Brand New Kitchen on a Budget

Just how expensive can it be? In order to compare cost, REMODELING magazine uses a 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of cabinetry and countertops as the base for three kinds of kitchen remodels.

• Minor kitchen remodels include raised-panel wood doors, new hardware, a mid-priced sink and energy-efficient appliances. National average in 2007: $21,185

• Major kitchen remodels include stainless steel appliances, a 3' x 5' island, new flooring and custom lighting. National average in 2007: $55,503

• Major-upscale kitchen remodels custom cabinetry, high-end sinks, faucets, glass backsplashes and under-cabinet lighting. National average in 2007: $109,394

If you're balking at even a minor kitchen remodel, here are five alternatives that won't have you spending five figures.

1. Paint, Paint, Paint
Painting cabinets, including wood cabinets, can completely transform a kitchen. "Paint is your best friend and your biggest bang for the buck," says Kenneth Brown, Los Angeles-based interior designer and host of reDesign. "It's better to have a high-quality painted finish than a medium-quality wood finish."

In one ugly kitchen, Brown painted ugly cabinet frames in rich chocolate brown with soft taupe for the doors. He removed the doors from one cabinet, painted the inside chocolate brown and the shelves taupe, and used the space to display wineglasses and bright orange ceramic plates.

Budget decorator Kathleen Wilson says faux finishes provide an expensive look for little money. Even vinyl flooring and laminate countertops can be painted to look like wood, marble or granite, says Wilson, as long as you use a high-quality primer made especially for non-porous surfaces and cover your paint job with four to five coats of polyurethane. And don't underestimate the impact of adding color to your walls. "The biggest change you can make is to bring color into a kitchen," says Wilson, whose own kitchen is sage green with blue accents.

Designer Joan Kohn, author of It's Your Kitchen: Over 100 Inspirational Kitchens, says one of the biggest advantages to painting kitchen walls and cupboards is that it forces you to clean: "You can make [a room] beautiful at any price if you take good care of it," she says. "Clutter is the most expensive mistake people make. It's the difference between the refrigerator covered in magnets and the one lovely drawing by your child that is covered with glass and hung. Nobody can afford to damage what they have by destroying it with a mess."

2. Add New Kitchen Hardware
Even if you're stuck with hard-to-paint laminate cabinets you can still update your kitchen by changing all the cabinet handles and drawer pulls.

"If you want to be bold and add a splash of color, remove all the hardware and spray paint it a new color," Brown says. Or buy antique forks and spoons at flea markets or thrift shops and fit them with screws to use as handles or pulls, suggests Wilson. New hardware in every imaginable finish is available at your local home improvement store. Just be sure to buy pieces that match up with the holes already drilled in your cabinets to save yourself the time and tedium in covering up old holes.

Similarly, replacing your kitchen faucet with a new, modern one can also give the kitchen a whole new look. New stainless steel faucets for less than $100 can add modern freshness, as well as function, to the entire kitchen.