Redecorate a Kitchen on a $50 Budget? Really?

March 18, 2009 at 12:00 PM by Cafe Sheri - Comments (31)

How do real moms living on a day-to-day budget decorate for less? Well, let's ask CafeMom Mom2torandis how she redecorated her entire kitchen on a budget of just $50! You won't believe the outcome.

This could be called Extremely Frugal Home Makeover!

KITCHEN BEFORE:

"This is what the kitchen looked like when we first moved in on 01/12/07."

How I Redecorated My Kitchen for $50

This is no joke. I have been begging my DH to redo our kitchen since we moved in, and he kept telling me that we didn't have the money. So we talked it out. I started by saying, "I could do it for $200?" and he finally gave in about three months ago and said "If you can do it for $50, then fine. But you're not getting a penny over $50, so have fun." I was so excited about getting to do what I wanted that I took the $50 and ran.

Here is the breakdown of how I spent the money:

• NEW STOVE: FREE. The new stove was free from my sister who got a brand new stainless steel monster.                       
• BACKSPLASH: $6. I got it at Dollar General. It is self-adhesive drawer and cabinet liner. 
• TRIM AND CABINET PAINT: $10. Found at the local hardware store.
• BLACK SPRAY PAINT: $7 for 3 cans. The paint was on sale at Dollar General. I used a can and a half to spray paint a bunch of stuff that was stainless steel instead of spending the extra money on black items for the kitchen: my paper towel holder (was stainless steel), the outside edge of my clock (was white), the utensil holder, the pot rack (was green, something I got for free at a yard sale), the outlet and light switch covers (were white), the glass canister lids (were silver), along with the brass-colored drawer and cabinet knobs. 
• AREA/THROW RUGS: $5. This was the cost for the gas to my sister-in-law who drove them out to me (someone who lives near her was going to throw them away). 
• DECORATIVE ITEMS: $10. I found the hand towels, pot holders, and small jars for the counter top at Big Lots. The decorative butterflies were free. I found some online I liked and printed them out, made the stencil with my stencil making kit, and put them up myself.                  
• CURTAINS: $12. Bought the material a Walmart, and DD and I made them on our sewing machine.
• SMALL TABLE: FREE. I traded a cousin my small glass-top table set for this small wooden table set.

About the Refrigerator: The refrigerator is new. Our old one died on us, so that doesn't count toward the $50. It was a necessity.    

That's it, $50. Other than paint, the stuff I got at Big Lots, and the material at Walmart, I bought nothing new. I just made every thing look new.

And here's Mom2torandis's kitchen AFTER!

KITCHEN AFTER:

With a lot of creativity and ingenuity and an openness to creative reuse (so good for our planet too!), Mom2torandis has done an amazing job updating her kitchen. Doesn't it look fantastic?

+++ What about you? Have you ever done this big a home improvement project on this small a budget?

FILED UNDER: decorating, diy, going green, home finances, inspirations, kitchen, recession guide, thrifty solutions