Our kitchen was original to the apartment. Built in 2003, never touched since. Birch-effect melamine doors with those rounded chrome handles that scream “developer chose the cheapest option.” Fluorescent tube lighting that made everything look slightly green. A laminate countertop in something the manufacturer probably called “sandy beige” but I’d describe as “the colour of giving up.”
Was it functional? Yes. Did it make me want to close my eyes every time I walked in? Also yes.
I’d been saving screenshots of kitchen renovations for years — marble backsplashes, custom cabinetry, those gorgeous fluted glass doors. Then I got the quotes. A full kitchen renovation in Helsinki starts at around €8,000 for a small kitchen, easily climbing to €15,000+ with new cabinets. We’d just bought our apartment. That money did not exist.
So I got strategic: spend under €1,000 and focus only on the changes that would make the biggest visual impact. Eight months later, three specific upgrades did about 90% of the work. Here’s what those were, what I spent, and what I tried that was a complete waste of money.
The Big Three: Where to Spend Your Money
1. Painting the Cabinet Doors (€180)
This is the single highest-impact change you can make to a kitchen. Not new counters, not a backsplash, not fancy appliances. Painted cabinet doors. The difference is so dramatic that my mother-in-law genuinely asked if we’d gotten a new kitchen.
But here’s the thing — you cannot just slap paint on melamine and expect it to stick. I know because that’s essentially what I did with the first door (the one under the sink, where nobody would see my shame). Two weeks later, the paint was peeling off in sheets wherever anything touched it. Melamine is designed to resist adhesion. You have to trick it.
Here’s the method that actually works, and I cannot stress this enough — do not skip steps:
Cleaning: Remove all doors and drawer fronts. Every single one. Label the backs with painter’s tape and a number so you remember where they go. Clean every surface with TSP (trisodium phosphate) solution or a strong degreaser. Kitchen cabinets are coated in a film of grease and cooking residue that you can’t see but your paint definitely can. I used Kiilto Kodinpuhdistaja. Wipe down, rinse, let dry.
Sanding: Scuff every surface with 120-grit sandpaper. You’re not trying to remove the melamine — just create microscopic scratches for the primer to grip onto. This took me about two hours for all 14 doors and 6 drawer fronts. My arms were not happy. An orbital sander would have been faster but I didn’t want to risk sanding through the melamine. Wipe off all the dust with a tack cloth.
Primer: This is the most important product in the entire project. I used Tikkurila Otex adhesion primer. It’s specifically formulated to bond to slick, non-porous surfaces like melamine, laminate, and even glass. It’s solvent-based, which means it smells terrible — open every window and wear a respirator if you have one. But it grips melamine like nothing else I’ve tested.
One coat of Otex, applied with a foam roller. Let it dry overnight. It dries to a rough, sandable surface that gives your topcoat something to hold onto. Don’t skip this step. I mean it. This is the entire difference between a paint job that lasts and one that peels off when you look at it wrong.
Topcoat: Two coats of Tikkurila Helmi 30 furniture paint, white. Again with the foam roller for the flat surfaces and a small angled brush for the edges. Sand lightly with 220-grit between coats. The Helmi paint is designed for furniture and cabinetry — it cures to a hard, washable, durable finish. I’ve had mine for eight months now, and not a single chip.
Some people prefer Helmi 80 (high gloss) for kitchens because it’s easier to wipe clean. I went with the 30 (semi-matte) because I didn’t want the kitchen to look like a showroom. The semi-matte has a soft sheen that reads as modern and high-end without screaming “PAINTED.”
Cost breakdown for painting:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Tikkurila Otex primer, 0.9L | €24 |
| Tikkurila Helmi 30, white, 0.9L × 2 | €56 |
| Foam rollers (10 cm, pack of 10) | €12 |
| Angled brush | €5 |
| 120-grit and 220-grit sandpaper | €6 |
| TSP / degreaser | €7 |
| Painter’s tape | €4 |
| Tack cloths × 3 | €6 |
| Subtotal | €120 |
The paint cost could be lower if your kitchen is smaller. We have a U-shaped kitchen that’s about 7 running metres of cabinets. For a small galley kitchen, one tin of each would probably suffice.
