5 Ways to Update Your Kitchen on a Budget
A few simple updates in your kitchen can make a big difference. Get inspired with us and read on for some great ideas. We hope you enjoy and as always, we are here should you have any questions.
HARDWARE Cabinets can be so dressed up by kitchen jewelry such as knobs and pulls. Be aware however, that hardware for the cabinets can get very expensive and fancy, and for a single ornate knob, can cost as much as $30 and more. But by buying 10-packs of simple, contemporary hardware at any of the giant big box stores for $20 or less, you will be getting a big bang for your buck!(that will be under $2 per knob!).
And so that you will not have to patch or drill, and can also save yourself money and time, replace 1-hole hardware with upgrades that are 1-hole, and 2-hole hardware with 2-hole upgrades.
PAINT (one of our favorites of course!) A fresh coat of paint is certainly the fastest way you can upgrade those cabinets. Of course, it is most cost-effective to do the work yourself, only a few gallons of paint, some cleaner, and some sandpaper, but be aware that it will take you some time to get the job done! If you decide to paint the cabinets, be aware of the importance of proper preparation. You will need to rough the surfaces with 150-grit sandpaper for melamine and laminate finishes, and be certain to apply an excellent primer before you finish things off in the color that you choose.
Keep these tips in mind, if you decide to go ahead with this project:
Do not skimp on the preparation. Remove all dried-on gunk and grease from the cabinet doors and boxes, use putty to fill in all nicks and holes, then thoroughly sand everything down.
Your kitchen will appear much larger with lighter-colored paints.
So that your final coat will look great, sand each previous coat you apply.
When you paint the doors, be certain to lay them flat before starting. Then before you paint the other side, make certain the first side painted has dried completely. These cautions and concerns will help eliminate any drip marks from showing up.
MOLDING When you are talking about kitchen updates, for far less than you might expect, you can add a great touch of class to the cabinets by installing crown molding on top. For as little as $20 for 8 feet, you can get yourself three inch, primed composite crown molding which will look so good. And you will always get the perfect match, when you add the molding when you are replacing the cabinets.
Be prepared for a difference in color, if you are ordering from your cabinet’s manufacturer matching wood. The reason for this is that with age, natural wood cabinets will always darken. This is particularly true when it comes to cherry cabinets.
GLASS You can, and will, change the look and feel of your kitchen, when you change the glass insert in a cabinet door.
Stock cabinets are given a custom look when you add decorative glass.
Every cabinet door is not suited for a changeover though. Doors with removable panels are required. Look over your door’s backs, and see if you can remove the center panel.
Glass insert types are truly limitless–antique, raindrops on water, bubbles, contemporary–and with costs per square foot of $7 to $9. This means that for somewhere between $35 and $45, you can change the appearance of a 2-door, 30 inch by 24 inch cabinet.
LIGHTING At one time, wiring under-cabinet lights, was the only way to shed light on kitchen tasks, and this was quite a messy and expensive undertaking. Today however, with battery powered peel-and-stick LED lights, you can add lighting inside and under cabinets.
Certainly, not as bright as their hard-wired cousins, are these battery operated lights. But the good news is that you can easily afford to buy several and spread them around, because they only cost about $8 each. And you will get thousands of hours of usage from these LED light bulbs.
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