Your kitchen is dated and you'd love a completely new look. But your budget won't allow for a complete overhaul. Fortunately, you can do a lot to improve the look and functionality of your kitchen without breaking the bank. When you're remodeling your kitchen on a shoestring budget, you want to make every penny count. Big impacts for little dollar amounts are your friends.
Keep Appliances in Place
Save thousands of dollars by keeping your appliances where they are. Moving your refrigerator across the room will require moving the electrical and mechanics as well. You may need to cut into walls and floors, and that can be expensive.
Cabinets: Repaint or Reface Instead of Replace
Your cabinets make one of the biggest impacts in your kitchen, so if they're dated, your efforts and budget will need to go towards improved cabinets. But you don't always need to replace your cabinets. If they're in good shape, and if you're happy with the layout of your kitchen, you can save thousands of dollars by either repainting or refacing your cabinets. Refacing involves replacing the doors, drawer fronts, faces, and any side panels of your cabinets while leaving the cabinet boxes in place.
Countertops: Granite Isn't Your Only Option
Everyone loves a beautiful granite countertop, but at $50 to $100 (or more) per square foot installed, that may be out of your budget. Fortunately, there are plenty of stylish, less-expensive options available. Laminates, for example, have improved in recent years and tend to look a lot more stylish than they once did. Butcher block is a good option, and quartz is a less-expensive alternative to granite. Modular granite is a hybrid tile stone that is also less expensive.
Not Your Typical Island
You don't always need to buy an island with cabinets that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars. Look at other pieces of furniture in new ways. Look at yard sales, Craigslist, and more for old tables and dressers that could be re-purposed into your new island. Just make sure the furniture you're look at is 36 inches high.
Expand Your Space
Do you really need all the walls that are surrounding your kitchen? Sometimes, a homeowner gets lucky and can easily knock down an unimportant wall, expanding the kitchen space for a whole new room. Other times, when you can't remove an entire wall, you can create a cutout instead. This still opens up the space, and it even gives you more counter room.
Backsplash
Immediately update your space with a modern backsplash. For less than $1,000, you can create a whole new design and look that makes your kitchen come together.
Decorative Elements
Don't underestimate the power of decorative elements in your kitchen. A stylish pendant lamp, a hanging chandelier, an updated shade, or even a new rug can really add the finishing touches that tie your whole kitchen together.
Lighting
The right lighting in the right places can instantly update your kitchen. Install track lighting (cheaper than recessed lighting) on the ceiling. Hang a pendant light over your sink. Make a big impact with under-cabinet lighting.
How will you update your kitchen? New Life Bath and Kitchen specializes in all elements of a kitchen remodel, including cabinet refacing. Give us a call at (805) 639-5433, or request a free consultation online.