In an ideal world, we would probably all love a new kitchen – how many of us have moved into a house with an outdated kitchen bursting with potential but never had the budget to transform the kitchen to its full potential? So we just live with the old-fashioned units, outdated tiles, and cracked vinyl flooring, sometimes for years. But it really doesn’t have to be that way; In fact, having an old, worn kitchen has many advantages because it offers the opportunity to experiment with color in a way that you wouldn’t if the kitchen was worth keeping or if you were spending tens of thousands on a new kitchen. So don’t look at your old-fashioned kitchen in despair: you can transform it on a small budget with a little hard work and an eye for design.

Trends in kitchen styles change relatively quickly, so it’s difficult to turn a kitchen that’s just old into one that looks new, so it’s best not to try; instead, look at retro styles from the 1950s and 1960s or even earlier and see if your kitchen could be rejuvenated in one of these styles.

With all the technologically advanced paints on the market, it’s now easy to paint over cabinet doors of any type, including MDF, with minimal preparation. Or if the doors are damaged, try the old 1950s trick of simply using fabric hung on a curtain wire to hide the contents of your closet. Keep in mind though that this look only works for one or two cabinets, not the entire kitchen.

Another alternative is to have new, unpainted MDF doors made to measure; there are many cheap companies online that will do it for you. Then paint them yourself and hang them using the old hinges if they can still be used, to keep a tight lid on your budget. Before you know it, you won’t be dreaming of a sleek, bright white kitchen, but rather experimenting with color and creating a unique look and style that no one else will have.

Take for example a 30 year old kitchen with oak effect doors (with real oak trim) with a cream oak trimmed worktop and brown carpet tiles on the floor and beige/brown patterned tiles. Lifting up the carpet tiles revealed damaged art deco black and white tiles, but even with the considerable damage, having a monochrome floor instead of brown was the inspiration for creating an art deco kitchen.

The old wall tiles were first removed and the surface was sanded and repaired as needed to prepare it for painting and a new glass backsplash.

The doors were then painted with a gray-green matte emulsion (“Cupboard Green” by Little Greene) both inside and out, and the old oak handles were replaced with porcelain knobs.

Surprisingly, the countertops in this particular kitchen were in good condition, so the oak trim was simply painted to match the cabinets.

Eventually the carpet tiles were replaced with new black and white ceramic tiles.

These simple changes have transformed an extremely dated kitchen into an art deco-inspired space on a shoestring budget. The ceramic floor tiles were sourced from a range of discontinued tiles, so even the largest expense was within budget.