There is nothing more exciting than a kitchen renovation. Unfortunately, these renovations don’t always go as planne. Whether you choose to DIY or hire someone to remodel your kitchen, sometimes the result is worse than you could have imagined. Check out these worst kitchen renovations ever for some inspiration on what not to do.
The lonely island
If you want to make your kitchen a little more fancy, with space to make the kids’ lunches in the morning, you might want to invest in a cool kitchen island. Not only do they create extra counter space, they also look pretty sophisticated.
Unfortunately, we can’t imagine you’ll be able to do a lot of cooking or meal prepping on this tiny island. We guess you could use it as a breakfast bar, as long as only one person at a time was going to eat breakfast.
Relaxin’ all cool
The worst part of cooking is the waiting. You know you’ve made an epic mac and cheese, but you can’t taste how much of genius you are until it cooks in the oven – and that could take ages! So, what do you do? Do you sit on your phone and scroll through Instagram?
Do you wash up? Do you catch up with the latest show on Netflix and hope you don’t forget dinner? The owner of this house has the right idea. Instead of falling asleep out of boredom, you should simply take a long, relaxing bath instead. You can look over your dinner being cooked, all while enjoying a soak!
Hipster sink
In today’s day and age, it’s easy to be a sheep and run with the rest of the people in this world. You dress as they do, you like all of the same stuff they do, and you listen to the same kind of music – unless you’re a hipster. The main trait of a hipster is that they go against the grain and live a non-conformist lifestyle.
Up until now, we’ve only seen a hipster human, but right in front of you, ladies and gentlemen is a hipster sink! Yes, it’s not going to live like every other sink, on the “normal” side of life. This sink is gonna live sideways. Because it can. Or because it’s a kitchen fail.
Solving the issue
Sometimes, kitchen renovations are not done out of choice. Sometimes it’s a matter of life or death – you know, like if your freezer stops working. Of course, there’s nothing in this world worse than simply standing there and letting your Ben & Jerry’s melt into a puddle of delicious mush. So you have to do something about it.
Rather than simply buying a new freezer or checking to see whether it was plugged in, this person decided to do something that is both ingenious and silly at the same time. We wonder whether sticking an air conditioning unit onto the front of a freezer really works.
Fridgey in the middle
When you’re going through your own kitchen renovation, it’s important to put the main event in pride of place. Yes, we’re talking about the refrigerator. This is where all the best food is stored, which means that you need to be able to open the doors to heaven with ease.
However, this kitchen renovator took things a little too literally. Not only has this refrigerator been given its own little alcove to live in, but it’s also been shoved into the center of the room on a diagonal slant. This just makes absolutely no sense and makes us feel a little uncomfortable. Moving on…
The last straw
When you’re a little strapped for cash, you probably won’t appreciate one of your kitchen appliances breaking. Well, this person decided to get creative when their faucet broke.
Instead of shelling out loads of dollar bills to buy a new one, they decided that they had reached the last straw. Quite literally. When life gives you lemons, turn a plastic straw into a faucet. We’re sure that’s how the saying goes, anyway.
Tight spaces
Let’s be honest, when you’re young and new to the property ladder, buying a 19-bedroom palace isn’t the first property on your list. It’s your fourth. Because of this, you might have to settle for something a little smaller than what you had in mind – like a studio apartment.
Compacted into one room, a studio has everything you could possibly need without having to open any doors. Unfortunately, the builder in charge of this renovation didn’t quite realize that there needs to be at least a little walk between the kitchen and the restroom. Either that or this is the perfect kitchen for a messy eater.
Space-saving
If you have little floor space in your kitchen, one of the best ways to fit even more kitchenware into your abode is to fix shelves and cabinets to the wall. It’s genius. Unfortunately, attaching things to walls doesn’t always work too well because gravity has this thing against keeping things in the air.
Things get even worse when you add a botched kitchen renovation into the mix. We can only imagine the builder placed the last glass on the shelf with a satisfied “ahhhhh!” when gravity finally got its way and applauded itself with a resounding crash. Oops.
