Check Out These Kitchen Makeover Ideas

Check Out These Kitchen Makeover Ideas

If your kitchen is looking a little tired and you’re confident with DIY projects, you might be thinking about changing your cabinets, or worktops. Some of our team have taken on this particular challenge and shared some of their suggestions to make sure that you can get the #JobDone while avoiding potential pitfalls.

What tools are you going to need?

Depending on how ambitious you’re planning to be, you’ll potentially need the following:

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Things to think about before you start renovating your kitchen 

Successful projects start with good planning. Ask yourself a few questions before you begin the work and you’ll save time, effort and potentially money too. Here are a few points to consider:

The size and layout of your kitchen

Depending on how big your kitchen is, you might find the options for reworking it are limited. Plus, making changes to how it is laid out might add a lot of potentially expensive work to the project. For example, if you decide to move the sink or the oven, you may need to have plumbing or re-wiring work done. Even if you’re maintaining your existing layout, think about how the electrics and plumbing might affect the installation of cabinets or worktops.

Do you have enough time for the project?

The kitchen is probably the most important room in any home, so before starting to revamp it, consider how much work will be involved and how long it is going to take. It might be sensible to break your plan down into manageable steps and remodel the space in stages, perhaps over several weekends so the kitchen remains available throughout the project, even if cupboard or worktop space is temporarily reduced.

Common mistakes to beware of

Being ‘not square’ to the wall, or the walls themselves having a deviation can cause problems. For example, if a wall is ‘out of square’ by 25mm over a 1.5 metre length, joining the worktops to the cabinets at 90 degrees would leave a 25mm gap at the back of the cabinets. This can be overcome by making the angle at which the worktops join slightly greater than 90 degrees to overcome the issue.

Cutting the worktop to the wrong size can leave you with an expensive headache, as you’ll probably need an extra length of laminate worktop to make good your mistake. The old saying ‘measure twice, cut once’ is worth keeping in mind, although some of the more experienced DIYers in our team do that, then go back and re-measure, just to be sure.

Mark out the required cuts with your pencil, including any sections you may need to cut out, like those for sinks or hobs, making sure you allow for any unevenness in the wall, as mentioned above. Once you’ve marked out your cuts and are sure your measurements are correct, you should have some ‘off-cuts’ marked; you can use these to practice your cuts before starting on those which will shape your worktop. Once you’re ready, the router will help you make precise, neat cuts for a professional finish.

Another common mistake is not ensuring that you’ve assembled and fitted everything on the same level. This can be avoided with careful measuring up and using a level to check as you go.

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Our team’s top tips

One or two people here at ToolStore UK have tackled a kitchen makeover, so we asked them for their key things to remember. Here’s what they said:

Always plan things out first

If you know what you’re working with and how you’re working through the project, you’ll save a lot of stress as you progress through the steps. The planning process starts with deciding how much of the project you’re taking on yourself; are you buying pre-made units and cabinets to assemble or are you starting from scratch?

Do a dry run

Assemble your base units first, then 'dry fit' them to check they're fitting correctly. This can help to identify any issues such as the walls not being square and enable you to adjust your plan for fitting the worktops and avoid the work surface tapering off, as discussed above.

Talk to ToolStore UK, whatever the project

There’s nothing the ToolStore UK team loves more than helping our customers get the #JobDone. If you’re not sure which tool is the right choice, or you’re looking for some advice about accessories, you can send us a message via the contact form, or give us a call on 03330 043777. As an independent, family-run firm, we offer a personal touch that many online retailers lack, whilst making sure we offer you the best prices possible.

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25th August 2022

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