Time investment: This took me an entire long weekend. Removing doors Friday evening, cleaning and sanding Saturday morning, priming Saturday afternoon, first topcoat Sunday morning, second topcoat Sunday evening, rehang Monday. The painting itself isn’t hard. The prep is what takes forever.
2. New Hardware (€95)
If painting the doors is the biggest visual change, new handles are the biggest change-per-euro-spent. Our old handles were those rounded chrome D-pulls from the early 2000s. They were fine. They were also deeply, deeply boring.
I replaced them with slim brass bar pulls — 160 mm centre-to-centre for the doors, 96 mm for the drawers. I ordered them from Amazon.de (a Finnish Amazon doesn’t carry much for hardware) after comparing prices with Zara Home and H&M Home. Amazon was cheapest per handle by about €2.
The trick: measure your existing hole spacing before you order anything. Most standard kitchen handles use 96 mm, 128 mm, or 160 mm centre-to-centre. Match the spacing and you reuse existing holes.
Our doors had single-hole knobs, so I drilled a second hole for each bar pull. I made a drilling template out of cardboard — marked both hole positions, held it against each door, and drilled through. This kept everything consistent across all 14 doors. One crooked handle will make you crazy forever. Trust me on the template.
Cost breakdown:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bar pulls, 160 mm, brass, ×14 | €63 |
| Bar pulls, 96 mm, brass, ×6 | €27 |
| Drill bit (5 mm, for brass pull bolts) | €5 |
| Subtotal | €95 |
3. Under-Cabinet Lighting (€45)
The fluorescent tube on our kitchen ceiling was doing nothing for the counter workspace except casting unflattering shadows. I installed LED strip lights under the wall cabinets, and the effect on the room was immediate and almost absurd for the cost.
I used a warm white (3000K) LED strip from IKEA — the MYRVARV strip, which is adhesive-backed and has a built-in dimmer. Stuck it to the underside of the wall cabinets, routed the thin cable along the inside edge of the cabinet, and plugged it into the outlet behind the microwave.
The warm light bouncing off the countertop makes the entire kitchen feel different. More intimate. More intentional. And suddenly you can actually see what you’re chopping, which is a practical bonus I hadn’t fully considered.
Cost: €45 for the LED strip including the driver. Installation took about 30 minutes.
What Was NOT Worth It
Contact Paper on the Countertop: A Disaster
I have to be honest about this one because I see it recommended constantly and I want to save you the trouble.
I ordered marble-effect contact paper (d-c-fix brand) to cover our beige laminate countertop. The photos online looked amazing. The reality was… not. Here’s what went wrong:
Water got under the edges near the sink within the first week. Once moisture gets underneath, the contact paper bubbles and lifts. I spent the next month pressing down edges with a squeegee like some sort of countertop paramedic.
Every knife slip, every hot pan set down, every cutting board dragged across the surface — it showed. After two months, the area near the stove had visible scratches and a burn mark from a pot lid. The bubbles eventually turned into full peeling. I pulled it all off after three months. The adhesive residue took a full evening to remove with Goo Gone and a plastic scraper.
Cost: €35 for a total waste. The countertop looks fine as-is, especially now that the rest of the kitchen is updated. Sometimes the best decision is to leave something alone and save up for the proper fix later. Our countertop replacement is planned for next year — real birch butcher block from Puustellin Ovi, about €400 for our counter dimensions.
Painting the Backsplash Tiles
I also considered painting the backsplash tiles (white 10×10 cm ceramic, original to the kitchen). I bought the tile primer, then researched durability reviews from people who’d done it 2+ years ago. Behind a kitchen stove with grease splatter and daily wiping, most reported chipping within 12–18 months. I returned the primer. The white tiles actually look fine against the newly white cabinets.
Other Changes Worth Mentioning
Open Shelving (Mixed Feelings)
I removed two of the upper cabinet doors and left the shelves exposed. It makes the kitchen feel more open and gives me a place to display the nice ceramics — the handmade mugs from that pottery studio in Fiskars, the small olive oil bottle that’s too pretty to hide.
