5 Top Tips to Save Money on a new Kitchen Design

5 Top Tips to Save Money on a new Kitchen Design

Our kitchen is the heart of our home. When we moved in to our house it was a tiny galley kitchen that felt cramped and unwelcoming. There was very little surface space and not enough cupboard space. We were desperate to change it and it all became possible with a kitchen redesign after our extension.

The wall between the dining room and kitchen was taken down and the kitchen was extended out to the side of the house. We suddenly had a huge open plan space perfect for a family kitchen, breakfast bar and fitted appliances.

We saved money in various ways, I wanted to share some of our methods that will help you to save money on a cheap kitchen re-design as well.

What is important to you as a family/couple?

I have always loved the idea of having an island in the middle of my kitchen, but you do need a big space to allow for this. Our kitchen wasn’t quite big enough, so the compromise was to have breakfast bar built. This sits in between the kitchen and dining room providing a degree of separation, but also inclusiveness. The children can be sitting up at the breakfast bar doing their homework whilst I am chopping up vegetables for dinner.

Another important factor for me was to have an American style fridge freezer. I wanted lots of fridge and freezer space and was most excited to get a cold water and ice dispenser. Its an appliance I have always wanted, and the perfect space appeared under the stairs and to the right of our utility room.

I wanted clean lines, handle less kitchen units in white high gloss with a black work top.

Knowing and agreeing these factors meant that we knew where we should be spending money and where we could cut back on other things.

Consider using ex display or pre-used kitchen

This is something we did with our sink unit, we bought an ex-display model. We went for a Franke large sink with rinsing section and draining area and saved a lot through purchasing an ex-display model from a bathroom showroom. We saved around £100.

Take a look through this selection of ex-display and used kitchens from Used Kitchen Exchange. The savings that can be made are huge through buying one of these. I loved the look of this German designer kitchen, handle less modern, similar to our design. The kitchen is worth £28,000 including worktop and appliances, but you can save 70% off the full price on this site taking the cost down to £7,100!

Used kitchen exchange was set up by Helen Lord whom sourced her own pre-loved kitchen and spotted an opportunity in the market to match up buyers to sellers of used and ex-display kitchens. You can be assured that all kitchens are assessed for high quality and are removed by kitchen professionals. All kitchens can be viewed before purchase and they come with 14-day buyer protection. Used kitchen exchange also offer a fab visualisation service where they will design a 3D CAD drawing of your chosen kitchen in your home.

I love the ethics and sustainability of this business. Each kitchen saved and fitted into a new home is a huge benefit to the environment where it previously might have been disposed of.

Laminate worktops rather than granite

A granite worktop is beautiful but also mega expensive. We did get a quote and a granite work surface for us was £2,000 compared to laminate which was around £200. We decided to compromise on the work surface and went for a beautiful black glossy laminate work surface. I don’t regret that decision as I love our work surface.

Fit the kitchen yourself or get a mate who know what he is doing

We had a friend (who is a kitchen fitter) come fit our kitchen .We saved some money having the kitchen fitted at mate’s rate.

Shop around for your appliances

I had my heart set on a particular American style fridge freezer. I found the exact model and trawled the internet to find the best deal. It was incredible how much the prices varied at different retailers, so I was most happy to find the cheapest online retailer which was Boots Appliances, and I also got an advantage card boost as well. It’s always worth comparing prices online. Ex display and used appliances are also available at the above mentioned Used kitchen exchange .

Good luck with your kitchen redesign and I hope these tips will help you save some money and still get the kitchen of your dreams.

This is a collaborative post.