Makeovers And Refits
Kitchen Renovations & Makeovers Belfast
Sometimes the kitchen is tired and sometimes the room is wrong, and they need completely different money. CSW will tell you which one you have.
Tired Kitchen Or Wrong Room
Two households ring us in the same week saying the same thing, that they hate their kitchen. In one case the layout works perfectly well, the carcases are sound, and what they actually dislike is doors from 2006, a worn worktop and a light fitting that makes everything look grey. In the other, the layout is genuinely wrong: the fridge blocks a doorway, there is no run of worktop longer than 600mm, and no amount of new doors will fix it.
Those two are separated by a large amount of money and it is worth establishing which one you have before spending any. A makeover that changes every surface you touch, doors, worktop, handles, splashback, flooring and lighting, transforms how a kitchen feels for a fraction of a full refit, provided the bones are sound. Doing it to a kitchen with a bad layout is money spent making a frustrating room slightly prettier.
We do both, and we would rather have the honest conversation on the first visit. Pulling out a drawer to look at the runners and checking whether the carcases are chipboard that has swelled at the sink takes two minutes and it usually answers the question on the spot.
Makeovers
New doors, drawer fronts, handles, worktop, splashback, flooring and lighting onto existing carcases that are sound. Everything you see and touch changes, for a fraction of a full refit.
Partial Reworks
Keeping most of the kitchen and changing the part that is wrong. Moving one run, adding an island or a larder, or opening up a corner that has never worked.
Opening The Room Up
Where the layout is the real problem, taking out a wall or forming a wider opening into the next room. Structural work, properly designed and inspected.
Why Renovate With CSW
Straight Diagnosis First
We look at the carcases and the layout and tell you which of the two problems you have before quoting anything.
Makeovers Done Well
Doors made and fitted properly rather than ordered to a nominal size and packed out, so the result does not read as a refresh.
Structural If Needed
When the answer really is taking a wall out, we do that ourselves with calculations, propping and council inspection rather than referring you on.
Certification Not Assumed
Nobody is obliged to certify electrical work here, so we ask for it. New lighting and sockets are usually part of a makeover.
Less Disruption
A makeover keeps the kitchen usable for far more of the time than a refit does, and we plan it that way rather than stripping everything on day one.
50 Years Of Combined Experience
Building and joinery between us, so the recommendation is not shaped by which of the two jobs we happen to be able to do.
What Changes When The Room Changes
A cosmetic makeover touches almost nothing regulated. Opening the room up touches a good deal. This is general guidance for Northern Ireland and your district council's building control service is the authority on your particular job.
Opening Up Is Structural Work
Taking out the wall between a kitchen and a dining room is the most common renovation request we get, and it is structural work rather than kitchen work. It needs a beam sized by calculation, padstones sized for the bearing, and a load path that carries all the way to the ground.
That means a Full Plans application rather than a Building Notice. A Building Notice can only be used for minor planned work to a single domestic property, and structural alteration is not that. Full Plans means the drawings and calculations are assessed, and the council can issue a Notice of Passing of Plans for the design.
- The opening is inspected with the bearing exposed, before anything boxes it in.
- Work covered up before inspection may have to be opened up again at your cost.
- The Notice of Passing of Plans is what a purchaser's solicitor will look for later.
New Lighting And Sockets Still Need Asking About
Almost every kitchen makeover includes new lighting, and often extra sockets on the worktop run. Worth knowing: Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland and there are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work here.
So even on a job small enough that nothing else is notifiable, nobody is legally obliged to certify the new circuits. On a makeover that is easy to overlook precisely because the job feels cosmetic.
- Ask for the electrician's registration with a recognised body and an installation certificate.
- Ask before the splashback and the units go back over the new cabling.
- In a privately rented property, The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 apply separately.
Changing The Outside, And Protected Property
Renovation becomes a planning question when the outside changes: enlarging a window to bring light into a dark kitchen, putting in patio or bifold doors, or altering the render. Permitted development rights come from the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and are decided by your district council.
Where an Article 4 direction applies those rights have been removed. Belfast City Council has made Article 4 directions, Malone Park being a published example. Listed building consent is separate again and can apply to internal features as well as the facade.
- Enlarging a window is far more likely to be a planning matter than people assume.
- Check before glazing is ordered, because it is not returnable.
- On a listed property, internal joinery and layout can be protected as well as the outside.
Deciding Between The Two
How To Tell If The Carcases Are Sound
Open a drawer and look at the runner. Pull a base unit door and look at the hinge and the edge of the carcase. Then look under the sink, which is where chipboard carcases fail first because of years of small leaks and steam.
If the runners are metal and smooth, the hinges are adjustable and sound, and the carcase under the sink has not swelled and crumbled at the base, the bones are good and a makeover is genuinely worth doing. If the sink base is soft and the drawers run on plastic that has worn, new doors are going onto something that is already failing.
What A Makeover Actually Changes
Everything you look at and touch. Doors and drawer fronts, handles, worktop, splashback, sink and tap, flooring, lighting and paint. The carcases stay, hidden behind all of it, which is why the cost is so much lower.
