5 Ways to Update Your Kitchen on a Budget

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Is your kitchen outdated or need a new look? If an expensive renovation isn’t in your budget, I’m sharing five ways to give your space a new, fresh look without breaking the bank!

When I first saw the listing pictures for our home on Zillow, there were a lot of things that I loved about it. One thing that I just was not sure I would be able to get on board with, though, was how the kitchen looked. There was just so much brown. Brown floors, brown walls, brown barn door, brown cabinets, brown counters, brown lights.... brown.

Full disclosure, we bought this house as turn-key, without a lot of money left over to do any major renovations. It really is structurally sound, with only a few things that need to be fixed (still even three years later). I’m in the business of making houses pretty, though, and I need my surroundings to be pleasing to the eye for my own well-being. Seriously...how things look plays a big part in how I feel.

Knowing that we don’t have a budget for any big projects, I’ve had to get creative with how to make our home look the way I envision. When I feel like there are still so many thingsI’d like to do here, it’s good for me to take a trip down memory lane to how the house looked when we bought it. After I do that, I always feel better about the progress that we’re making! Even if some of the things are temporary fixes, they’re so much better than what we started with.

In case you feel this same way, or just need some inspiration to give your space a new and fresh look, I’m excited to share five of the things we’ve done in our kitchen to completely transform it, without spending a ton of money! I realized I’ve never shared the projects or updates on the blog and I knew I needed to take the time to put it all together for you.

Each of the five ways to give your kitchen a makeover is a different level of budget-friendly, but only one was a serious investment of any kind, so I know that you can do most, if not all, of these things! You can also take these ideas and run with them throughout your home, to add visual appeal and (if you’re in the market) resale value.

I had been wanting to do this project practically since we moved in, but much like everything, I let other projects get in the way. I also made it seem like more of a project in my mind than it actually was. I wanted to open up and lighten up the kitchen, since there is so much brown wood. There also aren’t any windows in the kitchen, so it can seem very dark, which I don’t love. Another reason for removing doors was to give the appearance of open shelving—I desperately want the real thing, but without a big time renovation, this isn’t going to happen.

I finally got the nerve and energy to tackle the cabinets during 2020, a time when I think everyone was doing home projects. I started by removing the doors from the two sets of cabinets on either side of our range hood. I love that I was able to do this in a symmetrical way. If you don’t have this setup, you could create a smaller-scale feeling of open shelving by removing the doors from a corner cabinet or two sets that are next to each other. I also like the positioning of the cabinets I chose because they’re what you see when you look into the kitchen from most areas of the house (we have an open concept home).

*We kept the doors to the cabinets, so if I ever decide I don’t like this look, I can put them back up. Or, if whoever buys the house when we move, wants the doors back on, they’ll have access to them.

Once the doors were removed, I took the shelves out and painted the inside of the cabinets and the shelves themselves. I painted everything Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White—a really great all-purpose neutral white. Even though I planned to add contact paper to the backs of the cabinets, I still painted them because I didn’t want any of the brown to show through. The cabinets are a high-traffic area, since that’s where we store our everyday dishes, so I have had to touch up a few spots here and there, but nothing too bad.

Once the paint was dry, I cut terrazzo print contact paper to fit the backs of the cabinets. This product is pretty easy to work with and can be repositioned fairly easily, if you don’t get it right the first time. I love this design because it’s not too busy and allows the items displayed on the shelves to be shown off, instead of the paper. Also, you don’t have to be careful at all when lining up the pieces of contact paper because the design is so forgiving. I’ve also used this as “wallpaper” in our mudroom closet and love it!

The last step was the fun part—styling! I want to have as little wear on the shelves as possible, so I placed two pieces of plain printer paper across each one to help with scuffs and scratches. The paper has worked great, but the corners are starting to curl up and you can see them, which I don’t like, so I’m actually planning to go get new sheets laminated this week to replace the ones that I’ve had there.

I can’t believe that I waited as long as I did to do this project. It was so easy and has totally transformed the way our kitchen looks. It opened things up visually, made the space look brighter with the white paint (without doing anything permanent like painting the cabinets themselves, and now I have display space for some of my vintage finds. I love it all...and it cost about $10 at most to do—less than a quart of paint and a few sheets of contact paper!

Ideally, I would love to have new counter tops and a tile backsplash. While a backsplash would not be expensive to have installed, I do not want to do it until we get new counters because there is a possibility the backsplash could be damaged when the counter tops get installed. So, I did the next best thing and put up a peel and stick subway tile backsplash.

