My Kitchen Makeover

I recently moved into an oldish house which required some serious revamping.

Not sure what I wanted to do with it, I knew only that the beige Melamine cupboards of 20 years ago and the more recent white Melamine cupboard doors had to go, as well as the brown varnished fake stone fireplace.

I started getting in some quotes for a new kitchen. Whoa! They were way out of my price range for a tiny kitchen, so that was an event never going to happen. I needed to do this on a shoestring budget but still make it look good.

"What about revamping the kitchen?", I said to my daughter.

I searched and asked around and made my own enquiries about the possibility of painting Melamine.
Then I remembered that a while ago while researching kitchen makeovers, I had come across someone whose name I had filed away for future reference.

I found someone who transformed my tired-looking unordinary lounge and beige Melamine kitchen into something extraordinary that is vibrant and sparkles and dazzles. I had some ideas about what I wanted but in the end, I pretty much let them have creative licence and the result was so much more than I expected. I love my new kitchen and lounge, I think probably tons more than if I had had a completely new kitchen installed.

For one thing, going this route was a fraction of the price of a new kitchen, approximately one-fifth of the lowest new kitchen price, and secondly, it looks so much more unique and reflects my dream rather than a million other kitchens you find in new houses today that are exactly the same. I am thrilled that I found them.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I received a quote for granite tops for this very, very small kitchen was way out of range for me!

But, just see what they did with my pretty old and marked Melamine countertops - They created a granite effect with gold and silver paint and gold leaf. It shimmers and sparkles under the lamplight at night.

The photos just don't do it justice!

It is coated on top with a super-resistant varnish - and if I fancied dancing on there in my stilettos, I could.

They also transformed the drab old beige Melamine cupboard doors and the odd white door with a stunning denim paint effect and technique. The result looks like washed denim. They look amazing.

I can highly recommend that you consider a revamp of old furniture as well with paint effects and techniques that you can think of from flat painting, painting stripes for a dramatic effect, wash techniques, using paints with textures, sand paint finishes and stippling.

Glass painting and painted tiles can be absolutely stunning.

They also transformed my "fake" stone fireplace into a feature that is now so beautiful it looks like it has come directly from a sandstone quarry.

The result has been so wonderful that I am full of inspiration and as soon as I can afford it, I will be starting on the bathrooms and bedrooms with their help.

 The next article will be about my adventures removing the old beige tiles from the kitchen - that's another story completely that I took on before I realised that I could get tiles painted and transform them into something magnificent.

Believe me, chipping and removing old cement and mortar with a hammer and chisel is not for the faint-hearted!