Budget kitchen makeovers across Canberra.
A fresh kitchen without a full rebuild. If the layout works and the cabinet carcasses are sound, we can transform the look with new doors, a new benchtop, handles, a respray and an updated splashback — from around $8,800. The smart option when the bones are fine but it just looks dated.
When a makeover beats a full renovation.
Refresh the surfaces, keep the bones.
A makeover keeps your existing cabinet carcasses and layout and renews everything you see and touch. It’s ideal when the kitchen works — the layout flows, there’s enough storage, the plumbing is where you want it — but it looks tired and dated. You skip the cost and weeks of disruption of a full renovation and still walk into a kitchen that feels new.
What a makeover typically includes.
- New doors & drawer fronts — the single biggest visual change, in a current finish and colour.
- New benchtop — a fresh stone, porcelain or laminate top over the existing cabinets.
- New handles & hardware — and soft-close upgrades where the existing runners allow.
- Respray — of sound existing cabinetry or panels for a seamless updated colour.
- Updated splashback — tile, glass or a stone/porcelain upstand.
- Tapware & sink — a new mixer and sink to finish the refresh.
When a makeover isn’t the right call.
We’ll be honest with you: if the layout itself is the problem, the carcasses are water-damaged or falling apart, or you want to move the sink, cooktop or a wall, a makeover is a band-aid. In those cases a full renovation with custom cabinetry is the better spend. We’d rather tell you that up front than take the easy job and leave you with the same underlying issues.
Great before a sale.
A dated kitchen is one of the first things buyers notice. A well-judged makeover — fresh doors, new benchtop and splashback — can lift presentation a long way for a modest spend, without the cost or time of a full reno. If you’re selling, we’ll advise where the money is best spent for the return.
Compliance still applies.
Even on a makeover, any plumbing or electrical changes (a new sink, relocated power) must be done by ACT-licensed trades and certified under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 via Access Canberra. We use only compliant benchtop materials after the 2024 engineered-stone ban, and in pre-1985 homes we check for asbestos in the old splashback and substrate (the ACT carries the Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos legacy from 1968–1980) before removing them.
Why we don’t cut corners.
A cheap makeover that respray-coats grimy doors without prep, or fits a benchtop over failing carcasses, looks good for a month and then fails. We prep properly, only reuse cabinetry that’s genuinely sound, and finish it so it lasts. A makeover should buy you years, not weeks.
Where we work.
Refresh your kitchen from $8,800.
New doors, benchtop, handles and splashback. Honest advice on makeover versus full reno. Free quote.