Looking for kitchen remodel ideas on a budget? I’m sharing 8 low cost, big impact ideas to instantly update your space!
Our house was in mint 90’s condition when we bought it so we have a lot of updating and remodeling in our future. While we plan to do a major kitchen remodel at some point, we have bigger fish to fry first (like our primary bathroom – yikes!). So in the meantime, we’re knocking out a few budget-friendly changes to help make our kitchen feel a little less dated and a little more like us.
Today I’m sharing the details of those changes to give you 8 kitchen remodel ideas for updating your space on a budget! (post includes affiliate links; full disclosure statement available {here})
1. Dress Up Your Dated Backsplash
Most dated kitchens could benefit from a backsplash upgrade including ours that was wallpapered in a Waverly-like floral pattern when we bought it:
Fortunately there are LOTS of budget-friendly backsplash solutions including the one that I chose – removing the dated, stained wallpaper and installing a new, more stylish option. You can wallpaper just the backsplash area under the cabinets or take it all the way up to the ceiling like I did:
Depending upon the size of the wallpaper roll and the pattern repeat, you often only need a single roll. I used {this indigo wallpaper} which is on the pricey side but since I was using the leftovers from another project (wallpapering the back of our bookcases) to cover the kitchen, it didn’t end up costing me a dime.
To protect it from getting ruined by water and food splatters, I coated it with {this dead flat varnish} that adds a protective coating with virtually no change in the color or sheen of the wallpaper:
At some point I’ll get to wallpapering the outlet covers in our backsplash too so that they blend in.
Other budget-friendly options for dressing up a dated kitchen backsplash are to use peel and stick subway tile sheets like {these} over bare walls or tile stickers like {these} that can be used on drywall or over pre-existing backsplash tiles:
Tile Sticker Sources: 1. Geometric cross pattern | 2. Modern neutral pattern | 3. Neutral star pattern | 4. Blue starburst pattern | 5. Cement tile look-alike pattern | 6. Neutral tri-color pattern
You could also inexpensively transform a dated tile backsplash by painting it! Simply use the same steps that I share in my post on how to paint a ceramic tile floor when I transformed our bathroom floor:
2. Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets &/Or Trim
If your cabinets are an ugly wood stain or paint color or you have white cabinets that have yellowed with age like mine, painting them can have a huge impact! My cabinet doors are white thermofoil so they hadn’t yellowed but the trim around them was a different story:
There was a BIG color difference between the white cabinet doors and yellowed trim:
To fix the issue I took all of the upper cabinet doors off,
lightly sanded the cabinet frames with 220 grit sandpaper, used a towel and then a tack cloth to get all of the dust off, and then primed them with {this bonding primer} that’s made to stick to almost any surface:
Once the primer had dried and I’d allowed enough time to re-coat, I very lightly sanded again and then painted with Benjamin Moore Advance paint in Simply White (satin finish). After two coats of the Advance paint, my cabinet framing and trim looked like new and matched the cabinet doors perfectly with no more ugly yellow:
We also got a new microwave and now need to address the ugly black hole around it. I’m guessing that the previous owners removed a built-in microwave and replaced it with a stand-alone one but the hole doesn’t fit any standard trim kits so we’re working on figuring out an easy budget-friendly solution for that.
While we only needed to paint our trim, you can use these same steps to repaint your cabinet doors too, just like I did with the cabinets in my daughters’ bathroom. They were a dark wood stain with lots of signs of wear:
that looked like new after a few coats of paint:
I share my detailed step by step in my post on how to paint bathroom cabinets. Definitely check it out if you’re thinking about tackling this project in your kitchen!
Refacing your kitchen cabinets is another option for giving your cabinets new life. It’s pricier than painting them but not as pricey as buying new cabinets. See my post on kitchen cabinet refacing for details on the refacing project we knocked out in our Ohio home.
3. Spray Paint Yellowed Recessed Lighting Trim
Often if you have a dated kitchen, your recessed lighting is showing its age too. Spray painting yellowed recessed lighting trim white makes such a difference – it’s one of my favorite kitchen remodel ideas on a budget!
Here’s what our recessed lighting trim used to look like:
I removed the trim, spray painted it with {this high heat spray paint} (I sprayed two coats) and reinstalled it the next day. I was able to whiten the trim of all 14 recessed lights in our kitchen area with just a single can of spray paint. It’s super quick and easy to do!
