Do-it-yourself budget kitchen renovation: cheap and beautiful options

Very often people complain about small kitchens, where it is impossible to place even the most necessary household items. But at the same time, the owners of a small kitchen corner do not even imagine the complexity of designing a large kitchen.

Thus, the issue of proper design and furniture arrangement appears in a new light for those who have a large space.

In a large kitchen, it is easiest to achieve a functional division of space.

In practice, it turns out that it is not so easy to decorate a large kitchen, because here you have to be very careful in choosing colors, lighting, and zoning the space correctly. But still, with the correct placement of accents, you will get an excellent result - the kitchen will become a convenient and comfortable area where your friends will be happy to gather.

What determines the cost of kitchen renovations?

Interior of a budget kitchen
Costs for cosmetic or major repairs consist of several indicators. The latter usually include the following:

Scope of work. The cost varies depending on the parameters of the room. A small-sized kitchen will be cheaper both in terms of materials and labor costs.
Options. If a major renovation is planned with redevelopment, raising the ceiling or installing a decorative arch, then this type will require a lot of time and money. However, a simple cosmetic option will be more economical.
Equipment. Finishing and building materials are produced by different companies, and accordingly they have differences in price. It should be taken into account that for a budget renovation of a small kitchen, inexpensive decorative coatings are suitable, which will wonderfully decorate the room.
Brigade. The workers' payment depends not only on the amount of work, but also on the conditions under which they will provide finishing services. You should focus on your own strengths, because sometimes you can cope without outside help.

Major repairs are the most expensive option

Plan your lighting

Complex lighting in the studio: illumination of the work surface, a lamp above the dining table / Project author - Tatyana Vasilyeva
The kitchen has different usage scenarios: they cook food here, drink coffee in the morning, have family dinners. All this should be provided for in lighting.

In the work area, as a rule, built-in lamps are placed and lighting is installed under the upper cabinets. A lamp or sconce is hung above the dining table.

If the kitchen is small - 5-6 m², a lamp in the center of the ceiling and lighting under the cabinets is enough. But you can’t get by with just a chandelier: it will be inconvenient to cook, and in the evening the room will seem too dark.

The right style: examples of budget designs

There is a large selection of ready-made photos of kitchen interiors on the Internet. All of them were compiled by designers and meet the requirements for comfort and ease of use. Among the styles, Provence, country, scandi and modern remain the most popular.

Provence

French sophisticated style, which involves the use of light, pastel shades. An economical option is available, since Provence is achieved precisely through a certain arrangement of furniture, but not by the presence of any special set.

Kitchen in Provence style

Country

The second name is rural or rustic style. Inexpensive wicker furniture with simple finishing and minimalist design are welcome. Designers prefer to fill the space with decorative wooden furniture and flower pots.

Scandi

Kitchens in Scandi design are spacious and bright. In most cases, this style uses modular furniture, which significantly saves space not only in the dining area, but throughout the entire apartment.

Scandi style kitchen

Modern

Beautiful shiny surfaces combined with classic minimalism undoubtedly attract the eye of every average person. This version will be less economical than the first two, but with proper use it will last for many years.

Window replacement

The best option for the kitchen is a plastic window. The material washes well, is not afraid of moisture and temperature, looks neat and stylish.

Wooden frames are ideal for decorating kitchens in rustic and classic styles, but will require additional care.

Principles of budget finishing

Minimum costs usually do not imply any redevelopment. The owners limit themselves only to replacing wallpaper or wall paint; in rare cases, they buy other furniture. If you still want to see something new and stylish in the kitchen, then you should follow some principles.

General principles for designing kitchen walls

Finishing work on walls can be confusing, because stylish vinyl wallpapers are expensive, while cheap paper wallpapers are inferior in quality. The solution is to use decorative paint or plaster. It is enough to casually and unevenly apply the plaster on the walls and let it dry. Then use a knife to remove sharp protrusions and cover the walls with special paint.

Decorative plaster is an excellent option for modern design, which will be unique and inimitable.

Decorative plaster on the walls in the kitchen

Budget ceiling design

You should not choose suspended ceilings for the kitchen, especially if the height of the latter is no more than 2.5 meters. This is primarily due to safety measures, because the room involves exposure to a large amount of heat. Also, stretch ceilings are an expensive choice. It is better to limit yourself to painting or use wallpaper in light shades. As an original approach, you can use a decorative film, which is attached to the surface with glue.

Calculate the required number of sockets

Four sockets for small appliances were provided above the tabletop / Project author - Tatyana Vasilyeva
Installing only a couple of sockets in the work area is a mistake: they will probably be immediately occupied by a kettle and a microwave. To use, for example, a blender or toaster, you will have to disconnect one device and connect another.

The kitchen must have outlets for the refrigerator, stove, oven, and microwave. They are marked on the plan in accordance with the location of the equipment. They immediately check which sockets are needed: for example, three-phase ones are sometimes installed under electric stoves. They allow you to connect the device to a more powerful network and have more contacts than conventional options.

