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The Journal · Renovating Well
A new kitchen doesn't have to cost a fortune to look like one. The secret is knowing where to spend and where to save — so your budget shows up in all the right places.
A new kitchen is one of the biggest things most of us ever buy for our homes. So it's no surprise that "how to save money on a new kitchen" is one of the first things people search when the planning begins. The good news: you can cut your costs significantly without ending up with a kitchen that looks cheap. You just need to know which corners are safe to cut — and which ones aren't.
In this guide we'll show you exactly where the savings are, where it pays to invest, and how to use a few well-timed sales to get designer quality for a lot less. Let's get into it.
Buy the boxes sensibly. Spend the difference on the parts you actually see and touch.
Here's the single most useful thing to understand about kitchen costs. The expensive-looking parts of a kitchen and the expensive parts are not the same thing.
Cabinet carcasses — the boxes behind your doors — are hidden from view. A premium brand and a mid-range one often use almost identical materials and hinges. What people actually see and feel are the doors, the worktop, and above all the handles, taps and sink. That's where quality reads. Spend your money there, save it on the parts no one ever sees, and your kitchen will look far more expensive than it cost.
If you only upgrade one thing, make it the handles. Of everything in a kitchen, handles are one of the smallest costs — and they make one of the biggest differences to how the whole room looks.
Swap basic builder's handles for solid brass handles in an aged or burnished finish, and even a plain, affordable cabinet door starts to look custom-made. A good handle also feels better in your hand every single time you open a drawer — and you'll do that thousands of times a year.
The mistake to avoid is going too cheap. Hollow, thinly-plated handles chip and tarnish within months, so you end up paying twice. But you don't need to spend £80 a handle either. The sweet spot — solid, hard-wearing, and priced so you can afford them across the whole kitchen — is exactly what Sink & Son is built around.
Look for solid brass or stainless steel rather than hollow plating, a finish that ages gracefully instead of peeling — like aged brass, burnished nickel or graphite — and a proper guarantee on the body. Those three things separate a quality finishing touch from a fitting you'll be replacing in a year.
Here's where you can save the most money of all. Don't discount the boring essentials — discount the expensive showpieces. The designer tap and the standout fittings are usually the priciest items on your list, so catching them in a sale is where the real savings live. Buy a premium tap at clearance prices and you've got a centrepiece for the price of a basic one.
Right now we have three ways to do exactly that:
Our Bidbury & Co designer tap clearance, our own studio collections and a sitewide sale are all live now. Solid construction, finishes built to last, and prices that make designer quality affordable.
Shop The Tap Sale Shop EverythingEvery tap is designed for style and finishes built to outlast every season — these are the pieces we'd normally tell you to invest in, simply caught at the right moment to buy them for less.
It sounds backwards, but the cheapest kitchen is the one you only buy once. Plated handles that need replacing in two years, a tap whose finish flakes, a sink that scratches and dulls — those aren't savings, they're costs you've simply put off. Choosing solid materials and good finishes from the start isn't the expensive option. Over the life of your kitchen, it's the thrifty one.
So plan with intention. Buy the cabinets sensibly, time your big purchases to catch a sale, and put the difference into the handles, taps and sink — the parts your hand lands on every day.
Save on the parts no one sees — the cabinet carcasses, standard unit sizes and internal fittings — and invest the difference in what's visible and tactile: the handles, tap and sink. Timing premium items like designer taps to a sale is the single biggest saving available.
Solid brass or stainless handles are worth it because they don't chip or tarnish like cheap plated ones, so you won't pay to replace them. You don't need the most expensive option, though — a solid, well-finished handle in the mid price range gives you the look and longevity without the premium price.
The touchpoints: handles, the kitchen tap and the sink. These are used constantly and seen every day, so quality here lifts the whole room. Carcasses and hidden fittings are where you can comfortably economise.
During a clearance or flash sale. Designer taps are often the priciest item on a kitchen list, so buying one on sale — like our current Bidbury & Co clearance of up to 60% off — turns your most expensive purchase into your biggest saving.
Ready to start? Browse our designer tap sale and our studio collections to find the finishing touches that make a kitchen — for less than you'd think.