These are the same two lights with a fresh newly whitened look:
If you aren’t a DIYer and just want to replace them instead of spraying them, {this 12-pack of baffle trim} will do the trick if you have standard 6-inch recessed can lights.
4. Swap Out Dated Hardware & Faucets
A change in cabinet hardware is an easy way to make a big difference! Our old knobs were a shiny brass in a dated style:
I feel like these were the knobs that were put in 80% of kitchens in the ’90s right?! I swapped them out with {these knobs} in the 1 5/16 size & Golden Champagne finish which is a really beautiful matte brass:
If you have a mix of knobs and pulls in your kitchen {these pulls} that I used when we remodeled our kitchen in CT would complement them nicely. They’re well-priced for the quality (Amerock hardware is top notch) but if you’re on a strict budget, you’ll get the best pricing by searching for knobs that are available in packs of 20 or 30 like {these similar brushed brass knobs} or {these matte black knobs}.
A new faucet is another budget-friendly option to consider. The kitchen faucet we had when we bought our house wasn’t only dated, but the spout was so low that it wasn’t very functional either:
We replaced it with {this high arc brushed nickel faucet} that was a steal along with {this soap pump}:
So much better!
5. Dress Up Your Ugly Countertops
Did you notice one other big change from the pics I’ve shared so far? I covered our countertops with {this peel and stick marble contact paper} that’s made for kitchens and bathrooms (it’s water resistant). It changed the laminate wood-edged countertops that we had before:
into something a whole lot prettier:
Check out my step by step post about usin marble contact paper for countertops including the tools I used and several installation tips.
6. New Lighting
Most kitchens don’t have many light fixtures (typically just a pendant or two) so consider swapping those out for an instant upgrade! Our kitchen had just a single pendant over the island:
that we swapped out for {this 6-light chandelier with shade}:
I love it! I have a long-term plan to use it in our home office (which is our room above the garage that is currently “furnished” with a card table and ikea chair 😂) so I was ok with spending a little more on it. But if you’re looking for low priced options, eBay and Facebook Marketplace are great options.
7. Add Interior Cabinet Organizers
If your kitchen cabinets were installed 20+ years ago, odds are that they’re lacking any of the useful interior organizers that you can get with cabinets today. But there are so many easy options for adding them yourself! For example, I love {these expandable bamboo drawer dividers} for creating wood divisions within my drawers to keep everything neatly in place:
Other Sources: Drawer knob | Hedgehog measuring cups | Floral oven mitt
Or you can go a little fancier and add one of {these wood spice drawer organizers} to one of your kitchen drawers:
Check out my post on kitchen drawer organizers for lots of other options too!
8. Freshen Things Up With New Accessories
Never underestimate the power of accessories! I don’t like having a ton of accessories cluttering up my kitchen countertops but adding a few stylish pieces here and there can make a world of difference. Some of the accessories I added to our kitchen include a pair of {these soap pumps} (mine are the 16 ounce clear) that fit perfectly in {this resin tray} next to our sink:
I also have a plant in {this cute planter} plus {this striped dish towel} in denim blue:
Next to our island cooktop I have {this round woven tray} (also check out {this similar tray} for a more budget-friendly option) with a large white planter (no longer available) filled with some of {these faux greenery branches}. My round woven tray includes {this marble wine cooler} that I use as a utensil holder, {this glass oil bottle}, and salt and pepper mills:
Near our oven we have {this coffee maker} in {this round wood tray} with a few of {these glass coffee cups}:
And on the other side of our kitchen near the refrigerator I have {this marble & wood cookbook holder} along with two of {these glass storage jars} for flour and sugar:
To wrap things up, how about a good ole “before” and “after” pic to see the difference that all of those changes made? Here’s what our kitchen looked like when we bought it:
and here’s its new look:
One change I didn’t mention in my post was swapping out the counter stools because I definitely can’t include those suckers in the “budget” category – they are {these woven counter stools}. I LOVE how the woven design ties this main kitchen area in with our breakfast nook (which is NOT usually as dressed up as when I took this pic – ha!):
Sources: Woven pendant | Round table | Bistro chairs | 7′ Round jute rug
Now that our kitchen has a newly refreshed look, I feel like I can more patiently wait until the time is right for a larger kitchen remodel. And most importantly, our home now feels more like “us” than someone else’s home that we’re living in 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions about our newly refreshed kitchen or if there’s anything I missed. Be sure to stop by my Shop page {HERE} to check out all of the latest deals I found!
Thanks for stopping by today!