The socket for the refrigerator is connected to a separate circuit breaker, independent of the input one - this allows you to de-energize the entire apartment, leaving only the refrigerator active if the owners leave home for a long time.

To calculate the number of outlets in your work area, estimate how many appliances you use every day, and add two or three more points to this number. If you need access to the power supply near the sink, buy a waterproof outlet - with a cover.

Floor coverings

The kitchen floor is always covered in greasy stains or saturated with odors. The most budget option remains linoleum, which does not require any special care and does not react to high humidity. Laminate in dark shades or varnished wood are also good for the kitchen.

You should be careful when choosing flooring made from PVC tiles, as they can become a breeding ground for fungus.

Apron design

Difficulties may arise at the stage of choosing an apron for the kitchen, since these are the same wallpaper, only they are located directly next to the kitchen hearth, that is, in the area of the greatest accumulation of vapors and grease. Preference should be given to glass coverings or tiles. You can easily remove any dirt from them without leaving a trace.

Kitchen apron made of decorative panels

Furniture and decoration of the premises

The interior of the kitchen is based on style. You first need to decide what the room should be like: light, pastel, dark. Then just look through the photographs and works of different designers. Only after this should you start from the budget.

When choosing, you can explore the most daring and expensive options, which can easily be replaced with budget furniture and equipment.

How to choose the right façade for the kitchen: types

In the budget segment, the choice is not so wide, since expensive wood and many other modern solutions cannot be used. But there are many varieties that look great and are inexpensive:

Laminated MDF and chipboard are a budget type of coating that can imitate any material. But the film wears out over time, becomes cloudy when overheated, and if the sun constantly shines on it, it fades.
Painted MDF is a modern look that is attractive. The choice of colors is huge, the surface is smooth and shiny. But the most important thing is that if necessary, the facades can be repainted.
Veneered chipboard or MDF. It looks like wood, since the surface is covered with a thin layer of wood, most often noble species. The main thing is to properly care for the furniture so as not to damage the top layer.
Chipboard or MDF with plastic coating. Another modern solution that is inexpensive and looks attractive.
Chipboard with acrylic coating. An improved film with a thickness of 2 mm, which is not afraid of temperature changes and is much more resistant to scratches.

Each type of facade coating has its pros and cons. In addition, the quality of workmanship is of great importance; if it is low, then the appearance will not be the best and the service life will be short.

What you can and cannot save on

When trying to make repairs, residents of Khrushchev, luxury high-rise buildings or private houses strive to reduce costs as much as possible. However, before you give up on buying chairs or a sofa, you should familiarize yourself with the list of what is worth saving on and what is better to spend on.

What you should absolutely not cut your budget on:

Time. In psychology, there is such a concept as “time budget,” which means speeding up the process and reducing time costs. When renovating any room, you should be patient: the paint must dry completely and its smell must dissipate. The same applies to other elements of cosmetic, capital finishing.
Work crew. If your own strength is not enough to carry out repairs, then you should choose proven workers. Undoubtedly, their services will cost a little more, but this is an overpayment for quality and comfort.
Furniture. Chairs, tables, cabinets and shelves are the basis of any kitchen. Dishes will be placed on them, food and spices will be stored. Furniture must be durable and of good quality. If you don’t have enough budget to purchase such options, then it is better to give preference to decorative finishing of an existing set.

Despite this, there are interior elements that you can save on:

Lighting. It is better to use energy-saving backlighting. Eating in bright light can be uncomfortable, especially when it comes to dinner. A budget option would be to purchase a headset with a built-in backlight.
Apron and decorative elements. Naturally, beauty in the kitchen will be expensive, but this is only relevant when a person strives to buy the “best” everything. If you order some decorative items online, you can not only save money, but also find original design options.
Tools. It is unlikely that you will need tools for cosmetic or major repairs in the near future. Most likely, they will gather dust on the balcony or in the far corner of the garage. Avoiding such costs is very simple: just ask your friends or neighbors for tools. There will only be a minimum to buy: nails, screws, brushes for varnishing.

Choose the optimal height of the lower cabinets

If the kitchen is used by people of different heights, you can add an island or a bar counter of a different height / Pixabay
The standard height of the lower cabinets is 85 cm. Together with the countertop, the height of the working surface is 88–91 cm. But, for example, for a person 150 or 190 cm tall it will not fit: it will be too high or low. In this case, it is better to make custom-made cabinets of non-standard dimensions - ideally, if there is 15 cm between a person’s elbow and the countertop.

If people of different heights live in an apartment, the height of the furniture is selected according to the person who cooks most often. Or they provide working surfaces of different parameters - for example, a lower tabletop and a higher kitchen island.

