Kitchen renovation project doesn’t have to break the bank

It has been said that the kitchen is the heart of the home.

This workhorse of a room often serves a much larger purpose than simply being the place where food is stored and meals are prepared.

"The kitchen is the lifeline of the house. The kitchen is where every single person (residing) in the house touches ... and everyone who visits most likely spends some time in the kitchen," said Jane Cunningham, president and CEO of Room Resolutions, a Las Vegas interior design firm.

For a space that sees so much traffic, the kitchen's appearance can prove nearly as important as its functionality to some homeowners.

Earlier this year, home-remodeling and design website Houzz.com conducted its fourth annual international Houzz & Home survey. Among the findings: Nearly one-third of the survey's 170,000 U.S. respondents reportedly remodeled their kitchens in 2014.

The room also proved to be the most popular interior project to tackle among millennial-generation homeowners (who range in age from 25 to 34), as well as members of the older baby boom generation. The former group reportedly spent an average of more than $26,000 last year to complete what was described in the survey as "major" kitchen upgrades, which included replacing cabinets and appliances. The budget ballooned to more than $45,000 among the latter group.

It isn't always necessary, though, to break the bank in order to update the look and feel of an aging kitchen. Local interior designers say simple, relatively inexpensive fixes can work just as well to give the space a new profile.

Before tearing out old tile and dated wallpaper, start by organizing cabinets, drawers and other areas that house cumbersome pots, pans and reusable plastic food-storage containers, Cunningham said. "You would not believe ... if you were to reorganize those how much more room you would have (in the kitchen). It is organization that gives you the (appearance) of spaciousness."

Next, determine a budget and devise a plan for remodeling the room by conducting a "quick evaluation" of the existing space to help determine which items can continue to function — literally and decoratively speaking — within it, she said.

For example, if the refrigerator is operational but lacks a trendy stainless-steel finish, budget-conscious homeowners may opt to accept its appearance rather than replace the pricey appliance. "The cost of (large) appliances and sinks and faucets ... it starts adding up. That's huge on a small budget," Cunningham said.

Longtime professional kitchen and bath design consultant Laurie Burke agrees. The owner of The Cabinet Gal, a Henderson-based design firm, said sticking to a budget is the key to keeping remodeling projects on track.

"If somebody's on a budget and they don't want to get into spending a ton of cash on a remodel, look at what you have and figure out how you can repurpose it, freshen it up, update it," she said. "Rather than ripping out, they have to look at accentuating … they have to look at finding value in what they have."

Burke said she has known clients who "want to do a whole kitchen remodel for $3,000, and I would say, 'Well, for $3,000, we can do X, Y and Z, but I certainly can't do a whole project for that amount.' You have to establish what you can spend and ... focus on those things to get the best value out of your money. Don't take on more than you have the time for, or the budget for."

The transformative benefits of decorative lighting in the kitchen should not be overlooked, she said.

"That's something you can do with new fixtures, whether its pendant lights over a peninsula (counter) or an island," Burke said. "You can do that for just a few hundred dollars and get a really nice look."

Installing new cabinetry — which Cunningham said can easily cost $15,000, even for a small kitchen — will certainly transform the room. However, assuming the cabinets aren't damaged beyond repair, a more cost-effective "facelift" can yield similarly stunning results.

"You can change the look of cabinets really easily, even on a small budget," she explained, by swapping out the doors for new ones at a cost of a couple thousand dollars.

An even budget-friendlier option, Burke said, is to paint the fronts: "It's something the homeowner can do themselves and not spend a lot of money on it. It takes elbow grease."

Not only will installing contemporary-style knobs, pulls and handles update the look of kitchen cabinets, it will also protect them for years to come.

"The first place your cabinets get damaged is on your drawer fronts because the oils from our fingertips will eventually start to wear away the finish on your cabinetry," Burke said. "So it's important to have hardware because not only does it give it a nice, interesting look on your cabinets, but it also protects the cabinets from wear."

Homeowners who tire of the traditional solid-wood look of their kitchen cabinets should consider removing the center panels from a few of the doors and replacing them with panes of clear glass, she explained. Then, paint the cabinet interiors to add an unexpected splash of bold color to the room.

"That's a nice contrast with the exterior. You might see a pop of wasabi green on your back wall, and your cabinets might be white, and that'll look fresh and clean," she said.

Removing and replacing countertops can be expensive, costing between $2,000 and $5,000 for the average home, Burke said. She learned that firsthand when she purchased her own house, which featured poorly sealed marble counters.

Rather than demolish them, she said she paid around $450 to have them professionally refinished and resealed.

"They look beautiful now and I'm very happy. So I got new countertops, basically, for under 500 bucks," she said.

Similarly, Burke advises budget-conscious homeowners against replacing tile floors and suggests calling in the pros to have the grout cleaned and resealed for a fraction of the cost. "You're not changing out, you're not ripping out, you're not paying for new material. You're just restoring what you have."

Gussy up kitchen counters by installing a tile backsplash to the surrounding walls.

"That is one way that's very fast and cost-effective to get a brand new look," Burke said, calling it "a good do-it-yourselfer project."

A fresh coat of brightly hued paint applied to a small section of wall space — say, behind a stove or sink — also can act as an inexpensive backsplash, Cunningham said. In wet areas like the kitchen, she recommends using a glossy paint that can be easily cleaned.

"Color can really change your mood in any room, but in the kitchen it can help you decide whether you're going to eat or not," she explained. "If you walked into the kitchen and it was just bland, brown, beige ... it's probably not going to help you find some really exciting food."

Simply setting a bowl of bright-red apples or lively yellow bananas on the counter "really helps lift the mood because you've gotten some color and brightness," she explained.

Small, colorful countertop appliances — coffeemakers, mixers, blenders and the like — can "spice up the look of your kitchen countertops, of what you see every day," said Cunningham, who once designed a red kitchen ("from toaster to microwave") for a client.

"Your kitchen speaks to your house," she said. "If you love purple, don't be afraid to put it in the kitchen."

Cunningham said homeowners shouldn't shy away from cooking up their own inexpensive kitchen-remodeling ideas: "There's a kitchen for everyone and how you operate, so you just have to (design) it for you."