Kitchen renovation does not need to be stressy or messy! Below we discuss 6 ways to quickly and easily renovate your kitchen.
Clean & De-Clutter
Let’s start with the easiest of them all (yes it’s even less messy than wrapping!) – cleaning & de-clutter. Everyone knows a hoarder, or a wannabe chef who overcompensates their lack of talent by their huge collection of herbs and spices scattered across the kitchen work surfaces. If you are guilty of such atrocities then a great way to “refurb your kitchen” would be to simply de-clutter and clean along the way. Reducing the amount of clutter on the work surfaces will work wonders in making your kitchen look a) larger, and b) nicer, after all no one likes to be around mess. Once the clutter is out of the way you are all set to begin cleaning. At Creative Wrap we recommend using a degreaser such as Krud Kutter to cut through the grime and make that room shine! Okay, so the degreaser alone won’t cause for the shine we are looking for but it is definitely a step in the right direction. After your thorough clean you could use baking powder and white vinegar which is the best and simplest form of cleaning but leaves your kitchen smelling like a fish and chip shop which got attacked by children with water pistols filled with vinegar. If receiving wofts of vinegar throughout your home emanating from your kitchen is not something you’d be comfortable with then any scented window cleaning product is more than ideal to help bring that final shine to your nice, “new” kitchen.
Kitchen Cabinet Wrap
If you have followed the step above then your kitchen is already tidy, spotless and free from grime; which, by the way is the perfect canvas to begin a kitchen wrap! With that said, you can obtain a standard Kitchen Cabinet Wrap for less than a family meal out at your favourite restaurant (unless your favourite restaurant happens to be McDonalds). With a huge variety of colours in both gloss and matt to choose from it is potentially the ideal solution to giving your kitchen that face-lift you never thought it needed. The best thing about it…..it’s not going to break the bank OR cause any mess.
Kitchen wrapping is also available in removable options, so at the end of the day if you need to put the kitchen back to its original state (perhaps you are a tenant) then it can be reverted in as little as a few hours. Additionally, some companies have the ability to make your cupboards appear flat even if you have grooves within the cabinet doors which again will bring that fresh, new, modern look to your kitchen in a matter of hours. Contrastingly, perhaps you’d like to keep the grooves which can be easily achieved as well; the choice is yours. Hallelujah! – something quick, affordable and hassle free to help you bring your kitchen back to the centre piece it deserves to be. But wait…..there’s more!
Customised Back Splash
Today I had a meeting with a lovely lady who wanted her kitchen cabinets wrapped. She asked, “I am having the tiles re-done, should I have the tiles done before or after the kitchen wrapping”. Firstly, for anyone wondering the same thing, you should get any other work done before undergoing your kitchen wrap as a)the kitchen wrap work causes no mess b)many contractors are, put nicely, clumsy and may damage your lovely new kitchen wrap with their tools. My actual response was to show her a sample of our customised backsplashes. She then stated, “Oh, but I want hexagon-shaped tiles and they must be white”. I won’t bore you with the details but I explained she could currently select from an artwork collection of over 150 Million images. Later on, I personally showed her the exact image that she was after from our collection of artwork.
With that said, our custom backsplashes allow for full customisation and the only limit is your creativity. If you can imagine it, we can create it. The Creative team will then visit your kitchen to take precise measurements of every nook and cranny and our graphic designer will later create a computer image of your kitchen and then stitch your chosen artwork together on the computer. We will then print it directly onto our 5mm thick material for you, which is scratch-resistant, heat-resistant, and made to measure…..perfectly fitting your kitchen.
Wood Flooring
With a tremendous amount of flooring available in the market today it is easy to feel overwhelmed. I will briefly go over the three main groups of wood flooring available and list their advantages and disadvantages, which I will bullet point for you.
1 – Solid & Engineered Wood Flooring. Although beautiful as it is, both Solid and Engineered Wood Flooring comes with their fair share of disadvantages. a) Will expand and contract due to temperature fluctuations. b) Due to problems with temperature fluctuations it is of paramount importance to keep the A/C on a specific temperature range at all times. c) Absorbs any type of liquid, thus staining and swelling/buckling easily. d) If replacement of a section is required it can be hard to find the exact same colour again due to the natural variation of wood. e) Scratches easily if not treated properly during manufacturing f) Requires yearly maintenance g) Expensive. (AED 190-490/m2) An advantage is it can be 100% customised by any good wood flooring supplier, and at the end of the day does look amazing.
2 – Laminate Flooring Although substantially cheaper than Solid & Engineered Wood Flooring, Laminate still contains wood so is still subject to the majority of the issues that its ‘father’ has. The only difference is that Laminate Flooring does not usually require yearly maintenance. However, the lifespan of laminate is less than that of Solid & Engineered Wood. Price Range: AED 55 – 95m2
3 – SPC & LMP (Stone Plastic Composite & Luxury Mineral Plank) SPC & LMT provide a great alternative to wood flooring, especially in countries that are hot. a) Marginal expansion and contraction. If installed correctly you will not notice. b) Does not containt wood, therefore does not absorb liquids and in turn does not swell or buckle. c) Huge variety of colours and effects to choose from d) If you need to replace any piece it can be done so easily by contacting the supplier which will provide the same colour again (no colour variation, unlike natural wood). e) Does not scratch f) Requires no maintenance g) Very price competitive (Aproximately AED 150/m2 for even the highest quality)
Taking into account what is stated above i would highly recommend SPC or LMT over its alternatives. You can have the look and feel of real wood without any of the headaches that comes with it. In my opinion, why would you choose any thing else? Furthermore, SPC & LMP is so thin (at 4mm thick) that it can be easily placed over existing tiles meaning you avoid any mess from having to remove your existing floor. It is truly a win-win.
Paint Job
A familiar scenario in any dated kitchen is the dull paintwork on the walls. To finish off any kitchen transformation a simple paint job is ideal, this will really bring the whole kitchen together.