I didn’t replace a single cupboard. Paint, a tangerine worktop and a checkerboard floor turned my tired white kitchen into a 1970s dream.
New kitchens cost a fortune. Painted kitchens cost a weekend and some patience. My kitchen units were perfectly solid, just boring: white gloss, chrome handles, grey worktop. I wanted the kind of retro kitchen you see in old cookbooks, warm and green and a bit groovy. Here’s how I got there on a budget.
The before
White gloss doors, a grey laminate worktop, grey vinyl floor and grey splashback tiles. It was clean and it was fine. It was also completely forgettable, and I spend half my life in there.
The plan
I wanted a palette straight out of 1972: deep racing green, tangerine orange and crisp black and white. Keep the units, change every surface.
- Paint all the cabinets dark green, including the end panels and plinths.
- Cover the worktop and splashback in tangerine.
- Lay a black-and-white checkerboard floor over the old vinyl.
- Bring in a vintage table with a red top as the cheerful centrepiece.
The big moves
Painting the units. This is all about prep. I took the doors off, degreased everything with sugar soap, sanded lightly and used a bonding primer made for gloss. Then two coats of a durable cupboard paint in deep green, with a foam roller for a sprayed-looking finish. Plinths and end panels got the same treatment so the green wraps right round, which is colour drenching for kitchens.
Tangerine worktop and splashback. I replaced the grey laminate worktop with an orange laminate one, then tiled the splashback in matching orange. It’s like sunshine across the whole back wall, and it makes the green look even richer.
The checkerboard floor. Black and white vinyl tiles laid square to the units, right over the old floor. Lining the grid up with the cabinets keeps a busy pattern feeling tidy, and it gives the whole room instant diner energy, even in a kitchen as small as mine. (I liked it so much I painted another floor; see my checkerboard DIY.)
Styling. A vintage table with a red Formica top, a big fruit bowl that’s always full, cookbooks with bright spines stacked on the table, and a huge leafy branch in a jar. The fridge stayed, but I’m saving for a mint-green retro one.
What it cost
- Primer and cupboard paint: £110
- Orange laminate worktop: £190
- Splashback tiles and grout: £85
- Checkerboard vinyl tiles: £140
- Vintage table: £45 from a charity shop
- New brass knobs: £36
Total: about £606, against the five-figure quotes I got for a new kitchen. 🍊
Steal this look
- Pick one dark colour for units and one bright for surfaces. Green and orange is unbeatable.
- Never skip the bonding primer on gloss. Ever.
- Paint plinths and end panels the same colour as the doors.
- Line checkerboard up with the units so the pattern looks crisp, not chaotic.
- Add one vintage piece with a coloured top to tie it together.