The downside? Dust. And the pressure to keep everything curated at all times. Am I sometimes hiding a bag of crisps behind the nice mug? Absolutely. For one or two shelves, it adds character. For all your upper cabinets — not unless you’re a much tidier person than I am.
Replacing the Faucet (€75)
Our old faucet was a basic chrome mixer that worked perfectly fine but looked dated. I swapped it for a matte black single-lever mixer from Oras (a Finnish brand — their quality is excellent and they’re easy to find at K-Rauta).
The job is straightforward but physical — you’ll be lying on your back inside the cabinet under the sink, reaching up to unscrew old connections. Bring a pillow to lie on. The whole swap took about 90 minutes, including 20 minutes of swearing at a corroded supply line fitting.
Styling the Countertops
This is free and makes a surprising difference. I cleared everything off the countertops — the toaster, the knife block, the fruit bowl, the random stack of mail — and then put back only what was either beautiful or used daily.
The toaster went into a lower cabinet (I toast bread maybe twice a week, it doesn’t need permanent counter space). The knife block was replaced with a magnetic knife strip mounted on the wall. The fruit bowl stayed but upgraded to a simple white ceramic one from Iittala. The mail now has a designated spot in the hallway.
The visual effect of clear, uncluttered countertops is enormous. The kitchen went from “busy and cramped” to “calm and spacious” without changing a single structural element.
The Full Budget Breakdown
| Change | Cost |
|---|---|
| Cabinet painting (primer, paint, supplies) | €120 |
| New brass hardware | €95 |
| Under-cabinet LED lighting | €45 |
| New kitchen faucet | €75 |
| Contact paper (wasted money) | €35 |
| Countertop styling (new fruit bowl, knife strip) | €40 |
| Total spent | €410 |
I originally budgeted €800, which means I came in well under. The countertop replacement next year will push the total project closer to that mark, but for now, the kitchen feels like a completely different room for €410. The cost of the wasted contact paper stings a bit, but at least now you know not to bother.
Lessons from the Whole Process
Start with the cabinets. Everything else depends on how the cabinets look. Once they were painted, the other decisions (hardware colour, lighting warmth, what to keep and what to change) became much clearer. I’d been agonising over backsplash options for months. After painting the cabinets white, the existing white tile backsplash looked intentional rather than cheap.
Don’t renovate everything at once. I did the painting one weekend, the hardware the following weekend, the lighting the week after. Living with each change before adding the next helped me make better decisions. Give yourself time to assess between steps.
The biggest impact comes from the most visible surfaces. Cabinet faces dominate a kitchen visually — they’re what you see from every angle. The countertops, while not ideal, are a horizontal surface you mostly look down at. They matter less than the vertical planes.
If the Billy bookcase hack proved anything, it’s that budget DIY can look completely custom when you get the details right. The same principle applies here. Foam rollers instead of brushes. Proper primer instead of shortcuts. Consistent hardware alignment instead of eyeballing it. These details are free (or nearly free) and they’re the difference between “someone painted their kitchen” and “that kitchen looks professionally done.”
For another wall transformation technique, my concrete effect paint tutorial uses the same Tikkurila paint system — Otex and Helmi are genuinely the best products for furniture and cabinetry in Finland, and they’re available everywhere.
Eight Months Later
The paint is holding perfectly. Not one chip, not one peel. The brass hardware has developed the faintest patina, which I love. The LED lights are still running from the original adhesive strips. And the countertop? Still beige. Still fine. Its day will come.
The biggest change isn’t visual — it’s how we use the kitchen. I actually enjoy being in here now. I’ve started cooking more. My husband makes coffee in the morning and stands by the counter instead of taking his mug straight to the living room. Small changes to a space change how you inhabit it.
A kitchen doesn’t need to be expensive to feel good. It needs to feel intentional. Even small, cheap choices — clearing a counter, changing a handle, adding warm light — signal that someone cares about this space.
For more on making sustainable, thoughtful choices about your home, I’ve been exploring ideas around sustainable living in our everyday spaces — the kitchen is a great place to start.
