Couple save £8k on kitchen by educating themselves DIY on TikTok — this is how they did it
A savvy couple has saved £8k from teaching themselves all they needed to know about kitchen renovations on TikTok. This is everything they did to make their dream kitchen
A couple saved an eye-watering amount of money on their kitchen renovation by teaching themselves DIY on TikTok.
Amber Morris, 26, and her husband, Dan, 28, saved £8k after they moved into their newly-bought four-bed home in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, in July.
The property had been built in 2002 and needed “a refresh” and they wanted to start by brightening up and modernising the kitchen.
But after being quoted £9,000 for contractors to renovate the kitchen they decided to give it a go by themselves.
Dan, a systems engineer, and Amber, a social media manager, bought vinyl wraps for their worktops for £40 rather than replacing them.
They repainted everything themselves using a spray gun bought on Amazon for £40 and installed their own sink, tap and extractor fan.
They saved £84 by getting a custom paint mixed at B&Q, inspired by a Farrow and Ball colour they liked.
The total cost of the new kitchen came to £570 and it’s barely recognisable thanks to the new light and airy vibe.
Amber said: “We knew we wanted to make the kitchen brighter because it was quite dark.
“But £9k was silly money to pay for it so we decided to do it ourselves even though we’re desk job people, not DIY people.”
They watched TikTok videos and took advice from parents to learn how to do everything.
Amber said: “Before this the most we had ever done was painted a wall.
“We worked out what we needed to buy to do it ourselves and crossed our fingers it would come together.”
The couple began working out what they would need in order to renovate the kitchen as a DIY project and got to work.
They started their mid-July project by spending a weekend painting the walls, and re-painting the cupboards with a spray gun after getting their custom colour at B&Q.
They paid £300 for their sink and taps because they had a specific style they wanted, but installed it themselves to cut costs.
Dan said: “The sink was quite tough, we had to cut out some of the cabinet underneath to make it fit.
“The extractor fan was the same, we had to cut a new bit of timber.”
While the painting went smoothly, the vinyl wraps on the worktops weren’t simple and they had to re-do them to get them perfect.
Dan said: “That definitely required patience.”
Amber added: “The vinyl around the hob was especially difficult.”
But the end result was a completely transformed, lighter and brighter kitchen space for the pair and their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Emmy.
Amber said: “There was definitely a point where we thought we couldn’t do it. We thought maybe it would be a waste of £600. But £9,000 was ridiculous. We thought, even if it’s not perfect, it might be a fun thing to do together. We’re proud we did manage to do it better ourselves.”
COSTS:
Worktop vinyl: £40 (Kitchen Wraps)
Paint for cupboards: £38 (B&Q) – picked a colour from Farrow and Ball, then had it mixed at B&Q.
Paint for walls: £42 (B&Q)
Sink and tap: £300 (Victoria Plum)
Extractor fan: £80 (Appliances Direct)
Handles: £30 (Amazon)
Spray gun: £40 (Amazon)
Total: £570
Saving £8,430 on original £9,000 quote
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