Inexpensive options for decorating kitchen areas

Now you can find many interesting solutions and materials for cheap and beautiful kitchen renovations with your own hands. The most budget-friendly ones include:

Dividing the kitchen into a cooking area and a dining area. This will help delimit the space and use minimalism in the interior.
Modular furniture is also a great solution for a small budget. It fits well into almost any design, saves work space and saves costs.

Metal and plastic can be a wonderful solution for floors or walls, unlike expensive wallpaper or parquet.

Preliminary sketch of the kitchen after renovation

Use the working triangle rule

“Work triangle” in a large kitchen with a sink in the island / Pixabay
When planning a kitchen, use the “work triangle” rule. It was invented to reduce unnecessary movements during cooking.

The vertices of the “triangle” are the refrigerator, sink and stove. Usually they are placed in this order because of the sequence of actions: they took out the food, washed it, and cooked it.

Between the nearest vertices of the “working triangle” a distance of no less than 1.3 m and no more than 2.3 m is left. The area of the entire zone should not exceed 5–7 m². With more space, cooking scrambled eggs for breakfast will turn into a full-fledged workout. And if you place the refrigerator, sink and stove too close, there will not be enough free working space - this is also inconvenient.

Sequence of repair work

Each type of repair involves sequential actions that will help quickly and efficiently transform the room. In total, experienced craftsmen distinguish several stages:

Compiling a list of events. Budget kitchen renovation necessarily begins with thinking through a plan that takes into account the cost of all the necessary materials. With a full calculation of costs, it will immediately become clear where the owner can save money and where he should increase the budget.
Rough and preparatory work. It is much easier to renovate a room when you have a rough sketch that clearly shows what the result will be.
Decorative plaster is an economical option. It will fit perfectly into the interior at an affordable price.
Installation of the door leaf. Doors should be installed at the last minute, even if renovation work is carried out in the countryside, as they can easily be scratched during the finishing process. If you do not plan to replace the doors, then the existing ones should be wrapped in several layers of film.

In a village or apartment, the kitchen should be cozy, filled with natural light and homely warmth. The best time for renovation is the summer season, which is already coming. Making a budget cosmetic transformation of a room is simple and even a beginner in the construction business can do it.

Furnishings

Furniture is brought into the fully finished room, arranged, and lamps are hung.

The optimal options for arranging furniture are considered to be a corner or U-shaped layout, which allows you to optimally arrange all the necessary items and not waste time and effort walking around the room.

Careful planning of all work will help you complete kitchen renovations quickly and without extra financial costs.

Our photo gallery:

Medium Density Fiberboard - MDF

MDF is considered the opposite of ceramic. They are made from pressed shavings covered with plastic film. MDF is easy to install and easy to maintain. There are no seams in such an apron, which means there will be no need to clean them. Installing MDF does not require careful leveling of the walls. The service life of MDF is 5-7 years, which is quite enough considering their cheapness and ease of installation.

Making a cutting map

Making a cutting map is a necessary condition for how to properly make a kitchen. It represents schematic drawings of kitchen parts that need to be cut out of the material.

For each type of material, the cutting map is individual. To make a cutting map, you can use special software. Sometimes cutting cards are included with the material upon purchase.

Idea No. 7: Selecting bright accessories

If the kitchen is decorated in neutral shades, with the help of well-chosen accessories you can radically transform its design without even resorting to renovation. To do this, select 1-3 accent colors and repeat them in the colors of curtains, dishes, tablecloths, and various kitchen small items.

You can decorate your kitchen in an original way with functional decor that will be useful in everyday use. The most striking example is jars of teas and spices. You shouldn’t hide them behind the fronts of cabinets; it’s better to decorate them beautifully and place them on small open shelves.

Do-it-yourself kitchen decor will also look impressive. You can paint a picture with colored semolina, salt or multi-colored spices. To do this, you need to select a drawing of a suitable size and print it on canvas or thick paper. Next, glue is applied to fragments of the same color, the material is poured and leveled in a thin layer. After drying, you can shake off the excess and move on to another color. Other “edible” panels made from coffee, wheat, rice grains, curly vermicelli, and corn are also made using the same adhesive method.

Also perfectly transforming the interior are greenery in beautiful flowerpots (you can grow basil, mint, oregano yourself), beautiful paintings, a large clock on the entire wall and other accessories that you can buy ready-made or create with your own hands.

Natural decor in New Year's kitchen decoration

Pine cones, nuts, bunches of berries and tree branches are an excellent addition to purchased holiday decor items.

They are painted or coated with silver, decorated with “snow” and “frost,” sparkles and rhinestones.

Plastic

In terms of money, plastic is considered the most budget option and the easiest in terms of installation complexity. Therefore, you can change it at least every year. The market offers a huge range of plastic boards. To install them, you just need to coat the back side with universal glue or liquid nails. The panels have a long service life, but can fade in the sun.

There is a whole range of materials for making aprons: glass, steel, natural or artificial stone, acrylic and even wine corks. This list can only be limited by the imagination of the master. Each of them has both its disadvantages and positive aspects.

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