3 Ways to Freshen Up Your Timber Kitchen
Let me show you a picture of my timber kitchen.
This was my sight when we first moved in. Not exactly glorious...right? I absolutely love everything about the house - except these green tiles right here.
My husband and I also decided that we would only purchase a house that is move-in ready, means no renovation required.
I thought I would get used to the green tiles but guess what - after 1 month, I realised I can't do this. I cannot stand the tiles.
I went on to research how best to freshen up a timber kitchen without paying a BOMB. I guess I should also tell you that my husband and I are not DIY savvy at all. We can hang pictures on the wall, that's about it. I know that you can paint the cabinets and tiles yourself but this is something that we simply cannot do!
Some alternatives came up:
1. Kitchen resurfacing
If you google this term, a bunch of technical explanation about what resurfacing is, will resurface (oops, pun intended) haha!
It basically means to spray paint your entire kitchen. Ideally they will remove all kitchen doors, bring it back to their factory to spray paint it. Benchtop and splashback can be resurfaced too! It is a brilliant way to breathe new life into a dated kitchen. You will have hundreds of colours to choose from.
I got some quotes but didn't go through with it because it is still going to cost a fortune, about $5,000 for the entire kitchen.
Also, check out the conversation I had with the lady who came to quote:
Lady: this timber kitchen can easily cost the previous owner $60,000. Full timber is rare nowadays. Are you sure you want to go ahead with it?
Me: you're just painting it right? the timber is still timber right?
Lady: yeah, but still.
Me: ????
Ok, not very convincing that's why i didn't go ahead with it.
2. Change the tiles
After a long debate with my husband, I decided that fine, I can live with the timber. BUT the tiles have to go.
I contacted a few tilers for a quote but the job is too small for most of them to want to do the job. I ultimately got a quote at around $2,000 to remove the green tiles and install new ones (additional cost for new tiles, obviously).
After some thought, I decided nah, I can't risk the tiler damaging my otherwise very functional kitchen just because I can't stand the colour of the tile (overthinker can you relate?). Scenarios of what could go wrong played repeatedly in my head. Ok, screw it, next option.
3. Peel & stick tiles
I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out that such a product exist. I'm quite a resourceful person so I'm surprised I've never heard of it!
My husband was very skeptical and said "ermmm okay you can buy 1 to try"
Safe to say, 35 pieces later, we were hooked.
My kitchen has been transformed!!
Just bare with the timber, lol. I'm sure it will come back in trend in a few years!
I will also look into changing the cabinet knobs in the future to make it less "timber". If you have any ideas on how to freshen this even further, please comment below!
Oh by the way so how much did it cost to transform this kitchen? Glad you asked! about $260!
Want to transform your kitchen for less, just like me?
Well good news is, we sell these 3D Peel & stick tiles!
Check out our collection here: https://stickonluxury.com.au/collections/all