$600 Makeover {Kitchen}

When my husband and I bought our house two years ago, we knew that we were going to completely renovate the kitchen. But, because our house is quite a fixer-upper, we didn’t know when a kitchen renovation was going to take place. In the interim, we had to do something to make it livable. With a budget set at $600, we picked the most important and economical features to fix. This meant that appliances, counter tops and cabinets were off the list. But, we made a substantial visual impact by changing paint, fixtures, lighting, and flooring. And, we made a substantial functional impact by creating a work space from a previously unused area.

These white plastic knobs weren’t doing this room any favors.

Instead, we switched to silver pulls for better contrast against the cabinets and drawers.

Not only were these fixtures unattractive, they were fluorescent. Side note: I originally thought about painting the space a bright yellow, but thought better of it.

So simple to install! And, most everything we used was available at our local hardware store.

The radiators were painted a matte white to blend in with the white walls.

A few coats of heat resistant silver spray paint made these radiators a feature.

I hope I don’t offend anyone, but these are literally the worst vinyl tiles I have ever seen.

Inexpensive stick-on vinyl flooring that will last a few years until we install something a bit more permanent.

This empty space just wasn’t an option in our galley kitchen. Every square foot needs to be put to use.

Now, it’s a functional work space that creates a triangle from our sink and stove to the refrigerator and back for easier cooking.

This stainless steel magnetic strip made our knives easily accessible and freed up another drawer.

The stainless steel shelf makes the most common spices readily available and easy to see.

And, the shelves below allow storage for less commonly used spices.

For $600, we were able to make this kitchen a space that I don’t mind being in. It’s not my dream kitchen, but it will certainly get us through until we renovate. And, it’s amazing how many changes you can make with a limited budget.