Builder-grade kitchen Upgrade!
When it came to the kitchen we got in this new build, I was frustrated beyond words.
It felt infuriating that this kitchen had been signed off on, when SO MANY things felt sloppy, lazy, impractical and let’s face is - plain STUPID.
Like - why put a sink in the kitchen of a 5 bedroom house, that is so small it doesn’t even fit a pan in?
Why make the upper cabinets higher than standard so that no one can even reach the top shelf?
Why not put in any drawers in the kitchen?
There were a lot of moments from a designer's perspective, where I was angry that somewhere out there in the world, a designer had made that choice, and it had been signed off on! It felt like an insult to my job! (ok, maybe I’m taking it too seriously!)
Within about 5 minutes of living in the house, I had made my list of things I would do to fix this kitchen, and I quickly realised that these changes were going to cost me a LOT less than if I were to rip out the kitchen and start again!
So - my builder grade upgrade plan began!
This is the kitchen we received on move in day!
I just want to say - DISCLAIMER!
I have nothing against Navy blue kitchens - I’ve designed a few!
I just wouldn’t choose it for myself…
You can see the upper cabinetry is completely disproportionate to the rest of the kitchen!
The first thing i did was address the big gaping GAP we had (at the very end of the video!) next to the fridge.
Of course - this was the perfect spot to put a pantry and some pull-out bins for the millions of recycling receptacles that are required in the UK… (it’s amazing what triggers culture shock!😂)
So I got in touch with our trusty carpenter Phil (a master craftsman who it actually magical) , and we began drawing what I had in my head. He really is very clever, because he NAILED IT!!
One of the things I was really passionate about with these tweaks and changes we made, was that I wanted to minimise waste, use as much as we could that did work. The layout and bones of this space were good, but it was just all those ‘not-thought-through’ moments I wanted to fix!
This pantry fixed a LOT.
NEXT!
I added drawers. This changed everything!!
There were only 2 drawers provided with the kitchen we got - both directly under the hob, for plates and pans.
There was an excess of cupboards, so I decided to take one, and make it drawers! A very simple, but transformative move!
This cupboard was a complete waste of space.
It was just a space, with a shelf inside, too small for cereal boxes, too big for spices. Things were rattling around, and nothing worked.
The bit that came next was my favourite part!
I took ALL the upper cabinetry down.
Now - before you write to me and tell me how wrong I was to do this, and how necessary uppers are, let me just say this.
These cabinets were stubbier than standard, and higher than standard. The result of which meant we couldn’t use the top shelves, and even the bottom shelf was higher than comfortable, particularly for my kids.
Having them stubby and high, meant there was a really stupid gap between the tops of the cabinets, and the ceiling, the result of which made the ceilings look even lower than they already are
AND they were dark - my rule of thumb is never to have dark uppers if you can help it! Unless the space can handle it - it can make the room feel enclosed, cave-like, and heavy. As a designer, my aim is always to create a space that brings light, a feeling of space and air, and this did the opposite. So they had to GET GONE!
But because I removed all the uppers, I needed storage! Which gave me the perfect opportunity to create my DREAM countertop unit, with glass doors!
I am still absolutely obsessed with this unit! It was the best addition, and MORE THAN covered the storage we removed in all the upper cabinetry! But it brings so much warmth, character and class, I just love this corner so much!! Plus - those little drawers and the most perfect little drawers for tea! Again - Phil our carpenter just nailed this vision!
Next, I had a naked wall to address, and more to the point - a GLITTER backsplash (yes - glitter. I mean… what?!) behind the hob, that needed to be addressed, for mental health reasons. No one should have to be confronted with a silver glitter backsplash just for cooking… that’s just unkind, and frankly offensive to human eyes.
I devised a very easy, quick solution, and I think this entire process took me half an hour! And I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!
We were getting somewhere!
So much transformation! Removing the upper cabinetry really did open up the room and make it feel SO much bigger!
