Kitchen remodeling is one of the most desirable home improvement projects for many homeowners. A new kitchen increases the value of your home and makes your life easier. The first step to your new kitchen is to set a budget. Decide how much money you are willing to spend. This will help drive your other decisions. Be sure to leave a cushion in your budget for additional, unexpected expenses.



When determining your budget, consider how long you intend to stay in your home. If you are planning to sell in the next year or so, you may want to spend less money. Decide which features you must have in your new kitchen. You can cut corners in other areas by substituting less expensive materials for the counter tops, flooring or cabinet doors.



Research Kitchen Trends

Before you start planning your remodeling project, do some research on the current trends and designs being used in kitchens. Look for information on the internet or in home decorating magazines. Visit your local home improvement center for more ideas. Start a file for pictures of kitchens you love, furniture, appliances, fabric swatches or anything else you find interesting. This will help when you are ready to start purchasing items for your new room.



Options in Kitchen Remodeling

Cabinets are an expensive item in any remodeling project. They often take up half of the overall budget for the room. If you can’t afford the cost of brand new cabinets, there are cheaper alternatives. Consider cabinet refacing rather than replacing the entire cabinet. In refacing, the doors are replaced and exterior wood areas are covered. This is much less expensive since you are using the same cabinets. An even cheaper alternative is to paint your existing cabinets and buy new hardware.



If you must have new cabinets, consider adding some extra features. Features such as tilt out drawers, pull out garbage cans or a lazy Susan inside a corner cabinet are great space savers and make the room more functional. The doors can be either solid wood, clear glass or stained glass. Shop around to find out what is available before making a purchase.



You can save money on flooring and countertops as well. Substitute vinyl flooring in place of more expensive ceramic tile to save money. If you can install ceramic tiles yourself, you can have them for about the price you would pay a contractor to install vinyl flooring.



Countertops vary widely in price depending on the material that is used. Counters that are more durable are also more expensive. You may want this if you want to be able to cut food directly on the counter. For most people, this is an easy way to cut the overall cost of your kitchen. You can find less expensive material that gives the look of marble, butcher’s block or other expensive materials.



Once you have decided what you want, consider how much of the job you can do yourself. Contractors can eat up a large portion of your budget. The more you can do, the more you will save in the overall cost of the room. Use the savings for great new furniture.

It has often been said that the heart of the home is the kitchen. If that is really true, then why is it that some kitchen designs just don’t seem to support more than one cook or guest at a time? You can turn your kitchen into a functional and beautiful workspace and gathering place for the entire family. Even if you have limited square footage, there just may be more room for expansion, storage, and oh yeah, cooking in your kitchen than you think.



Counters & Cabinets

Storage is definitely a consideration in designing a functional kitchen. If you are limited by floor space, just look up. There is often a great deal of space between the counter tops and ceiling that just isn’t being used in a kitchen. Look at the space above the refrigerator. Is yours just collecting dust or take out menus? If so, add a cabinet and you’ve got a great place to store seldom used platters or treats you want to keep hidden from the children.



Kitchen cabinets also don’t have to be limited to one side of the countertop. If your kitchen design has a peninsula or island, you can use the ends and back side for more cabinet storage space.



Kitchen cabinets come in more styles and finishes that you can imagine. However, if your budget is limited then you don’t need to replace them for an entirely new look. Cabinet refacing lets you select cabinet patterns that are up to date and beautiful.



New countertops don’t always need to be included in this home improvement project either. Laminate countertops come with repair strips that will give new life to a worn surface.



Laying Out Completely New Kitchen Designs

If your budget calls for a complete renovation, then now is the time to really think about layouts and maybe calling in some specialist. The basic theory is that there should be no more than 2 steps between work stations. That means you should be able to go from the sink to stove in 2 steps; from the range to the refrigerator in 2 steps and so on. However, with today’s extra large sized kitchens that’s not the case any more. You still should choose layouts that consider how much time it takes to accomplish the normal tasks of putting dishes away from the dishwasher or getting foods from the refrigerator to the stove.



The newest gadgets in these mega kitchens make timesaving and energy efficiency into an art form. There are refrigerator drawers right next to the range and microwaves that brew your coffee while making your toast!



Fixtures and Furniture

The finishing touches are what make kitchen designs more inviting than ever. The furnishings, light fixtures and even the cabinet hardware can make kitchens into real living rooms. Look for task lighting that can highlight work spaces and then radiant lighting for atmosphere. You can even turn the legs of old furniture or newel posts into bases for centre islands to make you kitchen furnishings blend with the rest of the house. Get creative and enjoy doing much more than cooking in your new kitchen.



About the author:

Guy Morris is author and designer of the website kitchen-cabinets-tips.com. He is featuring kitchen cabinets and articles on kitchen designs.

Getting a kitchen remake can be tough on your bank account, but there are some ways that you can give your kitchen a whole new look even if you are on a tight budget. These 5 decorating tips won’t break the bank but will have a lot of impact on the way your kitchen looks.



1.Spruce it up with paint.

Paint has the biggest bang for the buck when redecorating any room and especially for the kitchen. It’s fairly inexpensive and easy to use and can change the whole look of the room in a day! You can use paint to update worn out cabinets as well as adding a new look to your walls. If you are adventurous, you can even try some faux painting to give your walls the look of old world plaster or marble. Your local home improvement store probably gives lessons in this for free.



2.New hardware and knobs.

While this may cost you a bit more than paint, replacing your cabinet hardware and knobs can make a huge difference in the look of your kitchen. There’s tons of different styles and colors to choose from – everything from a 1930’s glass drawer pull to knobs styled like modern aluminum kitchen utensils. If you are planning on redecorating your kitchen, you might want to look at knobs first – you might find a style or color that gives you the inspiration for the whole room!



3. Put Up A Border

A wallpaper border is easy work and can make a drastic change without putting much or a dent in your kitchen decorating budget. Sometimes you can even find a pleasing pattern in the discontinued bin for little money. Just make sure there is enough to paper the area you want before you bring it home! If you don’t like any of the paper borders, find a stencil that you like and use that – the cost of paint for this will be minimal. A traditional place for a border is a the top of the wall next to the ceiling, but it can also look nice at chair rail height and also as a backsplash above your kitchen countertops.



4.Go For A Molding

Want a new cabinet look but new cabinets aren’t in your budget? You can buy moldings for the sides, top and doors of your cabinet that will enhance and change the look of any kitchen. You can even buy little bun feet to put on the edges to give your kitchen a country look. While these might cost a bit more than some of these other ideas it is well worth it for the dramatic change it has on your cabinets. Fancy rope trim, and fluted moldings can be glued on to your cabinets to give them a little pizzaz. Decorative crown moldings can be added to the top. If your doors are too plain, you can even buy moldings to add interest to the door panels.



5. Vinyl Tiles

If your floor is outdated, dirty and grungy then getting a new floor will make a huge difference in the look of your kitchen. You may not even notice how dingy the floor looks and may be reluctant to budget in any money for a floor but try to take a fresh look at it and really notice what it looks like. When I sold my house I thought my kitchen floor was a little old but just fine – my realtor took one look and convinced me that a new floor would help me get more for the house. I put a new floor in and couldn’t believe the difference! You can install vinyl tiles yourself for as little as 50 cents a square foot, of course the more you pay the better quality floor you will get and the longer it will last so a mid range price of $3.00 a square foot is probably more realistic.



About the author:

Lee Dobbins is the owner and editor of a-kitchen-decorating-idea.com where you can get ideas for dozens of kitchen decorating themes for every budget.