A sinking ship
You know what’s better than one sink? Two sinks! Having two sinks in your life is one of those luxuries that only a few people can afford, and there really is nothing better than being able to wash up with your significant other as you enter into an epic bubble-war.
At least, that’s how it works in your head. In reality, these things don’t always work out, and these homeowners had a nasty shock when they realized that their bubble-war was more of a one-sided war, as only one contender could actually fill their tub with water. What a fail.
All by myself
We really think the lonely island from before and this little guy should get together because they could have a real thing going on here. It could be love. This is just another example of a kitchen island fail.
While we can imagine these homeowners were pretty excited about the island that would give them more space to make homemade pizzas, the result was something completely different. The color doesn’t match, the size is too small to even make a personal pizza, and it just looks like someone got a block of wood and placed it in the middle of the room. Not cool.
Take a seat
If you have the kind of kitchen that is so large you can even fit a dining table in it, count yourself luck! You can host dinner parties, and you can even allow your mother-in-law perfect viewing space to judge every single aspect of your cooking. Or can you?
This kitchen fail features one of the worst DIY jobs of all time. Considering most of us have sat on a chair at least once in our lives, you’d like to think that everyone knows how a chair is made and which way the legs go. Well, apparently this person was just a little confused.
The cheese island
Although we have an idea that this island was meant to be a lot bigger than it is, we feel like this kitchen renovation fail is one that has actually resulted in a positive – because this is the cheese island!
While this island was originally meant for humans, these homeowners can now rest easy knowing that they have crafted the perfect little island for the mice of their house. When they finally manage to get their tiny bodies to the surface of the island, they are greeted with a lovely block of cheese, as that’s about the only thing that will fit on this little thing.
Absolute chaos
The only way to describe this photograph is… absolute chaos! When all of the doors of these kitchen appliances are closed, we can imagine that the whole thing works.
However, if there was an instance where someone wanted to use the microwave, the oven, the refrigerator and leave the room at the same time, they would have absolutely no chance. With doors galore, we don’t really know where one appliance starts and the other begins in this house.
Open sesame
Considering most kitchen fitters have been doing the job for years and have been trained to make kitchens as accessible as possible, we think the person in charge of this kitchen renovation needs to go back to kitchen-fitting school.
Although it’s not a crime to build a kitchen that offers drawers and cupboards next to the oven, it’s best to make sure that all of the components work together before fixing it all down. In their defense, though, they have tried to rectify their mistake by taking a chunk out of the drawer. Not ideal, but it’s the thought that counts.
Finishing touches
When you have all of your appliances fixed and fitted during your kitchen renovation, the next step is to make it look pretty by adding art to show off your interior design style, wallpaper to brighten the place up, or just painting the walls a different color than plain white.
Unfortunately, the person in charge of this renovation wasn’t wearing their creative hat when they were fixing up this kitchen. While an air duct may be to some people’s tastes, we have to admit it’s probably more of an acquired taste than anything.
Way out of line
We’re not sure who built a time machine and took themselves back to the ‘70s to pick up this kitchen furniture, but we would advise that they come back to the future ASAP – because this kitchen getup is way out of line.
Not only is the middle section of cabinets jutting out into the middle of the room more than the others, but there’s also an unfortunate gap between them that is basically begging people to throw food down there. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this kitchen fail gets even worse when you realize that the stovetop and oven are actually lying face-up. Why? We have absolutely no idea.
No entry
We really hope there’s nothing important in that drawer and that nobody ever wants to cook anything in that oven, because… Well, they can’t. Indeed, it seems as though the person who fitted this kitchen missed the first lesson at kitchen fitting school, because they were obviously not taught about the fact that you need to measure a room before you get started on a kitchen renovation.
Sadly, that means that the oven glove stowed inside of the drawer is stuck there forever, or until someone else tries their hand at a kitchen renovation. Fingers crossed it’s second time lucky.
