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Cost-Saving Kitchen Upgrades

Not all kitchens require a considerable redesign. This article will advise you on how to update your kitchen with simple techniques that don't require an enormous budget.

If your kitchen is serviceable but dated, a quick facelift could work wonders. This could involve new flooring, better lighting, refurbished or refaced cabinet fronts and maybe new appliances or a countertop. These improvements usually fall in the $1000 to $3000 price range, depending on material selection, size of space and amount of cabinet frontage.

Painting

Many older homes have cabinet which were built on site, often with solid pine or fir frame lumber and birch or pine drawer fronts and plywood doors. Such cabinets are usually better built than are today's low- to mid-priced modular units. They are also shaped to accommodate each kitchen's unique features.

Unless you're set on an all new kitchen, it's often a good choice to paint those original cabinets - this will cost around $50. Another $50 to $100 will get you new door and drawer pulls, and the result will be quite an improvement.

Stripping and Re-Staining

Stripping and re-staining is another option, but it is tedious and messy work that can tie up your kitchen for days, if not weeks, and subject your family to unpleasant and even noxious chemical fumes. Still, if your cabinets are an attractive hardwood, and the layout is still acceptable to you, stripping and refinishing can be a real money-saver.

Appliance Upgrades

You could go all-out and replace stove, refrigerator or sink as needed, or perhaps you could just update with some new fixtures and faucets. Countertops can also be replaced or refinished as desired - a wide variety of materials (at a wide variety of prices) are available for doing so.

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