Renovation of the "Khrushchev" kitchen with a budget of 30 thousand. rub.

My husband and I live in a small "Khrushchev". Of course, the option is not so-so, but after we lived for several years in rented apartments, it was happiness for us to get this housing. There was not much money in the family after buying a secondary home. And if we decided to wait with the rooms, then I wanted to cook in comfort. Therefore, it was decided first of all to make repairs in the kitchen.

Together with the apartment, we got the kitchen furniture and the stove. A microwave oven, a washing machine and small household appliances were acquired by back-breaking labor while wandering around rented apartments.

What happened

After examining the field of activity, we decided to draw up a plan for the repair and arrangement of furniture. The former owners, we must give them their due, tried to make a "candy" out of the kitchen, that is, the kitchen set was made to order and was located optimally - in the corner opposite the window.

The gas stove and sink were located in the places that were provided for them by the designers, i.e. plumbing in the corner, and at a distance from it - a stove. It was possible, of course, to replace the stove with a hob or even buy an electric or induction one and install it anywhere else. But we decided not to. Firstly, when checking it, it turned out that the stove was in good condition (I was especially interested in the oven), and secondly, we had no extra money to buy household appliances.

Between the stove and the sink was a cabinet with a comfortable table top. At the perpendicular wall, which is adjacent to the bathroom (if you have ever visited the "Khrushchev", you know how exactly everything is located there) and is opposite the window, a refrigerator and cabinets were installed. Above, there were also cabinets and an extractor hood above the stove.

There was one socket, but double. And she was on the wall adjacent to the window. And this state of affairs did not suit me at all. The former owners used an extension cord, but I wanted a "modern" and functional kitchen, not tangled in wires. It was decided to call an electrician and redo the wiring.

The walls in the kitchen were covered with wallpaper, and a ceramic backsplash was laid over the stove and sink. The floor is linoleum, the ceiling is bleached. The light was provided by three sources - a built-in lamp in the hood, a chandelier, the length of which can be changed (well, you probably saw such), and a sconce on the wall. The picture was completed by an ordinary rectangular table in the corner and two stools.

What has become

After examining the field of activity and assessing our capabilities, we decided:

• Leave the cooker with the extractor hood and the sink in place and do not change. The condition of the items is decent, why waste money, which is not too much.
• Call an electrician to move the socket to the wall adjacent to the bathroom. It was there that it was decided to put a microwave, kettle and refrigerator.
• Leave the sconce (it looked too pretty), and instead of a chandelier, install built-in lamps in the stretch ceiling.
• It was decided to remove the linoleum from the floor and lay the laminate. Firstly, it is more beautiful, and secondly, it is more practical.
• Do not change the kitchen set and the location of the cabinets, but update the facades. For this we needed a self-adhesive film in two colors.
• They also decided not to change the tile apron. Basically, I like the tiles, but its color was not suitable for our concept. Therefore, it was decided to simply paint it.

When everything was decided, they made an estimate:

• electrician services - 6000 r;
• 4 tubes of wallpaper - 1200 rubles;
• self-adhesive film 50 cm x 5 m wide - 900 r;
• self-adhesive film 25 cm x 5 m wide - RUB 500;
• acrylic varnish for interior work 2 l - 300 rubles;
• acrylic paint 1 l - 150 r;
• primer 2 l - 200 r.
• consumables and tools - 2000 r;
• lamps and bulbs 5 pcs - 1000 r;
• stretch ceiling 6 sq.m. - 9000 r;
• laminate 6 sq.m. - 3600 p.

All around it came out about 25,000 rubles. We still had 5,000 in reserve for contingencies.

Repair progress

To begin with, we freed the kitchen from all unnecessary things, including furniture. We left only a sink and a gas stove, which did not really interfere. They removed the wallpaper from the walls and invited an electrician. He brought us an outlet (we had to cut the wall) and brought out to the ceiling terminals for 6 built-in lamps. I took for this, by the way, not at all 6000, as we planned and found out in their company, but 7500. So the "spare" 5000 came in handy.

Then they invited the craftsmen to install the stretch ceiling. And then we were pleased. We made the order during their seasonal promotion, and they gave us a 10% discount. In addition, we estimated the prices approximately. In general, 1,500 returned to the box, since the ceiling also cost us only 7,500 rubles.

And then they began to act on their own. The first step was to paint the tiles. To do this, it was degreased with an alcohol solution, primed in 2 layers and covered with acrylic paint in 3 layers. I preferred white as the most neutral color. Each layer of paint was allowed to dry (and it dries within an hour) and covered with acrylic varnish for interior work, also in 2 layers.

The walls were cleaned of the remnants of wallpaper with water and a spatula. They simply moistened the wall with a spray bottle, and then scraped it off with a small spatula. Well, I'll tell you, we suffered. The former owners apparently did not bother to remove the old coating, and therefore there were several layers on the walls. And all would be fine, only the first layers were glued to the paste. If anyone does not know - a solution of flour and water.

The floor covering was dismantled, i.e. linoleum. We decided to start with a laminate. The floor pleased us with a flat surface, so there was no need to do any special preparatory work. But the stove had to be removed for a while. We chose the laminate flooring in a light gray color (like silver, it looks great). The husband put him to bed in one day.

An unpleasant surprise was that the wall behind the slab was not finished at all. Then I had to wash and prime it. We decided to just paint it with acrylic. Paint and varnish were applied in 2 layers. Then we simply pasted over the walls with selected wallpaper - white with silver "stains".

We fought with furniture together. They removed all the doors, I washed and degreased them. We cut the film to size and carefully glued it onto the furniture. I'll tell you three secrets:

1. If a bubble forms on the film, you do not need to tear it off. You will only stretch the cover. Glue on, and then pierce the bubble with a thin needle to release the air.
2. You will never cut the corners of the film perfectly, and so that they do not bristle, gently burn them with a lighter.
3. To make the film take the shape of the surface and fit perfectly to it, "steam" it with an iron with high temperature steam.

We also changed the fittings for the furniture. I had to crawl into our "stash", and the remaining money was spent on a kitchen sofa and a folding table from Ikea.

In general, our repair cost 30,000 rubles, but now our kitchenette sparkles with novelty. It is light, spacious, you want to stay here as long as possible. And there is still a renovation of rooms, a hallway and a bathroom ahead!