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.

Wilson has used no-fire glass paints to stencil or stamp colorful designs on existing ceramic tile to give it a custom look. In her own kitchen, "we didn’t have tile backsplashes and didn't want to rent a tile cutter." The solution? She bought some beautiful stone floor tiles, broke them and created a random mosaic on the wall, followed up with silicone adhesive and grout. Total cost: About $10 for a space 10" high by 20' long.

She suggests checking with ceramic shops for broken pieces of pottery, or using broken china to create your own mosaic backsplash. Or, buy a select few high-end painted or carved tiles and then create a mosaic around them. Reglazing ceramic tile is also an option, says Brown. "If done properly, it can bring a whole room to life, but the trick is finding the person to do it who knows what they're doing."

4. Creatively Upgrade Your Kitchen Floor
Kohn says spending money on quality flooring is well worth it, because flooring is so crucial to the overall look and feel of the room. Extend the hardwood flooring from your dining room into the kitchen, for instance.

"A new kitchen floor that continues the architecture in the rest of the house is a wonderful way to harmonize the design," Kohn says. She's also a fan of classic looks in the kitchen, such as black and white checkered linoleum. "A nice coat of white paint for the walls and cabinets, a black and white checked linoleum floor, and red knobs or a set of red canisters on the counter to give a punch of color" provide style that's "never out of date," Kohn says.

For a more contemporary feel, Brown has installed large sheets of maple plywood, which were left in their natural color and then sealed. Wilson created a faux leather floor in her kitchen with simple brown craft paper. She tore the paper into sheets and installed it on the floor with several coats of polyurethane. "I love it. It looks high end and very individual," she says. And if you can't afford to replace, you can always cover your kitchen floor with inexpensive rugs.

5. Light Up Your Kitchen
"Layering the lighting can definitely change the mood" of the kitchen says Brown. He likes under-cabinet "hockey puck" lights available at most home improvement stores, which are easy to install.

If you're lucky enough to have glass doors on your cabinets, you also can add lighting to the cabinet interiors to create a dramatic effect says Stephanie Badillo, an interior designer with The Home Depot in New York. Badillo also says changing overhead fixtures can make a big difference.

Wilson suggests bringing in a lovely lamp from your living room or den and placing it on the kitchen counter or tabletop to add personality to the kitchen.

(Contributions to this article from Kathy McCleary)