As you
probably know, a kitchen remodel is often the number one upgrade to your home…and
is often the most expensive. However, many
of us are stuck with outdated cabinets, counter tops, flooring, etc and a very
limited budget. So, what are we to do? Your kitchen is the heart of your home. It should be a place that you love to entertain and no matter how small your budget...you CAN have a beautiful kitchen that reflects your style and personality. So…let me show you how you can update your kitchen without breaking the bank.
Let’s start with lighting…our home was built in 1978 and
came with only two dome style lights in the ceiling that did not
provide much in the way of lighting. We
had an electrician friend come out who gave us some free advice on where to
place the new LED Recessed lights. (Check out my You Tube video of the
installation of these). I removed the existing dome lights and replaced with five 3" LED lights for a total cost of $250.00 in
materials. This includes the lights,
wiring and materials to patch the old holes in the ceiling.
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| Before photo |
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| After 3" LED Lights were installed |
Next up was to tackle our counter tops. We looked at replacing with Granite or Corian or even putting new Formica back on to save money, but the price was
just more than we wanted to spend. While researching our options we read that Rustoleum puts out a
product for re-surfacing your counter tops.
We were a bit leery about trying this but figured we had nothing to lose. If we didn’t like it we could go
back to our original thought and rip out the counter top and replace it was
something new. Believe it or not…to
re-do all our counter-tops only cost us $250.00 plus tax and we did it in less than two days. Check out the product here and see the before and after photos below.
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| Before (Old Wood Grain Laminate Counter tops) |
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| After (Java Chip Rustoleum Transformation) | | |
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Now we move on to the cabinets. We looked into replacing the doors but the cost was, again, more than we wanted to spend; but we had to get rid of those ugly door handles in the middle of each cabinet and staining wasn't an option. Since we were so impressed with the Rustoleum Counter Top Transformation we decided to use the Cabinet Transformation Kit. The process was a bit more labor intense than the counter tops taking about a week to complete, which consisted of cleaning, de-glossing, light sanding, painting (2 coats), glazing (to get the antique look) and a clear top coat. We then added new hinges and door knobs to complete the look. Total cost of the cabinet re-facing was approximately $250.00. This included two of the Rustoleum Kits (about $80.00/ea), extra brush and tape as well as the new hinges and knobs (we were able to purchase these in value packs). I almost forgot to mention that I added some crown molding above the cabinets to give it a more finished look. This additional cost was approximately $60.00.
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| Before Photo of Cabinets |
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| After Photo using Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation |
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| After the backsplash and hardware were added |
A few additional items we bought to complete our kitchen facelift was a peel and stick backsplash for $200.00, a new sink for $250.00 and finally a new faucet for $80.00.
Total cost for our new kitchen was approximately $1,340.00 for materials. Remember, with a little thought, time and effort, remodeling your kitchen as we just did, can certainly be accomplished with a low budget while still achieving amazing results.
