How To Remodel Your Kitchen on a Budget

If “that’d be nice” is your first and only thought when you see a TV ad for a swanky new kitchen, chances are you’ve been putting up with wonky drawers, awkward cupboards and a dishwasher that doesn’t open properly for a little bit too long. 

A quick internet search will tell you that the average cost of a kitchen makeover runs into the thousands - if not the tens of thousands. And maybe the thought of splashing that much on your dream kitchen is just not realistic. 

But here’s the thing. Having an ideal kitchen needn’t cost the earth - and the end result doesn’t have to be the stuff of showrooms either. It’s possible to remodel your kitchen into something altogether more practical, stylish and downright satisfying to use without blowing your budget on top-of-the-range worktops or futuristic appliances. 

A spot of creativity, a healthy amount of ambition and an ability to look at your existing space with fresh eyes are all it takes to remodel your kitchen on a budget - turning it into a place where you’ll love to cook.

Follow some of our tips for a cheap kitchen remodel that won’t leave you wishing you’d had a larger budget.

1. Renovate, refurbish and update units and appliances

Giving your cupboards and drawers a lick of paint might sound like an obvious tip, but we’ll start with it anyway because it can be a truly transformative way to redesign the look and feel of your kitchen space without ripping anything out. 

Choosing a light, gentle pastel colour for units that were previously a deep brown or grey will help bounce natural light around the room, making it somewhere that’s a pleasure to prepare food in - especially if you’re working with a small kitchen that doesn’t have many windows. Take a look at our guide to redecorating a small space on the cheap. 

If that’s not enough, consider putting new doors on your cupboards - or even new handles - to bring them up to date and refresh a tired kitchen. A new worktop on existing units can also go a long way in sparking a new love for your old space.

Change the shelving inside them to something that’s better suited to your needs, or think about putting roll-out storage into your cupboards, too - giving you easy access to everything in them with minimal effort. 

Roll-out storage will change the way you work in the kitchen, leaving you wondering how you ever did without it. If standing on tiptoes to scrabble around for that dusty bottle of hot sauce is one of the reasons you wanted a kitchen upgrade in the first place, it’ll save you a whole lot of exertion. 

2. Try doing it yourself

It’s now so easy to order a new kitchen and get someone to install it for you that we’ve become a DIY-hesitant generation. But building a few robust units is well within the capabilities of the average kitchen owner - and you’ll be amazed by what you can achieve yourself. 

Using your existing kitchen as a template rather than scrapping it and changing the layout altogether will allow you to work one section at a time and stop the job from getting too overwhelming. 

So head to your local DIY superstore and arm yourself with an acceptable level of knowledge from YouTube tutorials, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be building your very own dream kitchen within a matter of days. Just don’t forget to use the spirit level. 

Imagine the pride and satisfaction when visitors admire your smart new kitchen and you tell them it’s your own handiwork…

3. Upcycle old items to give them new life

Using old bed slats to hang ladles and colanders from. Sprucing up the front of your fridge with some wallpaper. Repurposing bathroom tiles to make a splash guard for the hob. Turning an old desk into a new worktop. Whatever it is, the first place you look for ideas should be right under your nose - looking at old items with a sideways approach can turn them into something completely new and far more useful. 

But giving old items new life doesn’t just mean upcycling things from around the house. If you’re working on a new kitchen, chances are you’re looking to get rid of those appliances that have become less reliable over the years. 

It’s too easy now to throw something away when it stops working perfectly, but a little bit of online research into the parts you need and how to install them safely could end up saving you a lot of money on bulky new purchases (not to mention doing the environment a favour). 

4. Focus on a few key upgrades

You might be determined to put a statement fridge at the heart of your kitchen space. Or maybe you’re set on upgrading your hob to something that won’t burn everything you try to cook on it. Don’t let us stop you.

But do think about the less obvious upgrades - the investments that could not only save you effort and time in the kitchen but might even cut down on your bills.

For example, an instant boiling water tap will put hot water right at your fingertips for everything from cups of tea to cooking pasta, saving you from repeatedly boiling the kettle. And a food waste disposer cuts out the middleman by letting you tip unwanted food straight down the sink, grinding it down and seamlessly flushing it out into your waste water system. 

5. Opt for budget-friendly alternatives to pricey material

RTA (ready-to-assemble) kitchen cabinets are the equivalent of flat-pack furniture for kitchens, and you only need a few tools to put them together. These are usually made from cheaper materials, meaning building your own kitchen not only won’t break the bank, but it doesn’t have to mean pretending you’ve got the expert knowledge of a carpenter. 

Choosing lower-cost countertop materials such as laminate or ceramic tile, as opposed to steel or stone, can help keep the budget down to a minimum, too. 

By thinking carefully about the materials you use for your kitchen, and getting them from reliable suppliers, you can achieve the look you want on a budget without cutting corners or compromising your ideas - and nobody will be able to tell the difference. 

6. Open up space with clever storage solutions

One of the reasons many people want a kitchen refresh is impracticality - the cupboard door that won’t open because it’s too close to the wall, or the awkward corner where the recycling gets dumped because nothing else will fit there. Looking at these spaces with a new perspective allows you to make the most of every inch of space on the floors and the walls. 

That’s why rather than opting for standard-sized kitchen cabinets across the board, it can be well worth thinking about putting up some of your own shelving to ensure no gaps are left unused - especially if there’s a space under the stairs in your kitchen, as these don’t lend themselves to inflexible designs.

Hanging storage - whether it’s for cooking utensils, pots and pans or even herb pots - can also save precious cupboard or wall space while adding extra character to your kitchen.