How to Remodel Your Kitchen on a Budget

If your kitchen is due for an overhaul, you’d be right in thinking it could get costly. Kitchens can be one of the most expensive rooms in the house to remodel if you don’t keep a sharp eye on your budget!

Thankfully a kitchen makeover doesn’t have to break the bank. If you’re looking for kitchen renovation ideas, here are 5 great ways to save on your kitchen remodel. These are all simple tips that don’t require you to spend a huge chunk of cash.

1. Keep your original kitchen layout

A kitchen redesign often involves dramatically altering the footprint of your existing kitchen. Many designers will reel off the benefits of doing this, including more bench space and better functionality. What they might not tell you is that it will cost you thousands of extra dollars to accommodate a new kitchen layout.

Changing the layout means new plumbing, natural gas lines or electrical wiring. To avoid paying more money than you have to, keep your kitchen layout as it is.

2. Keep your kitchen cabinets

Tearing out your kitchen cabinets and replacing them with custom built ones will be expensive. For a cheaper alternative, consider refreshing them with a coat of paint, or if that’s not possible, get them refaced.

Refacing costs more than painting, but it’s the closest alternative to replacement and will save you a couple of thousand dollars. Repainting and refacing cabinets is also more eco-friendly than replacing them.

3. Get your appliances fixed

A broken appliance has no place in your kitchen makeover. But what if you just got the appliance fixed instead of dumping it in landfill? This is a new trend for budget kitchen remodels and it can save you a lot of money. Often appliances need a simple fix to get going again, like having a wire or element replaced or being serviced so they’re clean of dirt and food particles.

Even though there may be tutorials online about how to fix an appliance, anything involving electricity needs an experienced professional, so it’s best to call a technician rather than trying to DIY.

4. Use a cheaper benchtop

Kitchen work surfaces account for 20-30% of the visual area of your kitchen. So it’s important to get a benchtop that enhances your kitchen, and that you feel happy working on. You may have your heart set on a stone benchtop but marble, quartz and granite are all materials that cost a pretty penny.

Here are the pros and cons of some lower cost alternatives:

Laminate

Pros – Easy to clean and maintain, hard wearing and durable, can mimic the look of natural materials.

Cons – Not heat or steam resistant, can’t be used as a cutting surface.

Wood

Pros – Adds character, hygienic as has antibacterial properties, long lasting when cared for.

Cons – Can swell if gets damp so you need to wipe up water spills asap, can be easily stained or scratched, needs oiling at least once a year to look its best.

Composite (engineered stone, a mix of quartz and resin)

Pros – Easy to clean, needs little maintenance, hard-wearing and resistant to stains and scratches, wide design flexibility.

Cons – Sensitive to harsh cleaners like bleach or ammonia.

Solid surface (blend of minerals and acrylic)

Pros – Wide color range, easily shaped, no visible joints or grooves, easy to keep clean.

Cons – Can be damaged by heat, not scratch resistant but scratches can be polished out.

5. DIY where you can

Trade labor is one of the largest costs you’ll pay for a kitchen makeover. Try and save money with a DIY kitchen remodel where you can, and look at preserving retro charm and highlighting original details, rather than getting tradies to rip them out.

Here are some simple DIY jobs you can take on if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty:

• Paint splashback or floor tiles with specialist paint
• Buy Etsy tile stickers to add color or pattern to splashbacks
• Swap out cabinet handles and drawer pulls
• Paint cupboard doors.

Summary

If you haven’t got the budget for a complete kitchen remodel, these simple, low-cost touches can give your kitchen a fresh new look. Our tips include keeping your original layout, refreshing rather than replacing cabinets and taking on minor DIY jobs where you can save on labor costs. By preserving retro charm and highlighting original details, you can also save big on a kitchen makeover.

Author’s Bio:

Angela Pearse is a blogger for Zumper who frequently combines travel with freelance writing. She’s passionate about Art Deco hotels, historical novels, Netflix, hiking and healthy living.