Kitchen makeover: 'We revamped our kitchen-diner for under £1,000'

Decorating on a tight budget, Gemma Berlyn used clever painting techniques and stick-on tiles to transform her once dated room into a warm and welcoming space.

Here, she tells YourHomeStyle all about her makeover experience...

Gemma's makeover story

When we bought the house two years ago, we had plans to extend the kitchen-diner and rip out all the old units. However, after living with it for a few months with two young children running around, we decided that it wasn’t the best time to renovate.

Plus, we didn’t actually need extra space as the room was quite long, so we decided to save our money and start on a quick makeover instead.

• Kitchen makeover: ‘We’ve tripled the size of our kitchen’

The old kitchen had a country-style feel and I was keen to update it with a bolder, trendier look. I’ve always loved dramatic, dark colours so we decided to paint the units – that the previous owner hand-built – black and add new handles.

We also gave the walls a fresh new look with white paint in the kitchen and a two-tone dark green and white effect in the dining area.

We desperately needed more storage space, so we installed some white wall cupboards from IKEA on the right-hand side of the kitchen.

I also wanted shelving to display my vintage finds and many houseplants, so we made some from a pair of old scaffolding boards, which we had kept from a previous extension.

We kept the original tiled and wooden flooring as we liked the rustic feel of them, but laid down some rugs to add pattern and colour.

I’m really pleased with the finished look, but there are still a few things to do, including boxing in the boiler. For now though, I’ve covered it up with lots of hanging houseplants so it’s not too much of an eyesore!

• Kitchen makeover: ‘The new space works for everyone’

Style advice

Create clear zones

Separate the dining area from the kitchen by painting the walls in different colours, like Gemma. The two-tone wall colour not only adds interest, but it’s a good indicator of where the kitchen ends and the dining area begins.

‘It was really easy to create the look, with the help of masking tape and a spirit level,’ Gemma explains. Different flooring is another useful way of zoning different spaces, or you could use large rugs as a quick and easy alternative.

• Kitchen makeover: ‘We knew one room was better than three’

Mix old and new accessories

To create a homely, eclectic vibe, Gemma combines traditional pieces with retro-style macramé and modern framed prints.

She finds vintage items in charity and second-hand shops and rummaging through antique markets in France, and buys new items from high-street stores – her favourites are H&M Home and Zara Home. Instead of hiding them away, display finds on open shelving or hang them up to make them part of your scheme.

Transform old accessories with paint

Gemma used leftover paint from the kitchen units to give an old pine chest of drawers a quick makeover. She painted the top and sides in black and used a tester pot of Farrow & Ball Sulking Room Pink paint to paint the drawers and feet.

To finish the look, Gemma replaced the handles with a new set of hexagon designs that she found on eBay. ‘I wanted to try a hint of pink in the room, and the second-hand chest was the perfect piece to experiment on.’

This is a digital version of a feature that originally appeared in Home Style magazine. For more inspirational home ideas, why not subscribe today?