For my mum’s 60th birthday, we decided to make her a really memorable present – the renovation of her small kitchen.

The budget was modest, just for materials and appliances,

so we did the main work ourselves,

putting a part of our soul into this gift.

We left the plastic window, installed a few years ago, and removed the window sill, replacing it with a wide worktop, suitable not only for flower pots, but also for cooking.

We removed the faded wallpaper from the walls and replaced the floor covering with new tiles.  The “winter refrigerator”, preserved in Khrushchevka since its construction, was decorated with a kitchen facade, because the old plastic doors were very conspicuous. The screens were used to hide the battery, blending it into the rest of the interior. The radiator screen is lattice, so the warm air from the radiator enters the room without obstacles.

When choosing furniture for the kitchen, we decided on white colour. Contrary to common misconceptions, white furniture is not stain-resistant at all, and it is easy to care for. In a small area, white furniture allows you to achieve the effect of free space, to give the room more light.

The working area turned out to be spacious, because its part became a tabletop, which replaced the window sill. There is built-in lighting under the upper cabinets, so the hinged drawers do not block the light from the central lamp and it is very convenient to work in the kitchen.

The place for the sink is in the very corner, but it is close to the worktop and away from the cooker, so splashes during washing up will not get into the pans and pots in which the food is cooked.

The fridge is old, we didn’t have the budget to replace it, but in the future we plan to cover it with fronts to match the kitchen. We persuaded my mum to remove numerous magnets from the door, without them the fridge blended into the interior much better.

The location of the microwave was not very successful – it stands on the fridge and it’s hard for my mother to reach it, though she doesn’t use it very often.

On the wall by the fridge we hung a TV, it is small, but it is clearly visible both during cooking and when you sit at the dining table.