Andrew and David Harrison-Colley (@the_home_boys) are planning a big, brand-new kitchen extension in their home, but because renovations don’t happen overnight, they made the small kitchen their house came with a whole lot cuter (and more functional) for daily use during the wait.
And the kitchen makeover has clever ideas to borrow, whether your kitchen is a temporary or forever place to cook.
The lower kitchen cabinets are the same as before — with a new outer layer.
Because the light oak-looking thermofoil layer on the outside of the cabinets was beginning to peel, they decided to remove that layer and begin with blank, MDF cabinets that “were still in great condition,” David writes on Instagram.
They used heat from a hairdryer to remove the thermofoil, patched any holes in the MDF, sanded them, primed them, and painted them a cozy gray (Farrow & Ball’s Pigeon).
The upper kitchen cabinets make way for open shelving.
The couple replaced the upper cabinets with open shelving that stretches all the way across the wall, and they plan to bring those shelves — plus the faucet they added and the cupboard they made to conceal the fridge — into their newly constructed kitchen, too.
Because they knew this kitchen upgrade was mostly temporary, they tried to keep budget low, and the total cost was under £400, or about $542 USD. They did pay to replace the water-damaged countertops with a new oak slab, and they sealed it with a coat of Osmo TopOil, which has stood up well during the two-year interim, according to Andrew and David.
The backsplash got a makeover with paneling.
The vertical lines of the paneling (plus the new open shelving) help the room feel just a bit taller.
