Top 10 affordable home updates

Kitchen wonder

 
'In the kitchen, spend money where you can see it. I used carcasses from a building centre and MDF doors, sprayed by a car body shop, then bought fabulous work surfaces with the money I'd saved. Later, I can change the doors if I want to, but the major investment in the work surfaces will last for the life of the kitchen.'

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, interior designer