10 Budget-Friendly Kitchen Ideas

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1. Kitchen Makeovers with Paint

Painting kitchen cabinets, walls, seating, and even floors is the easiest, least expensive way to transform your kitchen with color and pattern. For walls and furniture, use satin or semigloss latex paint -- it stands up to scrubbing better than a flat finish.

To duplicate the checkerboard wainscot in this kitchen, paint the walls the light base-coat color, then mark off a grid of 4-inch squares to the desired height from the floor. Using a mixture of 1 part paint to 4 parts glaze medium, outline every other square with a second color of paint, then fill in by sponging with a sea sponge.

To paint cabinets, first prime them with a deglossing primer to help the paint adhere and eliminate the need for messy sanding. Painting cabinets is time-consuming -- you need to remove doors, drawers, and hardware to do a thorough job -- but the results give you a fresh look for minimal cost.

For more ideas on sprucing up your kitchen with paint, see:

DIY Kitchen Paint Makeovers

Step-by-Step Decorative Painting Techniques