Transform Your Garden and Home

How to Remodel Your Kitchen When You're On a Budget

16 October 2017

Christy Rivera

A full kitchen remodel can be very expensive, but you don't always need to break your budget when the space needs some updating. Usually you can save quite a bit of money on your kitchen remodel if you explore all your options, and select items that are more affordable and easier to install. Note a few tips to consider so you can have the new kitchen you need even when on a tight budget.

Get a kit

A kit is a type of prefabricated kitchen section that may come with a sink, stove, refrigerator, and some cabinet and cupboards, all of which are connected to each other. You slide this kit into a wall space in the kitchen, connect the pipes for the sink, plug in the refrigerator and stove, and then bolt the cabinets to the wall. Because the kit is prefabricated, you don't need to attach individual cabinets to the wall or worry about measuring for the appliances. The benchtop is also already attached to the lower cabinets, so this also doesn't need installation. A kit can then be one of the cheapest ways to get a new kitchen space even when on a budget.

Recycle old materials

If you pull up the old floor tile, can you cut away smaller pieces that are salvageable and use them as a splashback? A tile cutter can allow you to trim them down to the size needed, and to cut away any chipped or especially grimy areas of the tile, while the other sections can still be used. Wood from your old cabinets might be cut and used for a butcher-block benchtop. You can also take an old cabinet, add casters to the bottom, attach a remnant of granite to the top, and you have a new kitchen island!

Remodel one section at a time

Your kitchen may need new flooring, benchtops, cabinets, and many other items, but this doesn't necessarily mean you need to replace everything at once. Start with the most worn down area, or what gets in your way of food prep the most, and replace that; this might mean the benchtops, or the stove and refrigerator. Next year, replace the flooring. The year after, or when you can afford it, replace the cabinets. You may be impatient to get all the work done at once, but might also be surprised at how making even one change in the kitchen can make it workable for a time, and spreading out those changes can make them much more affordable for you.

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