How to upcycle your kitchen: Expert tips from an Interior Designer

When we first moved into our home we decided that something ought to be done about the kitchen. It just felt soulless and tired despite the fact it was pretty much brand new. We’d poured all the pennies into buying the house so we couldn’t take it all out and start again plus that felt very wasteful given that it was so new, so we decided to upcycle it and get it looking good. In this blog post I will be covering its most recent iteration (it’s been a few colours) and will talk you through my choices.

Before I start here’s a quick before and after for the inpatient in you!

So now I’ve got your attention I’ll go in to each element and explain options…

Doors

The doors we had were high gloss affairs and it didn’t work at all in this basement kitchen with limited natural light. I gave a light sand with 120 grit paper and used Zinsser Bin Primer followed by my chosen colour of Farrow and Ball Cardomon I used the estate Eggshell despite F&B recommending the modern Eggshell which they say is slightly more durable. However, slightly more durable equals slightly shinier so it was a no from me as having finally managed to escape the high gloss life there was no way I was going back. If you are really worried about it chipping, then you could put a top coat of a Ronseal matt interior varnish but do be warned this can add to the shine and probably isn’t necessary. This all needs to be applied with a brush for the edges and a foam roller but don’t press too hard otherwise you get lines in your finish and no one wants that. Once it’s painted you have to be REALLY careful with it for about 3 weeks until the paint cures then it’s about as chip resistant as it gets.

Handles

In my kitchen I have changed the handles to my old fave Corston Architectural Details Bayswater knobs and Sycamore handles for my drawers. I adore the simple design of these and the brass patinas with age making a lovely feature that are lovely to touch and will last a lifetime. Going to mark as an Ad here as Corston sent me the handles in return for some content on my Instagram, said content linked here.

Worktops

Ever since I’ve lived in my home, I have wanted to change the wooden worktops to something more durable. Wood is just not a great option for a worktop for me. It’s high maintenance (needs regular sanding and sealing) it doesn’t do great with water either making it, quite frankly, a bit of a nightmare in a kitchen especially around the sink, plus it marks easily. I’d just love a stone in here but well, budget says no at the moment so with design in mind I won’t be too down on it and work my magic to make it fade away in to the background. I did this by essentially wrapping it with the green cupboards below and wooden cladding above. This way it kind of disappears into the design and retreats. We also have a lovely original flagstone floor in the kitchen which is well, brown. This helped me loads when choosing a colour for the kitchen as it needed to work with that and harmonise so when Farrow and Ball released their new range of colours and I spotted Cardamon, I knew it was the one. With it’s rich, deep earthy green it paired perfectly with the floor AND the wooden worktop. I just knew this colour was the gel this kitchen needed to really bring it to life and align the room.

Backsplash

We removed the tiles that we had here mainly because they were just too white, remember I said there has been a few iterations to this kitchen since we moved in and one of those was adding thin, white, rectangular tiles in a vertical stack configuration but it was just so white and fought hard with this naturally dark space so they had to go. As previously mentioned, I wanted to change the worktop but funds did not allow and with this would have been a matching quartz backslash so I knew this would be the right choice, helping to lean in to that darkness and make the space feel oh so cosy and inviting. We had the backsplash cut for us from my cut who also delivered it however, we had to master the art of power tools and measure and cut out those socket holes and we thought a 90% success rate of getting it right first time was a pretty strong first attempt!

Shelves

Controversial topic incoming but we got rid of all but one of the top cupboards… For us storage isn’t an issue as we have a huge larder and a separate utility. We also have added the vintage glass cabinet for all our glassware and some of the plates and now we’re living in it it’s not a problem apart from it going against all my training on the “working triangle” and how that shouldn’t be too big. Well, I’m a fidget and can’t stay still so having to walk a few extra metres to the fridge and food stores doesn’t bother me and we have of course kept the “fun fridge” full of beverages safely in the actual kitchen. We opted for 25mm MDF boards for the shelves cut to size at our local B&Q store. My husband loved it as he got to do some maths and it saved us a barny over power tool purchases. I’ve always dreamt of the floating shelves and absolultely vetoed any sort of bracket and my wish finally came true here.

Wall Paint.

I opted for my favourite neutral here which is Little Greene paint company Portland Stone which is a soft, stony neutral with great depth. I went for their remix paint which is where they take old little greene paint, use some clever AI technology to whizz it all together and come up with any colour on their card. It costs half the price and to be honest I felt dubious as to how good a colour match it would be but in Little Greene we trust and having slathered most of my house in the stuff I thought it was worth a go to save some dollar. I needn’t have worried at all! It was an exact match to the dining area of this open plan space and I’m so glad I gave it a go and would definitely recommend.

Tiles

We kept the range cooker backsplash of herringbone tiles (sorry can’t recall where from) but that dark grout we had before wasn’t doing it for me anymore and I knew a lighter white grout was the best option however, doing a little research online I found that going over it with a white grout probably wouldn’t work as it would likely still be visible and there just isn’t the space between the tiles to add more grout. I found these grout pens on amazon and oh wow, they’ve done the trick! It took about 3 coats to cover but it’s been the perfect solution and the tiles now fit with the scheme so well. One day I want to change them to these beauties from Claybrook Studio as I know they’re the right ones but for now this is a good solution and they look pretty good as is and my brain can cope!

Lights

We have 2 pendant lights over the island which had some brass dome lights on them before but they weren’t right for the oldy worldy, vintage kitchen vibes we wanted cue these beauties from Pooky lights (another Interior Designers fave brand that I’m not sure people know about) They’re oh so cute and dainty but definitely give that Devol kitchen look I was after. We only have space for 2 over our island as it isn’t huge but I would recommend 3 or an odd number (not one) over an island if you have the space as it just looks better. Other lights we have in the space are a grid of downlights - not my choice of placement and there’s too many IMO and we used to have under cabinet lights when we had top cupboards. Now they’re gone we could attach the under cabinet lights under the shelves but they are higher so we’re worried the lights will be shining in our eyeballs. We’re procrastinating a little but I’m probably going to go with a stone based lamp of some description in the corners of the room on the worktop.

Flooring

Since posting the finished space on Instagram I’ve had a ton of questions about the floor. It’s actually original to the house so is nearly 200-year-old flagstone and has been sealed by the previous owners. When we moved in I dreamt of being rid of it and having a lovely neat wood floor like the ones I’d seen on Instagram. We would struggle to change it anyway as the building is listed and I’ve literally no idea what is under it! Mud? Stone? who knows! However, I’ve really learnt to embrace it and that kitchen cabinet colour goes so well with it (not an accident by the way) that I couldn’t see any other floor here now, it would just be wrong and sacrilege. There’s no such thing as a wrong colour but there is such thing as a wrong colour combination and that is a big lesson for the designer in all of us. The green cabinets harmonise with it so well and the gold details help to lift it. Basically, I’m sooooo glad we couldn’t/didn’t change it and feel so lucky it’s still around after all these years.

A note to end on.

Now I hope I haven’t forgotten anything but if I have you can DM me on Instagram and I’ll answer.

For those looking to hire an Interior Designer to design their kitchen, look no further!! To get started on your design journey click the book a call tab at the top of the page and here you can book a FREE 15-minute discovery call with me to discuss the project and I can give you my design fee.

Thanks for reading and hopefully chat to some of you soon,

Claire