How to update your kitchen without replacing it

How new doors on your kitchen cabinets can transform your kitchen in 2024

How is your kitchen looking? Perhaps it has needed a bit of an update for quite some time now, but you’ve just kept putting it off? If so, why not make 2024 the year when you finally get around to it?

The problem is that as soon as you start thinking about having a new kitchen, the first thing that comes to mind is the cost. Which can be horrendous. But on the other hand, if you want a new kitchen that is inevitable, isn’t it?

The good news is that it is possible to update your kitchen and get it looking really good without the heavy price tag you’d expect. Here are five things that you can do, all for a fraction of the cost of a complete kitchen replacement. Even if you do just one thing on the list below, your kitchen will thank you for it. But if you go all out and do them all, you will end up with a kitchen that looks and feels completely brand new!

Replace the doors on your kitchen cabinets

Changing the style and/or colour of your kitchen cabinets can totally transform the look and feel of your kitchen. But why pay money for brand new kitchen cabinets if the carcasses of your existing ones are still in pretty good condition? By simply replacing the doors, your kitchen cabinets will be as good as new and you could get years more life out of them.

At DIY Homefit we supply several ranges of replacement kitchen cabinet doors:

• Bella Vinyl Wrapped kitchen doors: A fabulous range of strong, classic designs, including shaker doors, smooth doors and raised panel doors. Our vinyl wrapped doors are available in a choice of 25 designs and a choice of 35 colours. One could be the ideal fit for your kitchen update.

• Flat Slab kitchen doors: These ranges of doors feature either a sleek handle or no handle, using push-to-open technology instead. Flat Slab doors are perfect for creating a sleek, minimalist look for your kitchen. Flat slab doors are available in Acrylic Ultragloss, Serica Matt and Supermatt finishes in over 30 colours. 

• Budget kitchen doors: We also offer two ranges of budget replacement kitchen cabinet doors:
  • Firbeck – a great value range of Supergloss and Supermatt cold rolled vinyl doors with matching edges;
  • Valore – budget range of Matt finished cut and edged doors with a choice of two edgings

Any of our replacement door ranges will breathe new life into your kitchen cabinets. Take a look at the ranges in more detail on our Kitchen Doors and Drawer Fronts page.

Replace your kitchen worktops

Another easy and cost-effective kitchen improvement is to replace your kitchen worktops. The colour of your worktops can make a huge difference to your kitchen and can be instrumental in pulling every aspect of your kitchen together. 

In a straightforward worktop replacement, your old worktops are simply removed from the tops of your kitchen cabinets and the new ones put on instead. This should only take a day or two in an average-sized kitchen. You can read more about the kitchen worktop replacement in our recent article How do replacement kitchen worktops actually work?

At DIY Homefit we supply two ranges of kitchen worktops – Prima and Axiom:

• Prima Formica Laminate Worktops : the Prima range provides a wide choice of worktop in a variety of finishes including light woods, warm stones and solid colours. Matching splashbacks and upstands are also available.

• Axiom Formica Laminate Worktops : the Axiom range offers a broad choice of designs, colours, textures and materials, finished with either an elegant square edge or curved profile.

Paint your kitchen a completely different colour

Changing the colour of your kitchen can make it look like a completely different room altogether. Kitchen paint colour trends for 2023 include greens, blues, grays, white and even pink. But the key thing is to go for one or more colours that you really like and that will make you happy having them around you. 

Also give some thought as to what you paint where. For example, you might decide to paint your walls in either a matching or completely contrasting colour to your kitchen cabinets. Or you may decide to use two different colours on different walls. And another option could be to use wallpaper either on a couple of walls or as a feature wall.

Whatever you decide, adding colour to your kitchen walls will make a huge difference.

Add new kitchen splashbacks

In parallel with choosing the colour of your kitchen walls, you might also want to add or change splashbacks. A splashback is a panel behind your cooker or sink that is designed to protect your walls from splashes and stains. Splashbacks can be any colour or style of your choice, and as such can form an important element of your kitchen design.

You may decide to have a tiled splashback, but another excellent option is laminated formica. Laminate is a tough material that is heat resistant and moisture free, so is able to withstand the daily wear and tear of a typical family kitchen. It is also surprisingly easy to keep clean.

At DIY Homefit we supply laminate splashbacks in a wide range of designs and colours. As with our kitchen worktops, we use Prima and Axiom so you could choose either a matching or contrasting splashback that dovetails with your kitchen worktops.

Change your kitchen flooring

One final aspect of your kitchen to consider updating is your kitchen flooring. Stylish flooring, that fits in with the overall colour and design theme of your kitchen, is the perfect finishing touch to your kitchen update.

It is also important that your kitchen flooring is durable, waterproof, and easy to maintain. And that it is completely safe for everyone using it, including children, pets and anyone with mobility issues. 

Some of the most popular types of kitchen flooring are:

• Tiled flooring : this can look stunning on kitchen floors and is also extremely durable, waterproof and easy to maintain.
• Wooden flooring : this is available in many different shades and textures, and can be configured in different layouts to work with your kitchen design. It is not waterproof but can be given a water-resistant finish to minimise the impact of spills. 
• Laminate flooring : this is a cheaper alternative to wooden flooring and can mimic the look and feel of wooden flooring. It is also available in a waterproof version.
• Vinyl flooring : this has seen a resurgence in recent years and is now a popular flooring alternative. It is available in various different shapes and sizes – including tiles and planks – so can mimic the look of wood and stone.

We hope that the above ideas will inspire you to update your kitchen in 2024 without replacing it. Why not start by browsing through our gallery of kitchen pictures to start deciding on the look you want for your brand new kitchen.

And do visit us again soon for more home and lifestyle tips from DIY Homefit.