Thursday, September 3, 2009

DIY Tips For Remodeling Your Kitchen and Saving Money

The kitchen is one of the busiest parts of the house. That's why there are various factors to consider in its design. Alongside the aesthetic appeal, functionality and space must be well planned and utilized. Thus, it is of no surprise that remodeling one's kitchen can be costly. However, if you'll be putting as much of the expenses under your control, you can save quite a lot, as well. One way is by doing the remodeling yourself. Hopefully, the following can serve as your guideline especially if you'll be doing it for the first time:

1. The primary concern is usually the budget. It's easy fall into a pocket-deadly spending spree if you shop without first knowing how much you can afford and what your priorities are. Do a list of all the things that you plan on changing and mark those that are on top priority.

2. Cabinets are not just messy to install but also expensive. Depending upon your preferred new look for your kitchen, instead of buying new cabinets, you can just refinish the old ones. You can research online different refinishing techniques. With a new finish and new handles, you may be surprised how different your old cabinets can turn out to be.

3. Instead of hiring someone else to paint your kitchen, why not do it with your family. It will not just save you hundreds of dollars but will also give you a unique bonding time with your loved ones. You might even discover that unknown artistic gene that runs in the family.

4. Lighting features can also be as expensive. Try to assess if something else can still be done to change the look like re-painting it or reinstalling energy saving bulbs of a different shade.

5. Your kitchen fan can be also be easily transformed into a new and more modern lighting fixture by taking out the blades and repainting them.

6. Stainless steel sinks and new faucets always brighten up the kitchen. On top of that, stainless steel sinks are durable and never go out of style.

7. Replacing your kitchen counter tops and backsplash with tiles can also give your kitchen a refreshing new look. This can be quite costly so instead of using marble, why not try ceramic tiles which are not just cheaper but also offer a lot of texture and color variants, too?

8. New kitchen appliances like refrigerators and stove ovens can take bulk of your budget. Try to keep the ones you currently have unless you're totally unhappy already with them (either because they look too worn out or can't sustain the needs of your family anymore). If ever you need to buy a new stove or ref, consider buying stainless ones as they easily blend in with the design of the kitchen. So if ever you'll have plans of remodeling your kitchen again in the future, you won't have to buy a new set of appliances.

9. Wood flooring can easily be revived by refinishing or re-varnishing.

10. Pantry closets are an affordable alternative to cabinets if ever you'll need additional storage space. You can assemble it at home at repaint it according to the kitchen theme you're going for.

In the end, all it requires is a fair amount of enthusiasm on your part and a strong drive of discipline to stick to your budget plan. There are so many products in the market which can be customized depending on your artistic and budget preferences. There are also a lot of DIY tutorials on the internet and on TV regarding home improvement that can give you more ideas on how to remodel your kitchen creatively while maintaining a realistic budget. Once you've gotten all your priorities and schedules set, you can make your dream kitchen a dream no more.

This article was written by Aldric Chang - a creative businessman who is active in music composing and production, internet marketing, casual games production, animation production, cartoon production and character licensing. His 3d animation studio - Mediafreaks - is focused on producing high-end animation work for documentary producers, advertising houses and cartoon animated series - with projects ranging from the animation of dinosaurs to the visualization of natural disasters and something as chic as 3d jewelry animations or as intricate as 3d medical animation.

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