But I wasn’t done… Oh no…
Next was my vision for open shelving and a hood - a proper hood. Not one hidden inside what looked like upper cabinets! (Another pet peeve!)
So - our trusty carpenter Phil came back and put up the most incredible shelving and an MDF hood - which I knew I wanted to treat with plaster and paint.
We were getting there!!
But next came the highest impact decision. The only choice I made that wasn’t purely practical - but more about character and vibe.
It was always my dream to have an exposed stone wall in my kitchen, and we decided that since this kitchen was just so close to being the actual dream, we may as well add this detail to get it there.
We had found this incredible stone worker locally, who had found is a faux cotswold stone supplier, that was actually made from cement molds, but looks like really expensive stone. We had previously clad our chimney breast with it, and loved it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to mirror the same stone on the opposite wall of the house, in the kitchen.
So we called Innis back to clad this wall with the same stone, and it was 100% the right call!
You would not BELIEVE the difference cladding the walls made - it elevated the space to levels even I hadn’t hoped for!
It brought those Italian, cotswoldsy vibes (yes, that’s a thing), and I’m here for it - I am now convinced that wall treatments are the highest impact thing you can do in a room, be that wall paper, tile, stone, or even something as simple as a plaster or limewash treatment - it’s so impacting!
FINALLY - we had arrived at the most complicated, but life changing part - THE SINK…
Now, for me, symmetry is important, and I needed my tap to be in the middle of the window, where I’d also had a pendant put over the sink (oh - don’t get me started on the lighting situation… the thing I hate most about building in the UK? The absurd number of spots that are put in every ceiling. It is without a doubt the most offensive light (unless you have a dimmer), and we just never used the ceiling lights, as it was like blackpool illuminations - and not in a good way!). Getting the sink situated in the right place meant that the dishwasher had to be moved over a module, and two were taken over for the new double belfast sink.
It also meant that our countertop had to have some clever cutting and patching work, which with a bit of white e-poxy resin, you can hardly see!
We effectivelyly removed the countertop and moved the modules around as needed, and Phil (who really is a superstar and you should hire him!) created a new double unit for under the sink, along with a platter for the sink to sit on, which matches all the other wood in the room.
This change has definitely changed how we use our kitchen the most, it’s amazing how much the sink can affect how you operate in a room!
We were so close to being done!!
I could have just stopped here, and honestly i think I might have done if it wasn’t for those two wooden patches and strips on either side of the sink! They were the only thing that pushed me to follow through on the paint and colour change!
Now - we did ask a kitchen company to take all the doors and spray them for us, but the quote was a lot! it was over £2000, which just didn’t feel worth it to me. I spent a lot of time online looking up alternatives, and managed to find a DunelmXRustoleum collab paint that was made in the exact colour I wanted, and was formulated for kitchen cabinetry! It needed to sanding, and had the primer built in!
I found a spray tool on amazon, and a tent (which I didn’t end up using), and all of that came to just over £150! Score!
So, I set up a day with my dad, when the weather was going to be clear, and we took over the garden with tarps!
I washed all the doors down with sugar soap (an absolute must!), removed all the handles and hinges, and set them up on beer pong plastic cups on the tarps!
And that was IT!
Spraying the doors and painting all the struts that were immoveable was less of a faff than I expected, and we did the whole job in a day, including baseboards!
I’m over the moon with how it turned out, and it still takes my breath away every time I step into it each morning!
This is one renovation that I am so so happy we did. I’m so glad we kept 90% of what we got, and just dealt with the problems, rather than ripping the whole thing out. While the builder grade kitchen we got isn’t the worlds most expensive kitchen, there was a lot about it that was totally fine, and not justifiable to throw out. For me, the results are stunning, elevated, cozy and so inviting.
We all love this space, we entertain a lot in it, and we always get comments on it!
Really these tweaks are not hard, but it has surprised me how many people have said they never would have thought to try and work with that they had! I’m sure it saved me a ton of money to work this way, and I have ended up with my dream kitchen!
What do you think?
