Kitchens are in my opinion the most important room in the house. Most of the household “workings” take place in there and its the hub of the family. It’s always the place, no matter how fabulous the rest of the house is, that everyone gathers at a party. So why not make it functional and pretty? It is also one of the spaces in your home that will add value if updated. BUT what if you don’t have a budget to get your dream kitchen, total bummer right?! Well, not necessarily….

Weve been in our lake home for about a year and a half now and we’ve come a really long way, I mean LONG! It’s definitely been a fixer upper and will continue to be for some time I’m sure. you can visit this post to see some early before and after( although it’s changed already so much from that post)  From frumpy to fabulous & still a work in progress…..However, with a limited budget we have tried to do most of the work ourselves and used various “hacks” to add character to things we don’t like until we can afford or decide on what we want to replace with.

So here is what the kitchen looked like before

Very dated & dark for our tastes.

So, where do you start?

• First of all, decide on a realistic budget.
• Next, select the items you want to change and assign them by priority. This can be based on cost, accessibility, weather etc.
• Then, decide if any of the items/areas you are wanting improve are things you could do yourself or if you will need the help of a contractor (which will increase your price) Every project we decided to do was a DIY item that we either figured out on our own or googled for tips and ideas.

 
Our project has been a slow process in stages. First, before we moved in, we removed that floating cabinet to open up the kitchen area. Then we painted all the cabinets, replaced the flooring and added new hardware to the cabinets.
 

 

 
Our next change was to the back splash. We really didn’t have any money to do what I wanted along with all the other items on the list, so we decided to placed bead board right on top of the existing tile. Virtually no mess and super easy. You can visit the step by step in this post Update your kitchen back splash tile with bead board
 

 

 
We are so thrilled with how it turned out and it was all done under $100!
 

 
Next up was updating the vent hood. There was nothing wrong with it as far as function, but it was just not attractive. You can go to this post to see the details of how we built it here How To Build A Vent Hood Over An Existing Cabinet
 

 

 

 
We built this vent hood in less than half a day and it was under $50.
Next to back splash, counter tops can be the most expensive update to a kitchen depending on what you select. This is definitely not in the cards for us at this point. And honestly, the granite isn’t awful, just not  working for the look I’m wanting in this space. So for a temporary fix, I covered them with marble contact paper! I had done this in a weekend home we used to own and it worked like a dream.
Now, this is definitely a temporary fix because I’m not sure they would be good for any long-term use. And you have to be cautious about what you put on them, but it’s also super easy to replace and very cheap!
 

 

 

 
I love the look of open shelving, but there is just no space to put any. And with limited cabinet space, I can’t afford to tear any out. So the solution was to take the doors off one of the cabinets, dress it up a bit and use that as the same concept.  I added these peel and stick “tiles” to the back to give a little pop and some interest. I love how the white dishes look against the black pattern. This change gives so much personality to the kitchen and the best thing is if I tire of it, the doors can go right back on.
 

 

 
 
Then finally we updated the faucet with a pretty black industrial one and the “boob” light above the sink with a coordinating industrial fixture to give it a little farmhouse french feel. One day I would love to replace the sink for an apron farmhouse and also the stove. But for now, these updates have made quite a refreshing difference for so little cost I couldn’t be happier.
 

 
It is possible to create “look-alike” hacks to spaces that you may not be able to change with the real version, but that doesn’t mean its hopeless! If you do your research, there are so many possibilities & options for doing simple and inexpensive updates.
I really hope this gave you some inspiration and encouragement to go for it and give your own kitchen some love if you’ve been wanting to but just can’t financially. If you have any questions, please contact me. Also, don’t forget to visit the posts I’ve referenced to see steps of how we completed many of these projects.
As always, please contact me with any questions. I love feedback and comments so hope to hear from you soon friends!

Happy Decorating!