How do we make a kitchen renovation affordable?

When undergoing a kitchen renovation, there’s usually a question that pops up about budget and kitchen cabinets and floors. So how do you put it a new floor that’s durable and looks like it’s always been there? Are the kitchen cabinets worth saving? Here’s a question we received about how to make a kitchen renovation affordable.

Question: How do make a kitchen renovation affordable?

For a more affordable kitchen upgrade on a budget does new counters +  flooring + keeping old cabinets = good idea?

Answer: Here’s a few ways to make it affordable.

Kitchen Cabinets

Yes, so if the cabinets are in good repair—the doors open and close, they’re hanging straight, the drawers operate smoothly—then yes. While you can decide to keep them as-is, another sweat equity investment to save money for a killer kitchen upgrade is painting cabinets.

Kitchen Flooring

New flooring is a great upgrade, but it’s a labor intensive one. Reason is that you may (should, really) pull up the old floor before installing the new one.

There are a number of variables for making the decision about keeping the old floor, but the main reason is that you need a solid substrate and to make sure you have enough room for your appliances. We’ve never made this mistake ourselves, but there are stories of people trapping their dishwashers.

One affordable flooring options that’s become extremely popular lately in high-traffic rooms is LVP flooring. Since it’s a DIY-friendly project, it can be even more affordable.

Kitchen Counters

As far as counters go, there are a lot of options. One solution that can surprisingly save budget dollars is soapstone. Even though you can have it templated and fabricated, soapstone is also soft enough to be worked on site with carpentry tools. Plus buying slabs can be 50 to 60% less expensive, so you can allocate funds to something else in the kitchen renovation project.

We’ve also used Richlite as a countertop, which is a paper composite and it’s lasted well in our kitchen for about 16 years.

Let us know if you have more questions about how to make a kitchen renovation affordable. We’re happy to help.