From the washer to the wall…
’Til the water drips down the wall… Because it’s going to get everywhere! When you think of the logistics of a dishwasher, you’ll know that for it to really be effective, you need to be able to actually open the door. This way, you can put all of the dishes in there to be washed – as that’s kinda what it does.
Sadly, the person in charge of fitting this dishwasher didn’t quite think through its placement very well. While we’re sure it’s a perfectly good appliance, it’s really no good when you can’t actually open the door or pull out the tray to put the dishes in there. A slight flaw.
Everything but the kitchen sink
If you’re into your home renovations, there’s a high chance that you’ve tried to renovate every single room in your house. This homeowner had already completed their living room, they’d finished off their bedroom, and their next job was the kitchen.
When they went to the store to buy everything they needed, they probably made a list to remember everything on there – or at least, everything but the kitchen sink. Sadly, they forgot the most important aspect of a kitchen and were left with the sale sink they bought online. Of course, we all know that the things you see online aren’t what they’re like in real life…
A slight problem
Oh, it just gets worse and worse. We’re going to ignore the fact that this is one of the worst kitchen renovation fails on this list and try to look on the bright side of life. Unfortunately, the only positive spin we can put on this epic fail is the thought that this homeowner could be on a mission to be more environmentally friendly in their home.
Indeed, they could have purposely put the dishwasher in the corner of the room so they couldn’t get in – just to ensure that they didn’t waste water or electricity. At least, we really hope that was the case.
Caught short
If you enjoy cooking, you’ll know that there are some dishes that require your time and attention throughout the whole process and that if you take your eyes off it for one minute, it could all go down the toilet. Quite literally.
We can only assume that the person who owns this home spends their time making these intricate dishes, and likes to make sure that they won’t get caught short and ruin their dinner. So, they can do both at once! We’re not sure how hygienic this is, but if they’re the only one eating it, then we have no problems. You do you.
Bean there, done that
You might need a moment to truly take in what you’re looking at right now, so take as long as you want. Are you back? Okay, we’ll get to it. Yes, this really is a kitchen island in the shape and color of a bean! No, we have no idea why someone would want this!
While it seems as though the rest of the kitchen is incredibly modern and stylish, the whole thing gets a little weird when you realize that in the center of the room is a giant bean island with a slate worktop. In fact, the more you look at this, the weirder it gets. Oh, well. Bean there, done that. We’ll move on now.
Up close and personal
If you’re currently in a relationship where you have zero secrets, and you’re practically joined at the hip, you might have a bit of separation anxiety when it comes to going to the restroom – and as weird as it sounds, we kinda get it.
Because of this, you might find it difficult to go to the restroom when your significant other is cooking in the kitchen, which means that this studio apartment would be perfect for you. You can talk while on the toilet, and not miss a minute of each other’s company. That’s what it must have been renovated for, right? It’s the only reason we can think of for this epic fail.
All for show
When you start renovating your kitchen, you will soon discover that you care about little tiny details that you would never have thought about in the beginning. You start to look at every blemish in marble countertops, you start to match all of your utensils with your flooring, and you even spend hours picking out the right handles for your draws and cabinets.
We can only imagine that this person really wanted to show off some awesome handles in their kitchen, and was willing to sacrifice the actual usage of the drawers in question. Either that or this was an awful kitchen restoration.
Tile overload
It’s fair to say that there are two kinds of people in this world; those that love the therapeutic nature of lining tiles up and sticking them to the wall, and those who absolutely hate the fiddly job.
In this case, we’re going to guess it was the former because this person just didn’t want to stop. Indeed, instead of tiling up to the edge of the sink basin, this person decided to go embrace his inner Jackson Pollock to create a piece of artwork that looks scarily similar to a kitchen restoration fail. It’s uncanny.
Stairway to heaven
Whether you’re building a new home or adding on an extension, it’s crucial to construct a staircase to lead you through your new home. Ideally you would want the staircase to connect in some way and not this mess.
