Budget-Friendly Kitchen Remodel: Steps 8 - 10

Even a budget-friendly kitchen remodel can yield major results.  If resources are limited, focusing your efforts on the most tired, worn and outdated features will seem to take years off the age of the kitchen and give the whole space a lift.  Start by increasing efficient storage, updating the cabinet finish and hardware, replacing the faucet and upgrading the countertops.  Next, install or renew the backsplash and paint the kitchen a fabulous color.  Finish off the remodel with updated appliances, lighting scheme and finishing accessories to pull it all together.

Finish Your Kitchen Remodel for $3,000 or Less
  

8.  Reface the Appliances

Like the look of stainless steel in the kitchen?  If you haven’t been shopping for appliances lately, prepare yourself for sticker shock.  In luxury home remodels, professional-grade stainless steel appliances are all the rage, whether the homeowners cook regularly or not.  But purchasing just one high-end appliance could bounce a $3,000 budget in the blink of an eye.  In more moderately priced lines, consumers pay about a third more for the stainless steel model than comparable models in white.  Replacing an appliance in good working order just to get the updated look of stainless steel doesn’t make good fiscal sense.  So what is a homeowner on a tight budget to do?

Get the look without the price tag!  Give your existing appliances a makeover and reface them with faux stainless steel film.  Made with a durable PVC surface, the peel and stick film called Softmetal is inexpensive, simply to apply and easy to keep clean.  For less than $300, a DIY homeowner can give the refrigerator (three-sides) and the fronts of the dishwasher, range or wall oven and microwave a modern, high-end look.   

9.  Lighten it Up

Next to the appliances, it’s often the light fixtures that give away the age of a kitchen.  Replacing the kitchen’s old overhead fluorescent fixtures with a more contemporary halogen fixture will update the look, give off a warmer, more inviting light, and improve the overall functionality of the kitchen.  Older kitchen designs often call for a better lighting scheme to include general, task and accent lighting. 

General lighting providing the overall illumination in the kitchen can come from recessed cans or an overhead fixture centered in the room. 

Under-cabinet-mounted fluorescent fixtures are ideal for lighting countertops in food-prep and clean-up areas.   Track lighting with adjustable heads is also a good option for task lighting since light can be directed to where it is most needed. 

If your kitchen is already outfitted with cans or tracks, take a look at the newer fixtures.  The more current models feature smaller cans and sleeker, more streamlined track heads.  Home improvement stores sell a retrofit kit to update older can models and individual track heads that will work with your existing track.  Swap them out for a more current look.  

Adding dimmer switches will give you more flexibility and control over the light levels in the room.  When you’re working in the kitchen, you can keep the lights at full power.  When dining and entertaining, you can dim the lights to create instant ambiance and atmosphere.

Where do you use accent lighting in a kitchen?  Anywhere you want to highlight a special feature in your kitchen.  Mount a low-voltage halogen light in the top of a glass-front cabinet, and the light will shine down on your crystal, china or favorite piece of Fiestaware.  Or install rope lighting - a string of small lights encased in clear plastic tubing - above the kitchen cabinets, beneath the soffits, or below the cabinets at the toe-kicks.  When all the other lights are off, the rope lighting will give the kitchen a soft glow - perfect for setting a mood or lighting the way to your midnight snack.

10. Add the Accents

Now that you’ve updated the kitchen’s fixtures and finishes, it’s time to add the finishing touches.  Most people spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so make it special!  Use the remainder of your $3,000 budget to purchase kitchen accessories that will bring personality into the hub of your home. 

• Serve up some art.  Decorate your kitchen with dishes that play up your new color scheme.  Purchase some plate hangers and create an interesting grouping on the wall.  Or feature a unique decorative plate on a plate stand in the corner of your countertop or behind a glass-front cabinet.
• Bring in the outdoors.  Brighten the kitchen with indoor plantings placed in brightly-colored pots; a sunny window is the perfect spot for an herb garden.  Or arrange a bouquet of flowers cut from the garden or purchased in the floral department at the grocery store.
• Fill the fruit bowl.  What could be better than decor you can eat?  Use one variety of fruit for a stronger punch of color.  Limes, lemons, oranges and green apples have natural deodorizing properties too. 
• Fill the canisters.  Other food items can be layered in clear canisters for an interesting and inexpensive display.  Think coffee beans, dried beans and legumes, pasta, or candies.
• Dress the windows.  Designer fabrics can be expensive, but window valances don’t require much yardage, and they’re simple to make.  Buy a simple rod with matching rings to clip onto the fabric; then all you’ll need to do is hem the bottom and two sides and hang.  If you don’t sew, use iron-on hem tape to finish the edges. 
• Dress the table.  Kitchen linens are another way to add some pattern and color to your space.  Pick out some fashionable placements and napkins to perk up your table setting or kitchen island.  Don’t forget to buy new dish rags, towels and potholders to go with the new color scheme.

Step back and admire your kitchen’s updated, more modern look.  Better yet, call up family and friends and invite them over for a dinner party.  No one will believe you spent less than $3,000 on your budget kitchen makeover.  Now pat yourself on the back because you’ve just added about five times that amount to the value of your home!

Looking for another renovation that will add value to your home?  Get ready to tackle a bathroom remodel!

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