Renovate Your Kitchen On The Cheap
How to Improve Your Home's Kitchen for Just a Few Hundred Dollars
You're desperate to replace those tasteless cabinets, lime-green appliances and worn countertops in your kitchen. The trouble is the $50,000 to $100,000 price of a high-end renovation and the thought of living on take-away food for three months during construction makes you feel ill.
With today’s market favouring the buyer, you are very unlikely to get a full return on a major kitchen renovation, unfortunately.
As long as your kitchen has a good layout and the units are in good condition you can transform your kitchen for as little as $1000 to $10,000 simply by improving the appearance of what is already there. This gives you a much better chance of seeing a full return on your investment.
With the color scheme it’s best to keep to neutral colors such as white, beige or cream. Natural materials are also a good idea as they don’t go out of style quickly. Hiring a professional kitchen designer could be a good idea, and they will help you choose materials, products and colors. Then, taking your budget into consideration, you can pick your projects.
If you have a few hundred dollars to spend:
Ceiling Fixtures - Don’t put up with an ugly ceiling that’s not too easy on the eye. For $25 to $250 you can purchase fixtures that match your cabinet hardware. Hire a qualified electrician to fit these unless you’re qualified yourself.
Laminate Flooring - For under $5 per square foot you can easily fit laminate flooring in your kitchen (if your kitchen floor is level with the floors in adjacent rooms). This is a great way to make unsightly chipped tiles or old linoleum disappear.
Cabinets - Spend a few dollars to replace tarnished knobs and pulls with brushed nickel and you will instantly make them look more modern. It’s important to make sure that any new hardware matches the existing holes. A new coat of paint will freshen up your cabinets. As long as your cabinets are solid, a new coat of paint will make them appear fresher. You could even get rid of some of your cabinet doors for a more open or free look. Make sure you fill any unwanted holes before painting using a suitable filler.
Appliances - For a few hundred dollars an appliance refinisher (look in your phone book) could re-enamel the surfaces of your appliances and greatly improve upon any dated colors that may be ruining the look of your kitchen.