We can’t help but wonder how you would turn this disaster into something useful. Do you now use it as a shelf to hoist up decorations and pictures? Do you turn it into some art installation? Either way we doubt this is what the homeowners had in mind.
Ruh-roh!
It’s important when designing your dream kitchen to make sure that all of your appliances are readily available. You want access to your brand new stove and refrigerator at the same time with just enough space to prepare, cook, and serve at your own rate.
What happens when your contractor takes it just a bit too seriously? This is the mess that you’re left with. Sure, you have all of your appliances in one corner but next time it’s best to spread them out a bit.
Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Every kitchen needs a solid sink to wash your hands, do the dishes, and clean your food. We think it should actually be priority number one but that’s just us. What these builders did was treat the kitchen sink like high school students treat their homework – they waited until the last possible moment.
Call us old fashioned but we think that time and consideration should be taken seriously when building a home. Otherwise, why bother?
Call a pro
There are so many home renovation shows out there these days it’s hard to not watch one of them and think to yourself – “hey, I can do that.” We don’t blame you. They make it look so easy!
This homeowner clearly thought the same thing and what they got was a messy and out of place addition to their home. Perhaps when it comes to renovating your home it’s best to stick with a licensed professional.
You had one job!
We think it’s usually important to close the door to your new kitchen at some point. What if you want to host a surprise party and need to open it up to reveal your favorite friends in your brand new kitchen? Like this, the surprise would be spoiled instantly.
You need a solid door to keep the gorgeous smells from the new dishes you’re cooking up. It’s hard to imagine what this builder was thinking but we assume they probably weren’t.
What a headache
Oh no, not the stairs again! Poor Fred was wondering his new place checking out all the changes. All was going well until he walked through his kitchen to his new attic. “Shoot!” he said to himself. “How on the earth did this happen?”
We wondered the same thing too, Fred. We never thought we would have to say this but when you’re building a staircase, you should make sure to lead it to the next floor. It’s way less of a headache.
DIY mistakes
Listen, we get it, renovations aren’t cheap. One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is spending way too much money on their repairs and changes when they don’t need to. It’s only normal to want to go at it solo.
The problem, however, is that you’ll just to have spend more money to fix your epic fails. That’s what this family will have to do now that they totally misaligned the separation between the kitchen and the living room.
Stuck in a corner
Remember when we suggested hiring a professional when renovating your home? We should have specified to really (really!) make sure they are professionals. This painter broke the first rule when it comes to painting a roof.
Judging by his pose, we bet we don’t have to tell him what a fail this is. The poor painter must now be careful not to slip on the wet paint and spread the paint around on his shoes. It’s probably best to try out a few different professionals.
Hose it down
What better way is there to spruce up your kitchen than with some lush greenery? If you want to breathe fresh life into your new kitchen, we recommend including some flowers and maybe a plant or two. It’s an easy technique to make your kitchen stand out.
We’re not sure if this is what the contractor had in mind when they installed a hose hook-up in the kitchen but we’re just going to roll with it. What other explanation could there be?
The baby room fail
Sammy and Jordan went away on a brief vacation while their house was receiving renovations. See, they had a baby on the way and needed to extend the house to make room for their newest addition.
They were so excited to come back and see what their new home would look like. They finally get back, walk in through the front door, peak inside at the baby’s room only to see a staircase to nowhere in the middle of the room. We can’t imagine Sammy and Jordan were very happy.
Stay positive!
Sometimes it’s important to look at these renovation fails as a glass half full situation. Sure, this contractor could have seen the issue with building a wall around a ceiling light from a mile away but perhaps the homeowner can now see the possibilities.
At least the light will illuminate two rooms at once, right? We just hope that the light bulb never goes out because then everyone will be out of luck. Again, glass half full.
Floor fail
Hmm… one thing is not like the other. The flooring in your new kitchen is so important. It’s one of the first things you notice when you enter so you surely want it to look as good as possible.
These floor tiles were going so well during installation. Each one is so in order and placed so perfectly. We’re not sure what happened but we doubt the new homeowners are going to be very happy when they see this.
