Yahoo News Savvy DIYer overhauls drab kitchen for just £147, saving over £1,300
Kitchen makeovers can be spendy, but with some clever DIY tricks and bargain finds, one woman managed to transform her entire space for under £150, saving £1,300.
Jodie Worboys, 28, an equine sports massage therapist from Buckinghamshire, was tired of her drab kitchen but didn’t want to fork out a fortune overhauling it.
By taking on the work herself, with her partner Erien Memmi, 30, and utilising cheap-yet-chic materials, she managed to transform the entire room into into an on-trend charcoal space worthy of any Pinterest board.
Worboys says that lockdown provided the incentive she needed to take on the transformation project.
“During COVID, I got so sick of my kitchen that my fiancé and I decided to just completely overhaul it," she told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.
Read more: DIY-savvy woman transforms kitchen from dark and dated to bright and modern for just £100
Turning to DIY pages on Facebook for inspiration and using bargain materials such as vinyl stick-on floor tiles and replacement cupboard handles, the couple were able to totally change the look of the kitchen.
"We wanted something chic but also with a bit of personality," she explains.
“And for the decor to flow from room to room, so the dark grey colour we went for matches the scheme in our front room.
"I’m also an absolute sucker for anything copper and rose gold, so we wanted to include this in the detailing!"
The starting point involved sanding the cupboards and then applying a good primer, which Worboys says is the key to most good DIY.
"Never ever skimp on a decent primer as it’s the most important part," she advises.
Read more: Basic bathroom to Scandi spa: How to get the look for less
The couple then painted the cupboards, with two coats of colour and a top coat to seal them.
Attention then turned to the flooring.
"I'd seen a few posts about vinyl stick-on floor tiles, so we decided to give them a go," Worboys continues.
"It was really easy to do.
"We ripped up the old floor, cleaned and swept the concrete below and again applied a couple of coats to a good floor primer."
Watch: DIY: How to make a TV mount at home
Though the tiles come ready to stick, the couple used an adhesive spray to make them extra sticky.
"Then we simply matched the patterns up on the floor and cut out around the edges with a Stanley knife," Worboys continues. "Once they were dry we just sealed the edges."
All that was left to do then was add in the finishing touches, which included new bar stools and fake plants.
“Price-wise, we paid £14 for a pack of 10 Floorpop self-adhesive tiles from Dunelm. We used six packs with spares left over, so they cost £84 in total," Worboys explains.
“For the paint, we used wood primer in grey from Homebase's own brand for £12, another Homebase own brand paint for the charcoal colour for £14, and we had the Rust-Oleum top coat left over from previous projects."
The couple also bought a pack of 10 rose gold handles from Amazon for £26.99 and the breakfast bar stools from B&Q for £20.
The whole transformation cost just £147 in total, which Worboys anticipates would cost at least £1,500 if it had been done professionally.
“It took three days of hard work for a fabulous kitchen," she continues.
"We loved the kitchen as soon as we saw it finished, and it’s still one of my favourite rooms in the house."
Read more: Woman transforms bland kitchen into super-chic space for under £200
For anyone hoping to take on their own makeover, Worboys recommends trusting the process.
"That’s my favourite saying to my fiancé whenever I start on a DIY project," she says.
Another tip for rookie renovators is heading online for DIY tutorials.
"There is absolutely nothing a YouTube video can’t teach you,” she adds.
Commenting on the impressive transformation Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk said: “Hats off to Worboys and her amazing can-do attitude!
“Using budget materials, a whole lot of positivity and the gold mine that is YouTube tutorials, Worboys and Memmi have pulled off an incredible transformation.
“Kitchen renovations can cost thousands and thousands of pounds, but these two have proven you can do it for under £150 with creativity, great materials and hard work!”
