Makeover Magic on a tiny budget

Tanya Joel is one of those people with a natural knack for turning average into amazing. The kitchen in her Linden flat is testament to her talent for decorative with an almost non-existent budget. Using items found on bargain hunts, at seasonal sales, and by putting her DIY skills to good use, Tanya turned a rental flat kitchen into an organised and beautiful space.

 

After attending a DIY Divas Career Workshop, Tanya realised that she could put her dreams into action. Being passionate about interior design and having studied architecture, Tanya wanted to create using her new-found skills.

Take a look at the before and after pictures of Tanya's kitchen revamp and learn how she used discount buys and odds and ends to put together the finished look.  

 

The kitchen in Tanya's flat is your average rental-type kitchen. Old fashioned and cheap kitchen cabinets provide adequate storage, beige and white predominate - basic at its best.

Although having tackled the project without prior approval from the owner landlord, a surprise visit by the owner for the purpose of revaluing the property resulted in shocked awe at the transformation.

ABOVE: A pine table is painted white to match the existing decor in the small kitchen. The cabinet was built from scratch using pieces cut down to size from a ready-built wardrobe that had fallen apart. Tanya painted the drawer fronts to tie together the old strip of tile and new Plascon cool watercress [G4-B2-1] and Plascon daiquiri cream [G4-B2-3] paint technique on the feature wall.

BELOW: Using strips of PAR pine Tanya crafted wooden shelves for the wall to provide much needed storage space. The plain Consol bottles were painted with a frosted glass stencil in an interesting design.

BELOW: Hand made picture frames display an adorable bicycle theme. The images were put together in Photoshop and printed out a PC printer.

 

ABOVE and BELOW: Tanya upcycled an old, water damaged tray by removing and replacing the image and glass, and painting white with a distressed finish.

 

A common sight in many a rental flat... the kitchen cabinets have definitely seen better days!

It's amazing what a difference some new doors can make. The floor cabinet doors were given a beadboard effect with Tanya's new Dremel Trio and both the doors and drawer fronts were painted with Plascon frozen limeade {Y7-A2-3] to match the wall colour in the rest of the kitchen.

Tanya shopped around for the best buys and bought all the hardware for her kitchen from www.gelmar.co.za. They have some amazing bargains and regularly run special offers.

The new wall cabinet doors are a piece of 16mm supawood with a supawood frame finished off with a strip of pine moulding.

 

The kitchen window is overlooked, so privacy is essential. Tanya opted to keep the venetian blinds but soften these with a window treatment that would still allow plenty of natural light into the space. A sheer fabric was topped off with teal and off-white striped trim at the top.

It's the small details that make all the difference. Tanya shopped around at stores like Mr Price Home and Sheet Street for most of the accessories that dress up the finished kitchen revamp, and what she couldn't find she made.

A hand made, framed chalkboard notice board with stencilled design covers up the distribution board. The picture frame on the kitchen door was actually a project that Tanya made at the DIY Divas Career Workshop and was an inspiration for the style of the kitchen revamp, which follows a modern Shabby Chic theme.