Just… no
It suddenly makes sense why nobody wanted to go over to James and Anita’s house for dinner. They always wondered why every time they invited a friend over for dinner they would always respond with a counter invite to their own house.
It’s important to be thorough and truly plan ahead when building your new kitchen. Sometimes it’s just not possible to cut corners. We’re sure that James and Anita know a little better now.
Lather and bathe
Sometimes you don’t have an awful lot of space to work with, and you still have to make it work. Hey, if you need to shower, bathe and wash the dishes at the same time, this is the perfect spot to do just that.
Although, you’re going to have to miss those extra-high plug sockets. So this is clearly not the best designs out there, but it definitely is multipurpose. If you look in that tiny mirror, you can even see an antique teapot. Make us a cuppa.
Breakfast bar gone wrong
It’s almost as if these guys have decided to get creative with their central kitchen area. Most people might go for the basic breakfast table, or something to place extra pots and pans. These guys? Well, we’re not too sure.
Perhaps they thought this was going to be a swanky kind of tortoiseshell design, but it ended up being very, very wrong. Not to mention, anyone with a keen eye will be rather upset to notice that the tiles in the middle don’t match the ones on the wall.
Start again
Sometimes there is no saving a room. If you’re renovating one room, then it makes sense to downsize your living space a little, but is this taking it a bit too far? This is one exceptionally confused room anyway, as it looks as though those cabinets have been there a while.
This then doesn’t excuse or justify why there would be a shower, a cooker, and a washing machine in there. Thankfully, it doesn’t look as if this project has forced the owners’ bed into the room with it too.
No space? No problem
Compared to some of the others we have seen, this room isn’t doing too badly at a glance. That’s until you notice that you’re going to have to work some gymnastics wonders to get into your refrigerator every time you want something to eat.
Perhaps this room could have done with having fewer cabinets in exchange for somewhere to store what’s probably the most essential addition to the kitchen: the fridge. At least the handles are on the right side, or there would have been trouble.
Playing with fate
While it might not be something we immediately think about, there’s a reason we separate our kitchen appliances from each other. Except, of course, the washing machine is a whole different situation entirely.
We want to know how they managed to wire and plumb in both those items without some issues? At any rate, this is a remarkably bad idea waiting to go terribly wrong. After all, if the machine is on at the same time as cooking something, you might accidentally bump those buttons and ruin everything.
Don’t try this at home
You know, we’re starting to think that people enjoy playing with fire, or tempting fate. Someone has clearly decided they needed to create an adaptor and come up with a terrible way of making it work. Naturally, they found a bunch of stuff that conducts and fits and stuck it straight in.
Not such a good idea, and it would have been much safer just to simply head on out to the store and purchase an adaptor. Although, when you’ve moved countries, apparently you’ll do anything to make ends meet.
I need a raise
Sometimes we all need our spirits uplifted every now and then, but this is taking the cake somewhat. We can’t tell if this was necessary because they wanted the table off the ground for renovation purposes, or if, perhaps, they simply wanted it to have more height.
This is like furniture upcycling gone wrong, and it probably would have been a better idea just to head on out and get one of the right height. Pop this one in the living room, boom, sorted.
Waiting on an electrician
You know, there is always an awkward phase when you’re renovating your home, and this is one of the most irritating ones. One of the first things people like to change is their light fittings, especially if the house is somewhat dated.
This is certainly one way of making ends meet for the time in between. Although, it just looks as if they’ve tried one of those online life hacks, and it’s not ended up quite how it should have.
If it works
We all have accidents at some point or another, it just depends on how fundamentally problematic that accident is as to how creative you need to be. Someone seriously messed up here and ruined their chances if washing their hands, or anything else for that matter.
Well, sticking a nail in a key into the top of a faucet is obviously not the best solution to this problem, but is probably the cheap hack behind getting water for the time being.
A little off the mark
Sometimes we convince ourselves that something looks so good where they are, that we forget all the practicalities around the item itself. Take this ceiling fan as an example, it probably looked super swanky here, but the consequences were brutal.
Unfortunately, these guys have learned that functionality is far more critical than aesthetic the hard way. Now, they’re going to have a meticulous job fixing both those walls, not to mention moving the fan that caused it in the first place.
Running out of options
You know, one thing that people don’t realize, is that you really need to make sure your taps and faucets are suitable for your sinks. It’s not something you think about growing up, or even possibly until you decide to renovate a kitchen.
So here it seems someone wanted the biggest kitchen tap ever and stuck it inside the smallest kitchen sink they could find. Not such a great mix, and now they have to clean up a wet mess every time they use it.
Guiding the flow
Sometimes, when you take things apart, you find that putting them back together again isn’t as easy as you initially thought. Well, these guys have had to creatively add a plastic bottle to the end of their water tap to make sure it goes where they want it to.
Without it, that water’s going to be heading everywhere, and that’s not what they want. It’s a bit of an eyesore, but if it works, it’s good enough, right?
Well-placed sockets
Did no one ever tell these guys that, if they keep plastering the wall, they’re going to end up with way less space? Only kidding. Although, adding in a false wall right over electrical access is, well, not the brightest idea.
Not especially since they haven’t even covered it up on this side, which isn’t the prettiest of sides. We doubt it’s going to make a repurposed, or refurbished look in the future. Hopefully, they’re not the only ones in the newly separated room, or they’re going to have trouble.
Newly refurbished
Sometimes you have to take a look at the final result and think to yourself – “was this the right thing to do?”. Everyone has their own taste and style, and a pop of color never hurt anybody.
However, we’re feeling that the lime green color on the walls and the ceiling is a little overpowering with the rest of the kitchen. Perhaps if it were a lighter color, it would work with the rest of the colors. However, this isn’t making it onto any inspo boards anytime soon.
Tiles are tougher than you think
Some people make it look so easy, even we think we could give it a go. Sometimes that can work out really well, and other times we should just leave it to the professionals. This was definitely a moment where the latter should have been considered.
Not only is the grout underneath the tiles visible through the cracks, but there is no pattern or organization to them at all. Perhaps a design should have been set beforehand.
Placement is everything
When you’re changing things around, you need to consider where you’re going to put things before it all kicks off. If you don’t, you could end up with a problem like this one. The extractor is now a central and massive eyesore.
It probably would have done better being at the other end of the kitchen rather than right in front of everything. Well, aside from also being painted a totally different color, it’s hopefully something they remember next time.
Another plug fiasco
It’s probably one of the most important things we need to think about in modern homes. After all, almost everything we use inside the house relies on the power supply to make it work. Well, this power supply was installed upside down, making it a real problem with upside down cables.
Sometimes we have to do some jiggery-pokery when finding a plug socket, but if you’re choosing where they get to go, you want them done properly first time around.
Paneling overload
Some people love it, while others hate it. Whatever your taste, there are some dos and don’ts when it comes to paneling. One of those is avoiding paneling absolutely everything you can get your hands on.
Apparently, these guys didn’t get the memo and felt that their refrigerator would benefit from a new look too. Maybe it was a cheap way of covering up the fact it was a dated fridge, rather than going out and getting a new one. However, it just isn’t working.
Hello there
When you’re moving into your new home, you don’t want to go around discovering things like this everywhere you go. Even if it does look as if there is some weird and hilarious story to it.
This, from the outside, looks like a decent and useful cupboard. However, when you open it, you realize it’s literally for ventilation and a plug socket. Unfortunately, that’s one of the tougher things to try and fix, maybe they’ll make use of that glass yet.
The classic cooker in front of the sink
Ahh, everyone’s guilty of this, aren’t they? No, didn’t think so, and that’s probably because it’s a disaster being made to happen. Sure, they might have relatively okay access to their cooker, but they’re going to have some serious issues when it comes to doing the dishes.
Hopefully, this is a temporary solution since we’re not too sure how that’s a workable kitchen in the long term. Although we all have to make adjustments at some point.
