You want a new kitchen. Desperately. But you don’t want the months of eating microwaved meals on a card table cooked in your living room. You also don’t feel like shelling out tens of thousands of dollars because your functional kitchen just isn’t pretty. In fact, according to a recent HGTV article, the expense of a remodel is HUGE! “Home Advisor puts the average 2023 kitchen remodel price in the $14,611-$41,432 range with the median cost at $26,790. A small kitchen remodel can cost as little as $10,000-$15,000 and a lavish remodel can cost as much as $130,000+.” So if you just can’t take it any more, consider one or more of these budget friendly kitchen makeovers.
Change Your Hardware For A Budget Friendly Kitchen Makeover
I got dressed this morning and immediately hated my outfit. I didn’t have time for a complete overhaul, so I changed just one thing, my necklace, and voila! Off to work I went feeling pretty good about how I was dressed. I think a lot of you ladies get me on this one. The same can be said for simply changing the hardware on your cabinetry. It can give your kitchen a whole new look. Bruce and I recently changed ours, because even though the kitchen was completely renovated right before I purchased the home, the hardware choice was of less than stellar quality. And it had started to wear. We replaced the knobs and pulls with ones we bought on Amazon because they just weren’t good anymore. What we didn’t expect was how differently it made our kitchen look. And for so little investment. Kitchen happiness! You can have this too!
Insider Tip: Consignment and thrift stores can be a good resource for kitchen hardware. They often carry large quantities of recycled hardware at deep discounts. Locally, besides Consignments Ltd.,The ReStore in Charlestown, RI (Habitat For Humanity Retail Store) is a great place to look for hardware.
Add A Movable Island To Change The Look of Your Kitchen. It’s One of The Budget Friendly Kitchen Makeovers That Doesn’t Break The Bank.
A lot of kitchens have an island, but if yours doesn’t adding one can be an easy, budget friendly kitchen makeover. There are so many prefab and assembled islands that you can purchase for a few hundred dollars. But this is an area where you can really get creative if you want to. Upcycle an old dresser or a washtub into an island. You can make a small farm table or even a console into one. You can use just about anything that is counter height or can be built-up to counter height. Do this by adding casters or bun feet (available at your local hardware store) to your base of choice. Consignment and thrift shops are great resources for both the start to an island project as well as pre-assembled ones.
And if you’re hungry for even more on this topic, checkout my contribution to this Redfin blog article: Affordable Kitchen Upgrades
Update Your Back splash For A Budget Friendly Kitchen Makeover
Changing your kitchen backslash is definitely a budget friendly way to makeover your kitchen. You can use all types of tile in a variety of patterns and colors. For example, basic subway tile (white, rectangular) costs between $7-$35 per square foot INSTALLED. Do it yourself and you save the $5-$20 of that cost that is the labor. You can also go the route of a peel-and-stick backslash. Much like peel-and-stick wallpaper, but thicker and more durable, this tile installs quickly and stands up to water and heat like ceramic and stone tile do. Change the backslash and you just might love your kitchen again.
On a related note you can see my blog: Best Peel-and Stick Wallpapering Tips.
Modernize Your Lighting And Make Your Kitchen Shine
At my consignment store we sell a lot of used, kitchen lighting, from pendants to chandeliers. I think it’s because a lot of people understand that updating your lighting is key to a budget friendly kitchen makeover. Buying it on consignment or at thrift makes this statement even more true. I am not talking about the lighting update where you add a dozen pot lights and rewire everything. To make this budget friendly, stick to changing lighting in the places it is already. Update your fixtures to something the 1980’s doesn’t want back and you will be amazed at how different your kitchen will feel.
Hungry for more on kitchens? Pun definitely intended. Check out my previous blogs like: Best Kitchen Buys From Consignment and Thrift and Make Your Kitchen Smell Good With These Tips.
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