour or a soft ocean blue. Paint is for more than just the walls, too. Paint has a significant impact when used in small spaces. If you have an open floor plan, you can paint the kitchen one colour to separate it from the rest of the home. Small kitchens feel like a larger room when you paint the walls in a soft or light shade. To make the room stand out, choose a different colour for the cabinets. Navy blue and eggshell white are a few good options.
Replace the Benchtop
The odds are good that the benchtops in your kitchen don’t look as good as they once did. These counters are essential because they are where you prep food when cooking your family and where you sit to relax or help your kids with their homework. You may even find that you enjoy hanging out in the kitchen while you work or read, too. DIY kitchen bench ideas help you save money and do the hard work yourself. Replacing all of the benchtops can range from $550 per square metre for hardwood to more than $2,000 per square metre for natural stone. Concrete benches can save you some money and come in different colours. There are even stamps and moulds that make the surface resemble other materials. Laminate materials come in large rolls with an adhesive backing that you can peel and stick to the benchtops, too.
Flat-Pack Shelving
Many people look for ideas for DIY kitchen cabinets because they want to add more storage to their kitchens. You can easily add storage without hiring a contractor when you choose flat-pack shelving. They come in flat packs that are easy to ship and have everything that you need to install the shelves inside the box. Heavy-duty steel shelving is strong enough to hold enamelware and your largest pots and pans. With modular shelving, you can pick and choose from different designs and sizes to create custom shelving in your kitchen. You can paint both wood and metal shelves to make them match the rest of the room, too.
Accessories
A kitchen renovation can easily cost between $10,000 and $75,000. Still, you will find plenty of ways to reduce those costs, such as using new accessories. Don’t worry about your rubbish sticking out and ruining the look of your kitchen because you can use bins that slide inside your cabinets and let you sort your trash from your recycling. Appliance stores deliver everything from microwaves and refrigerators to stoves and freezers to your home and set them up for you. You might go with stainless steel appliances or update your existing appliances with laminate papers. Wall decor can transform your kitchen also. Make a big impression with a large painting that becomes the room’s focal point or a few of the drawings that your kids made displayed in new frames on a kitchen wall.
Why spend $10,000 or more on a kitchen renovation to make space look better and be more functional? There are loads of DIY kitchen renovation ideas that you can do on your own or with a little help. Home improvement stores sell everything that you need for these projects, including painting supplies and demolition tools. You can even rent equipment for a weekend instead of buying it outright. Use any of these ideas to transform your kitchen and make it your favourite room in the house. Renovate your kitchen today and start cooking tomorrow.