The one I used in our kitchen is not available anymore, but there are lots of options online, including a couple from Walmart. Simple Shapes Large Subway Tile Peel and Stick Wallpaper and Spoonflower Peel and Stick Removable Wallpaper Tile White Brick would both be great options to go with. I was nervous to put the paper up as a backsplash in the kitchen because I thought heat or steam might make it come off and that it would get stained from splatters. It’s been up for over two years, though, and looks just as good as it did when I installed it.

We do have orange peel texture on our walls, so you can see a bit of the texture through the paper, but only if you’re standing close to it. Overall, I love the way the peel and stick paper backsplash looks and I am thrilled that I took the time to put it up. It was easy-ish to put up, once I figured out where the repeat was. You’ll need a ruler, pencil, and a straight edge or really nice pair of scissors to install. Removing the outlet covers is the only part that really requires a tool of any kind. I was able to start and finish this project in a morning—it doesn’t take forever...yay!

If you are waiting to have a backsplash installed in your kitchen, I very much recommend using a peel and stick paper as a temporary (or not so) solution. It looks great and will help you to love your kitchen even more until you can get the real deal!

This was on my to-do list from about the moment we moved in. The lighting in our house left a lot to be desired, including the ceiling fans (still working on those) and needed to be updated so I could feel better about how the spaces looked. We’ve changed out most of the overhead lighting options, other than the canned lights. I purchased very inexpensive pendant lights to go above the kitchen island—they're so stylish, though—I love how oversized they are and that they don’t take up any visual space. The clear glass also kind of sparkles, which lightens up the kitchen a bit—it needs all the help it can get.

The exact pendant lights I have aren’t available anymore, but I’ve found a few that are very similar! I’ve linked comparable pendant lights for you HERE. I love the oversized shades so much. They are timeless, but also unexpected, so they will seem special in your space. Lighting can be such an inexpensive and budget friendly way to update your home. If you plan on doing this over time, consider the finishes that you will want in each space, to help make selections easier as you go.

I know I said I didn’t want to paint our cabinets, but the island is a whole separate thing, in my mind. I wanted it to seem like a beautiful piece of furniture in the kitchen, rather than a heavy extension of the dark wood cabinets in the rest of the space.

Full disclosure, I didn’t paint the island myself. We hired a couple to paint the interior of our home when we moved in and they also painted our fireplace, as well as the island. After having watched them paint both, I think I could tackle it on my own next time, however, they have the sprayer and specialized equipment to make it look smooth and professional. The sprayer also allows for a harder dry and finish, so the paint will be stronger—very important in a high-traffic area like a kitchen.

I chose Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor for the island. It’s a beautiful blue green color that looks different in every light and from various angles. I love that it’s almost a neutral in the space—it works well with all the other colors that I’ve incorporated. (Wondering how to make multiple colors in your home that work together? I have a whole post about having a whole house color scheme!)

Now that the island is painted, it looks like a pretty jewel in the kitchen, as well as for the entire main level in our open concept space. The color also helps to break up the brown of the cabinets and the flooring. I don’t mind the color of the floor but would like to either refinish it someday, to remove the shine and a bit of the yellow, or have new wide plank flooring installed. That will have to wait, however, so painting the island is just the trick for now. Plus, it’s a very budget-friendly option! Paint is the quickest and one of the most inexpensive ways to update your space.

This option is a little more expensive than the other four I’ve shared but considering how pricy it can be to completely renovate a kitchen, it’s still a good bang for your buck. We had a strange open space at the end our bank of cabinets. The former owners had some sort of a rolling cart there in the listing pictures—maybe for extra prep space? I didn’t want to add visual heaviness, plus I needed a place to display some of my collectibles, so I decided to have floating shelves installed.

I contacted a local contractor, explained my vision, and had him measure out and create a plan for the shelves. I can’t remember what I paid to have this done (bad blogger), but I know it wasn’t too expensive—I'm frugal after all. The floating shelves, though, have been worth every penny! Living in an open concept home is fine, but it does really limit wall space. As a collector and lover of pretty things, including décor and art, that can put a damper on my creativity. The shelves add something special to the kitchen/dining area and allow me a place to display some of my vintage kitchen items, including Pyrex bowls and colored glassware.

I hope that these ideas have been helpful and given you some possibilities for your own kitchen refresh or makeover. I also think you can take these options, tweak them, and use them throughout your home to give it a new look on a budget. Loving your home doesn’t mean spending a lot of money or buying all new things. A truly beautiful home happens over time, doesn’t make you go into debt, and looks best when you put your creativity to work.

I can’t wait to see what you do in your own home to give your kitchen a new look on a budget! You deserve to love where you live…and it’s more within reach than you might think.

If you use any of these ideas in your own home, share a picture in your Instagram stories and tag me when you do! You can find me on Instagram at @hilaryprall.