Done properly it does not read as a refresh. Done badly, with doors ordered to nominal sizes and packed out to fit, it reads as exactly what it is. The difference is whether the fronts are made and fitted to the units you actually have.
When The Layout Is The Problem
No amount of surface change fixes a room where you cannot open the oven and the dishwasher at the same time, or where the only worktop is a 600mm gap between the hob and the wall. Those are dimensional problems and they need the layout changing or the room enlarging.
The honest test is whether your complaints are about how the kitchen looks or about what you cannot do in it. Looks are a makeover. Cannot is a refit or an opening up, and spending makeover money on it leaves you equally frustrated with a nicer looking room.
Light, Which Is Usually Underestimated
A great many Belfast kitchens are dark, because they are at the back of the house, often north facing, often with one small window. Households frequently blame the units for a room that is actually just badly lit.
Task lighting under the wall units, a decent ceiling arrangement instead of a single pendant, and a lighter worktop can transform a room for very little. Where the answer is genuinely more daylight, enlarging the window or adding a rooflight is a bigger job with a planning question attached, and it is worth pricing both.
How A Renovation Runs
Diagnose First
We look at the carcases, the runners, the sink base and the layout, and tell you whether you have a tired kitchen or a wrong room. Two minutes, and it decides everything.
Price Both Where It Is Close
Where the answer is genuinely borderline we will price the makeover and the fuller option so you can decide with real numbers rather than a hunch.
Agree Scope And Consents
If structural work or a window change is involved, applications go in before anything is ordered. If it is cosmetic, we can start much sooner.
Keep The Kitchen Working
A makeover is sequenced so the room stays usable for most of it, rather than stripping everything on day one and living out of a box for a fortnight.
Do The Work
Fronts, worktop, splashback, flooring and lighting, or the structural work and refit where that is the route. Inspections booked at the right stages.
Finish And Certificates
Trim, clean, and the paperwork, including the electrical installation certificate that nobody in Northern Ireland is obliged to give you unless you ask.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my kitchen is worth a makeover?
Look at three things. The drawer runners, the door hinges, and the carcase under the sink, which is where chipboard fails first after years of small leaks and steam. If the runners are smooth metal, the hinges are sound and the sink base has not swelled, the bones are good and a makeover is genuinely worth doing.
What is the difference between a makeover and a refit?
A makeover changes everything you see and touch, doors, fronts, handles, worktop, splashback, sink, flooring and lighting, while keeping the existing carcases. A refit replaces the lot. The makeover costs a fraction as much and is the right answer whenever the layout works and the carcases are sound.
Will a makeover just look like a cheap fix?
Not if the fronts are made and fitted to the units you actually have. Where makeovers look like exactly what they are is when doors are ordered to nominal sizes and packed out to fit, leaving uneven gaps and misaligned lines. Fitted properly, nobody can tell the carcases are the originals.
My kitchen just does not work. Is a makeover pointless?
If your complaints are about what you cannot do rather than how it looks, then yes. A room where you cannot open the oven and dishwasher at the same time, or where the only worktop is a 600mm gap, has a dimensional problem. Surface changes leave you equally frustrated in a nicer looking room.
Can you take the wall out between the kitchen and dining room?
Yes, and it is structural work rather than kitchen work. It needs a beam sized by calculation, padstones sized for the bearing and a load path to the ground, and it goes in as a Full Plans application rather than a Building Notice. The opening is inspected with the bearing exposed before anything covers it.
Do I need certification for new kitchen lighting?
Nobody is obliged to give it to you here, which is why you should ask. Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland and there are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work. On a makeover this is easy to overlook because the job feels cosmetic, and new lighting and sockets are still real electrical work.
Can I enlarge the window to get more light?
Often, but check before ordering glazing because it is not returnable. Enlarging a window changes the outside, which makes it a planning question under the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015. An Article 4 direction on your street removes those rights, and listed properties need separate consent.
My kitchen is dark. Is that the units?
Usually not. A great many Belfast kitchens sit at the back of the house, often north facing with one small window, and households blame the cabinets for a room that is simply badly lit. Task lighting under the wall units, a proper ceiling arrangement and a lighter worktop transform a dark kitchen for very little.
How long is the kitchen out of use for a makeover?
Far less than for a refit, and we sequence it deliberately so the room stays usable for most of the work. Doors and handles can change with the kitchen still functioning. The days that genuinely interrupt you are the worktop and sink change and the flooring, and we identify those at the start.
Will you tell me honestly if I should do the bigger job?
Yes, and where it is genuinely borderline we will price both so you can decide on real numbers rather than a hunch. We do building and joinery, so the recommendation is not shaped by which of the two we happen to be able to do. Selling somebody a makeover for a layout problem helps nobody.
More Kitchen Installations From CSW
Get Your Free Quote Today!
Get us out to look at the carcases and the layout before you decide anything. Two minutes with a drawer open usually settles whether you need a makeover or something bigger. No charge for the visit and no obligation.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland