5 Ways to Upgrade Your Kitchen on a Budget
Due to the high price of labor and materials, remodeling the kitchen is among the most expensive home improvement projects you can undertake. However, the good news is that remodeling a kitchen on a tight budget is doable.
With a bit of creativity and strategic planning, you can give your kitchen a fresh new look and enhanced functionality without draining your wallet. It is ultimately up to you as the homeowner to keep the expense of your kitchen renovation project low. The remodeling decisions you make while keeping your budget in check are typically easier to handle.
So, whether you're looking to spruce up your cooking space for your own enjoyment or increase its appeal for potential buyers, this guide will provide you with budget-friendly ideas and smart tips to upgrade your kitchen without compromising on style or quality. Let’s take a look.
- Refresh Your Cabinets Instead of Replacing Them
Generally, tear-out and replacement projects cost more than those that use most of the existing materials. This is also the case for kitchen cabinetry. A new pair of kitchen cabinets can be quite expensive, especially if you need components created just for your kitchen.
Fortunately, there are several environmentally beneficial and affordable solutions to update your current cabinets. That way, your old kitchen cabinets won't find their way into a landfill.
Shelving- Installing some open shelves can be better than buying new cabinets or renovating your current ones. Shelves are cheap and simple to match your kitchen's design, giving it a spacious sense, nearly like a commercial kitchen.
Refacing- Cabinet Refacing is more expensive than painting and involves completely replacing the doors and drawer fronts and adding a new veneer to the cabinet's exterior. DIYing this can be challenging since it requires equipment and knowledge that you might lack. However, you can hire an experienced contractor to do this for you. It will radically alter the appearance of your kitchen and is still less expensive than purchasing entirely new cabinets.
Painting- A traditional and cheap way to update kitchen cabinets is to paint them. Depending on the type of kitchen cabinets, the sanding, priming, and painting procedure may take a while. However, it's easy enough, even for homeowners who don't know the difference between a saw and a screwdriver.
- Give Your Kitchen a Fresh Coat of Paint
Something as simple and easy as a fresh coat of paint can radically change your kitchen's aesthetic appeal. In fact, paint might be an inexpensive way to make a big difference, especially when a backsplash or cabinets mostly cover your kitchen's walls. Choose a light-wash or white paint instead of present dark hues to lighten your space. This is especially the case if your kitchen walls are already painted dark. However, if your kitchen walls are painted in a lighter hue, consider using a moodier color to add some fresh intrigue.
Ultimately, even repainting your kitchen walls in the existing color can assist in concealing the inevitable spills, scratches, scuffs, and other damage that frequently occurs in this busy area of the home. If you think that painting all your kitchen walls is something you can't do on your own, try painting a colorful accent wall to give your room a fresh new look. And don't forget about other areas of your kitchen that you can tie into your color scheme – for example, you could get a coordinating orla kiely oilcloth tablecloth to both protect your table and further enhance the design and look of the space.
- Change the Lighting
It can be easy to disregard lighting, but doing so would be a mistake because it significantly influences your kitchen. By installing new wall sconces, pendant lights, or ceiling mounts, you may completely alter the ambiance of your kitchen.
Countertop lighting is a great way of adjusting the ambiance of your kitchen. These lighting fixtures are placed above your counters and under wall cabinets. They provide general illumination for your kitchen and serve as task lighting when you are cooking.
- Upgrade Your Kitchen Hardware
One of the cheapest methods to improve your kitchen right away is to replace all the knobs and pulls on your cabinets and drawers. If you want to repair or repaint your cabinets, go over and above and purchase new handles and knobs.
Hardware replacement should only set you back a few hundred dollars or less. Knobs and pulls can be purchased at a reasonable price from a salvage or resale store, or you can buy specialized hardware from a website like eBay, Amazon, or Etsy.
- Update Your Countertops
One of the most expensive elements of a kitchen remodeling project might be replacing your kitchen countertops. However, the good news is that there are methods to cut costs on this, regardless of whether you want to update or replace your countertops. However, if getting new countertops is high on your priority list, look around for affordable granite or hold off until a large sale at a big-box home improvement retailer.
However, there are still choices for updating the current countertops you can accomplish on your own if replacing them is out of your price range or exceeds the extent of the work you want to perform. For instance, you can consider buying a countertop paint kit for a quick, low-cost DIY upgrade. For a fraction of the cost of more expensive stone, granite, or even marble, old countertops may be covered with paint or even resin to give a new look.
In fact, even DIY kits are available to rebuild your countertops so they resemble concrete, which is a trendy design right now. Ultimately, the overall effect can be magnificent without needing a specialized skill set or costing a fortune, but it might take a lot more time and patience.
The Final Words
With a bit of creativity and strategic planning, you can give your kitchen a fresh new look and enhanced functionality. These upgrades can be accomplished by simply searching for an affordable home improvement and remodeling contractor in your area or by DIYing some of the projects yourself. Whatever the approach, you can rest assured that your kitchen will look brand-new without a significant dent in your wallet.
