Basic Kitchen Renovations That Won’t Cost You An Arm And A Leg

When it comes to home improvements and renovations few rooms receive as much attention as does the kitchen. And there’s good reason for that since most prospective homeowners consider the kitchen the most important room in the house. And when you consider the kitchen is where most folks spend the majority of their time when at home, it makes sense to make the kitchen more comfortable and visually pleasing.

Unfortunately full-blown kitchen renovations can get quite expensive and most homeowners just aren’t willing to make a huge investment in their homes at the moment. With that being said we offer some ideas on how to renovate your kitchen without spending a fortune.

Cabinets

Replacing all of the cabinetry and cabinet bases and frames in your kitchen can literally cost you a small fortune. A good way to accomplish the same exact look and feel of replacing all of your cabinetry is to refinish or reface your cabinet faces. The process is pretty simple and doable for any homeowner who has a little do-it-yourself experience at home.

Basically what you’ll want to do is remove any molding or fascia on your cabinets and then completely sand away any existing paint or stain. Before you do this you’ll want to make sure you have enough wood underneath the existing paint to paint over. You can test a small area of your cabinetry prior to beginning to make sure you have enough base material to accomplish this.

If you don’t have enough material underneath, you can still paint over the existing paint but for the best results you’ll want to sand away the existing paint if possible. A good stain after sanding will make a dramatic impact on the look and feel of your kitchen!

Paint

Perhaps the easiest home improvement any homeowner can participate in is changing the color of the existing paint on your kitchen walls. A homeowner can save a lot of money by painting themselves and new paint will make a pretty big difference in your kitchen.

When you’re done painting, you’ll want to save the leftover paint and store it for future repairs you’re sure to have to make. By storing leftover paint, you’ll save yourself the time of having to custom match your existing paint and running to your local home improvement store down the line.

Another painting option that few homeowners ever consider is painting their existing appliances. While replacing your appliances will cost a lot, merely painting them will make them look like new at a fraction of the cost and you can also match the paint to your new kitchen!

Hardware

Another easy and inexpensive way for updating and improving the look of your kitchen is to add or replace the existing hardware, knobs and pulls found on your cabinets and drawers. A trip to your home improvement store will show you that you literally have a ton of options when it comes to cabinet hardware.

Another inexpensive way to improve the look of your kitchen is to replace the kitchen faucet. Kitchen faucets aren’t terribly expensive and it will look especially nice if you coordinate and match the finish with your new hardware and knobs!

Flooring

On a shoestring budget the only realistic option may be to have your floors professionally cleaned. If you have tile, you’ll also want to make sure you have your grout cleaned. If you have a larger budget and want to upgrade your flooring there are also great options for you.

Self-adhesive vinyl flooring has come a long way and looks incredible today and is a great option for those who want to upgrade their flooring on a budget. In addition, vinyl is the perfect flooring in your kitchen since it can get so messy in there and vinyl is incredibly easy to clean up.

Other Considerations

When remodeling your kitchen on a budget there are some things you should definitely stay away from if you want to keep your costs down. Tearing down walls or moving major fixtures or appliances like your stove or refrigerator can get quite expensive when you factor in labor costs which will be required to move important gas and water lines.

Just because you’ve decided to update and improve the look of your kitchen, doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune to do it. The above ideas will dramatically change the look and feel of your kitchen at a fraction of the cost of a full-blown kitchen remodel!