Savvy man who was quoted £900 to renovate kitchen did it himself for just £91
- Calum Butler, 23, didn’t like the look of his kitchen but was quoted £900 to change it
- Calum decided to try to renovate it himself for just over £90
- Calum ordered everything online making it a good lockdown project
If you’ve ever been quoted a sky-high figure for a home renovation, and thought you could do better yourself, you’ll identify with this money-saving man.
Savvy Calum Butler, 23, from Aberaeron, Wales, decided to take matters into his own hands when he was quoted £900 to renovate the kitchen he shares with his partner Alanah Lloyd, 22 - and managed to complete the whole project himself for just £90.
Calum, a truck driver, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “I came up with the idea because we didn't like our kitchen when we moved into our new home as it was too dark and outdated.
"I got quoted £900 from a local hand painter, but I decided against going with him because I did some research on the products that I would need and found that i could save myself £810 by doing it myself.
"We looked into replacing the kitchen cupboards but decided to try and paint them to save on cost.
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"To start, I removed all of the handles from the cupboards. I then cleaned the cupboards using sugar soap and then buffed the cupboards using a sanding block to remove any grease left behind. I then used Zinsser 123 Bulls Eye Primer-Sealer as a base coat and left it to dry for one hour.
"I then used the Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell in the colour Shadow White and painted the first coat onto all the cupboards and plinths and left it to dry overnight. While these were drying I took the time to spray paint our cupboard handles with Colour It spray paint in Satin Black.
"The next day I painted the second coat onto the cupboards and plinths and left it to dry for the rest of the day. Once the cupboards were touch dry, which took about five hours, I reattached the handles.
“I used two pots of 750ml Farrow and Ball paint for £54, the Zinsser 123 Bulls Eye Primer-Sealer for £15.99, a foam roller for £5.99, a brush for £2.50, a sanding block pack of 10 for £2.99, and four cans of Colour It spray paint in satin black for £9.99. The total cost was £91.46.”
Calum is delighted with how his kitchen has turned out, especially considering that he was quoted ten times the price and managed to do it all himself.
"I feel over the moon with the results, I couldn’t imagine it turning out any better!” he says. "It’s totally transformed the kitchen! It feels like a new kitchen. I also got great satisfaction knowing I completed it by myself.
"This project is helpful because it keeps you busy and gives you something to concentrate on other than the news and the global pandemic which is currently happening.
"We ordered all of our supplies online for delivery to our home address so we didn’t have to go out to any shops to purchase the supplies needed.
“We ordered our paint from Farrow & Ball‘s website, the Zinsser 123 Primer from Amazon and the Colour It spray paint, the paint brush, foam roller and sanding blocks were all from ebay. Everything arrived quickly within three days.
“My top tips would be to make sure to leave the first coat of paint to dry overnight - at least - to make sure it’s completely dry as if it isn’t it could create an uneven finish.
"Do thin coats of the paint with a foam roller and use a two inch brush to get into detailed parts on your door.
"Make sure you clean the cupboards thoroughly before applying any product to the cupboard for the best finish.
"For the handles, make sure you leave them to dry long enough to make sure you don’t damage the paint work when moving them."
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “We’ve all been quoted sky-high prices from contractors, but many of us end up paying it rather than braving the DIY ourselves.
“Good on Calum for taking this project on himself - it looks fantastic and he’s saved himself a huge amount of money.
“Plus, there’s no better time than lockdown to take on a project like this - everything can be ordered online and it’s a more productive way to spend the day than watching Netflix!"
What to read next?
Calum's kitchen looks good but what were the units made of? Can't imagine the standard laminate finish standing up to all the preparation. Would be interested to know.
Hi calum here, they were made of standard laminate and have all stood up well to been washed down with cleaning products and have with held a 20p scratch test!
so far so good!
