Home Renovation Ideas

Refresh Your Kitchen On A Dime

A Budget-Friendly Renovation Journey

Did you know that not all kitchen decorating needs to be expensive? As a homeowner in Aberdeen, UK, I’m here to share some simple tips and ideas on how to update your kitchen on a budget.

Kitchens can be a little overwhelming, I get it. You want to have a kitchen you love, but sometimes you just don’t know where to start. Well, my friend, let me tell you a story about how I refreshed my own kitchen on a dime, and how you can do the same.

Falling Back in Love with Your Kitchen

Can I ask you a question? Are you friends with your kitchen? You know, do you hang out and share kitchen secrets, drink coffee together, and watch the dishwashing soap bubble? If not, I have a little exercise for you.

Go into your kitchen and look around. Yes, that’s right, walk in and really take a good look. Walk it once, walk it twice, and make mental notes. Then, make a list of five things you love about your kitchen and five things you wish you could change.

You see, the secret to kitchen decorating is this: you don’t need to change everything to have the kitchen of your dreams. There are probably parts of it that you already love, so why not keep those and focus on the areas that need a little TLC?

Budget-Friendly Kitchen Updates

Here are some simple projects, some take a weekend and some take an afternoon, but all of them are inexpensive alternatives to the expensive changes you see in so many magazine kitchens. These are my best tips for how to update a kitchen on a budget.

Molding Magic

Let me give you a simple example from my own kitchen. See the end of the kitchen island? It has molding in three places. Now, truth be told, this kitchen island was built on a wing and a prayer. It wasn’t custom, just a standard build with drawers. But we made it look custom with some strategic molding.

Check out some other kitchen molding projects you might want to try.

The Power of a Plate Rack

I cannot stress this enough – if you want to fall in love with your kitchen again, just build a plate rack. It takes up a lot of space, it’s decorative and useful, and it’s an easy beginner DIY (especially because you use the back of the wall for most of it). And the best part? You can build it in an afternoon. Here’s how to build a plate rack. And if you’re feeling sassy, here’s how to add a recipe to it.

Elevating Your Cabinets

This is one of my very favorite tips ever. These were just standard kitchen cabinets until we extended them all the way to the ceiling. Do you know the awkward space that’s on top of kitchen cabinets that no one really knows what to do with, except for adding random greenery and stacks of cookbooks? Why not make it go all the way to the ceiling? It’s a game-changer, I tell you.

Hardware Makeovers

I know this seems so simple, but sometimes this can make such a big difference. You can find all kinds of reasonably priced hardware online. Amazon is my go-to for kitchen hardware. Just like the crystal drawer pulls for this kitchen. You can see them here. And these amazing crystal knobs. If you’re wondering how to update your kitchen on a budget and you don’t have the budget for hardware, why not spray paint them? Here are some of my best tips for spray painting. You could also make your own hardware from spoons. Here’s how I made my cabinet handles from spoons.

Bringing in the Farmhouse Charm

If painting the cabinets is too much commitment (I get it – painting cabinets can be a little scary), why not just add a hutch or bookshelf to your space and paint it instead? This gray hutch that I bought at a yard sale years ago for £75 provides great storage and fills up the wall with a little color with about 1/64 of the commitment of painting the cabinets. I get asked all the time what color it is. It’s painted mostly Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray. If you’re looking for a good gray paint, here are some of my favorites.

Looking for a farmhouse hutch like this and you can’t find one? No worries. We made our own. You could also transform a thrift store piece with this simple faux finish.

Seating Upgrades

Looking for an easy way on how to update a kitchen on a budget? Why not change out your barstools? I just changed out the barstools in our kitchen. I found them at a local thrift store for only £45 for four of them. They had a rough finish and needed to be patched and painted. Then we sanded the seats back to the original wood.

Small but Mighty Changes

Sometimes it’s just a small project in the kitchen that makes a difference. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just a little project to make you fall in love with your kitchen again. Here are some of my favorites:

And if you only have five minutes for a super budget update for your kitchen? All you need to do is cut some branches from your yard or add faux branches like these. Put them in a glass vase on your counter. It’s such a simple tip. And chances are that one small change will make you fall in love with your kitchen all over again.

So, my friend, are you ready to refresh your kitchen on a dime? Head over to ABC Home & Renovation in Aberdeen, UK, and let’s get started on your budget-friendly kitchen transformation.