How to Save Money in Your Kitchen Makeover! Make Change for Less: DIY Home Renovation Tips

When it comes to renovating, the kitchen can often be the most expensive room in your home to upgrade. Now, I desperately wanted a new kitchen, but I still wanted to have money left over so I could afford groceries. Turns out, Suncorp also cares about my money, and your money for that matter, so they challenged me to a kitchen makeover on a budget to make a big change for less, and I'm going to show you how I did it. Okay, so here's what the kitchen looked like before, and here's what it looks like now. I think we can all agree that this is a massive transformation. My old kitchen was very dated, and the word random comes to mind. There was a lot of random things going on, and it just wasn't a very functional space. But, with the help of some new appliances, cabinetry, and clever cosmetic fixes, I went from zero to hero. So, how did I get this look, and more importantly, how did I save money in this makeover? We're going to have to look at cabinets, benchtops, what are we going to do on the walls, sink. Yeah, okay, you make a valid point. Let's go. First of all, when it comes to budgeting for your kitchen, you really need to think about what is most important to you. Maybe you really need new appliances, or you want a coffee machine because you're sick of spending heaps of money at your local cafe. It is okay to spend money on key pieces, that is fine. But, do your research, make sure it fits in your space and it's functional, and once you know that, then you know how much money you've got left over for the rest of the kitchen. Woo, kitchen time. We're going to sort our appliances first. Yes, appliances are most important. For me, I was all about new appliances. Mine were old, broken, leaking, or I just didn't like them anymore. So, that was me. My focus was appliances first, and then how much budget have I got left over for the rest of the kitchen, and how can I save money? Cabinets, yay, cabinets. Custom-made cabinetry is beautiful, but not everyone can afford the premium price tag that might come along with it. However, you can still get a personalized look with outgoing custom. Find a kitchen supplier that offers semi-custom or off-the-shelf cabinetry. Basically, what that means is that it's just cabinetry that has standard sizing. So, often it's a standard depth and height of the drawers and the doors. You can still choose a combination and configuration that works well in your space, and plus, you can also choose from different finishes and types of cabinets. You're just slightly restricted to what you can choose from. In my kitchen, the cabinetry I selected was very cost-effective, as the carcasses were standard off-the-shelf sizing. We received everything flat-packed and assembled them ourselves, which does take a bit of time, but it saves you hundreds in the installation costs. However, if you're not confident with the assembly side of things, I would definitely recommend paying for installation, as you don't want to have to pay for new cabinets if you happen to ruin them. This is starting to sort of look like a kitchen again. Yeah, I've already lost my knife. Oh, hang on. The cabinetry that I selected for the kitchen was all off-the-shelf cabinetry, but I still wanted to personalise it to give it a little bit of something something. So, I ordered a piece of Vic Ash timber to create additional shelving. So, we crafted these ourselves, and I love the addition of timber because it just brings more warmth and personality to the space. Opt for open shelving so that you can style your favourite cookbooks, vases, or even a plant. This will really help to bring more personality into your design. Choosing cabinetry for your kitchen can be a bit of a minefield. Especially if you're selecting off-the-shelf cabinetry, because you really need to make sure your measurements are correct. I had a pretty good idea about the types of cabinets that I wanted in my kitchen and the configuration, but I did want a second opinion to make sure I was really using the space effectively. So, I organised an in-home measure and quote, which most kitchen suppliers do offer. So, if you're looking at a few cabinetry options, see if the supplier you're looking at offers an in-home measure and quote. This is a really great way to get someone else out to measure up the space and work out what is the most efficient use of space in your kitchen. Is there a picture in here with black pudding in it, or is this brand new? Yeah, so black pudding is one of the trendiest colours, so it's kind of a brand new colour. Say I'm trending in? Yes! It usually costs a little bit of money up front, maybe like $100 or so, but I think that's money well spent, because it could save you a lot down the track. So, yay! We're all done! Erin, it's going to be the best kitchen you've ever seen, isn't it? Yes, definitely. Hands down. So, what if off-the-shelf cabinetry does not work in your space? Well, custom doesn't always have to mean expensive. If you do it yourself, that is. I wanted to use off-the-shelf cabinetry in my pantry, but because it's such a small and pokey space, the cabinet I got wouldn't actually fit inside, and there was no way that I could even assemble it in here. So, this is our pantry. We had to do some crisis control, because the cabinetry that we got didn't actually fit inside this little hole. So, Jono's actually having to make custom cabinets, which is him drilling out the back now. So, had to get a bit clever and chose to do some custom shelving, which we ended up building out of some firewood we had left over in the garage. This was actually really cool, because I decided I wanted a bit of a butler's pantry feel, so I extended the height, and I also added in some power points and made sure that the depth of the shelves was big enough to fit our appliances. In the end, the cost of this pantry was zero dollars, because we already had the plywood and used leftover paint from the rest of our renovations. But, if you were starting from scratch, you'd be looking at a couple hundred dollars to create something similar. Ooh, very nice. Truth be told, I would have loved a natural stone bench top or maybe a beautiful polished concrete, but I had to save money in my kitchen. So, I opted for a laminate bench top. The finish of laminate bench tops varies a lot, so I would 100% recommend that you see them in the flesh before you make your decision. And if you do decide to fake it, maybe you can afford that Italian style Toronto bench top you've always wanted. Thanks for watching, guys. I hope that's given you some helpful ideas for your kitchen makeover. A very big thank you to Suncor for challenging me to make change for less. I wrote up a few other makeover tips for the living room, bathroom and kitchen. It's over on their website suncor.com.au or via the link below. And if you liked this video, you know what to do. Hit the like button and subscribe to our YouTube channel because we've got plenty more videos coming your way.