Update Your Kitchen for Less Than a Hundred

Updating a kitchen can quickly become costly. With a little creativity and some "sweat equity," though, there are ways to spruce up a kitchen on the cheap. Below we list several ideas that we hope with jump start your imagination. Think outside the box and you'll be surprised at how many more ideas there are for giving your kitchen a new look for less than $100.

Paint the Kitchen

When it comes to doing an update, most people think about painting and with good reason. A fresh coat of paint can change a drab, old appearing kitchen into a bright, modern looking room at a cost of less than $100 and a couple of days of wall prep and painting.

Don't forget the ceiling. Over time, kitchen ceilings can start to fade or become stained. A fresh coat of paint on a kitchen ceiling will brighten the entire room. For the best effect, be sure to use ceiling paint and a roller designed for painting ceilings. In less than a day you can transform a faded ceiling into a fresh, bright one.

Kitchen cabinets, cupboards, even countertops (paint specially formulated for be used on laminates is available at home stores) can get a fresh coat. This is a bit more labor intensive, but the results will be dramatic - you'll end up with a kitchen that looks brand new.

Update Your Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

New cabinet hardware (drawer pulls and handles) can usually be found for less than $2 each at home and hardware stores. It’s amazing the difference new hardware will make. Sometimes even shining up the old hardware will give a kitchen a little pizzazz.

How about getting rid of your cabinet doors entirely to give your kitchen a new look? Simply, take off the doors, putty the screw holes from the hinges, paint the frames, and suddenly, you've got a brand new open-kitchen look.

Install New Light Fixtures

Lighting fixtures are a regular sale item at home stores. Watch the flyers to find new light fixtures for as little as $20 each. Consignment and recycling stores like those run by Habitat for Humanity are great places to find fixtures that no longer fit in with someone else's decor, but could be just the right thing for your kitchen. Of course, garage and yard sales can be a great source of unique fixtures as well. A new socket and some spray paint can turn an old, dingy looking fixture into chic addition to a kitchen.


Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer whose work has appeared on numerous web sites, as well as in newspapers and books in both the U.S. and Canada. He is regularly cited as an expert on home related topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com.