SFGate

apple_pie_order This is a spacious kitchen with good floor plan and nice cabinets.

If it is dark, change the light bulbs to brighter. If that is not enough, buy a new light fixture to replace the fan, then add undercabinet and/or overcabinet lighting.

Change the door pulls to black or other dark color.

Put in a fashionable Roman shade if you like them.

Add colorful hand towels and a couple of accessories on the counter such as canisters or toaster or coffeemaker.

Eileen Dowling We primed/painted our similar Oak cabinets a cream color about 5 years ago and love it still. I agree with above poster, black pulls either way. How about a wild colorful daring curtain!

cypress I don't know what your idea of "cheap" is, but besides painting the cabinets white and changing the hardware you could start to replace the appliances with stainless steel. I would opt for a counter depth refrigerator to save precious space. You could paint the walls and change the fan to a light fixture over the table. If you don't have a china cabinet I would add some art work to that wall. Your floors look wood, that is a plus.

janishill Are you considering painting the cabinets at all?

With the white appliances white cabinets would look best, but you could go graphic and paint them black.

Rustoleum has paint specifically for kitchen cabinets: http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/colors.php

You could remove some cabinet doors and add baskets for a more modern look. Replacing the hardware will make a huge difference as well.

It looks like you have lots of room for an island.

A Roman shade will help bring it up to date also.

onthefence Definitely agree with Apple Pie about the Roman shade vs the curtain that's there now. Also remove the wood valance over the sink.

Consider removing the center wooden panel from at least one cabinet and insert a patterned glass - something patterned enough that you can't see the detail of the items but clear enough to allow visual lightness. Install puck lights inside the top of this cabinet if you can.

AMN Cost is relative, but I would look into improving the lighting scheme throughout the kitchen. Get some cans in the ceiling, install under-cabinet lighting. If you add a big piece of art to the newly-blank wall, light the art. Of course these things must be done carefully if you think you'll do a major kitchen overhaul anytime soon.

Remove the wooden valence over the window if possible. Put up a roman shade in a cheery color or a grass/wood one.

New cabinet hardware

Install a fun but flexible (in terms of color and style) backsplash.

New, appropriately-sized table and chairs.

Again, all of this depends on when and if you plan to do a major reno later. If you think you'll do one in the next 5 years, I would hold off on doing too much. Just live with it a while if you can stand it, and save money in the meantime.

diydamsels I would paint the walls a colour in the beige family and update all the cupboard handles with something more modern.

boogieshoes5 If it were my kitchen, I would replace the curtains with white lace to allow more light. I would remove the ceiling fan and replace it with either hanging pendant lights or a lighted pot rack. I would add a nice island in the center of the kitchen with a couple of high chairs pulled up to it. Also, I would add some track lighting over the counter area to highlight the areas above the cabinets to make the room feel larger. I would add something with color above those cabinets to draw your eye upward and make it feel larger. A nice color rug between the new island and counter area would be a nice touch as well. The island would become the new focal point of the room. You could even do a white island and it would look great. If the cabinets aren't oak, I would consider painting them white to really brighten the room up. I would NOT replace the appliances with stainless steel. Despite the popularity of stainless steel, White appliances are making a huge come back and stainless steel would make your kitchen look even darker.

This kitchen is 2 toned. White and brown. You need some nice happy colors in there. :) Good Luck.

gatsbygirl8 Thanks for all the comments. You've all given me some good ideas. In terms of budget, we've got about $500 max. I like the idea of the Roman blind and removing the wood valance. A new light fixture would be good. We may paint the cabinets a soft gray and the walls white to make it more light and airy. Will definitely get some new silver or brushed nickel hardware. Updating the appliances, floor or countertop is out of the question right now. You've got me thinking. Many thanks!

Becky Ford I suggest new cabinet hardware, new light fixture, updated window treatment and remove the wood trim piece over the kitchen sink/window. You should be able to do these few things for your $500.

janishill Here are 3 links for $500 or less kitchen make-overs to bring the room up to date. Follow a few of these tips and your room will soon be a great space!



http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-me-132033

http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/remodeling/makeover/500-kitchen-makeover-victorian-to-21st-century/

Drea Custom Designs I would paint the cabinets a fresher color, add modern knobs and fixtures. Also replace the window treatment to something more modern like a roman shade or a solar shade.

jodi1240 I'm seeing more gray on cabinets these days so I think it's a great idea. I have been a decorative painter for 10+ years and 6 years ago I painted my laminate counter top. It is still holding up perfectly with daily use by myself and 2 clumsy men. If the beige counters interfere with the grey white scheme and you want to step outside the norm, consider painting them. People will most likely say it won't work, but with the right products it absolutely will. There ARE products coming to market these days that make it possible for you to paint anything. Great kitchen to work with tho!!!

twylahaj $500 - reminds me of the older (and better, in my opinion) version of Decorating Cents!

You don't say if you have a table and chairs in there now or whether you have a china cabinet. If not, you can get a small table and a couple of chairs at a thrift store, a quart of paint that pulls in the living room color (like the base of the previous table did) at your local home improvement store for about $10, a quart of oil based primer for another $10, and with some elbow grease and love you can have a great bistro set over near that now-empty wall.

I haven't personally had much luck finding acceptable thrift store china cabinets, but if you need something to hold china or other decorative objects and want to put it on that wall, consider Expedit from IKEA. It is relatively inexpensive, freestanding, and could be moved to another room eventually if you find a china cabinet you like. It's basically open shelving that looks like cubes. Stacked dishes would fit nicely and you can always leave some of the square intentionally empty to give the eye a place to rest. Previously mentioned thrift store redo bistro set could still fit where the previous owner's table and chairs were.

New pulls will eat up your budget if you're not super careful about price since you have 17 of them. I learned that the hard way... Even at $5 a piece you're looking at almost 20% of your budget. That said, check Craigslist, EBay, thrift stores and even antique shops for used ones in good shape. If there aren't enough of one kind, you could use different ones on the top and bottom cabinets or on doors and drawers.

The bulkhead can be an interesting place to display collections of things. I have a collection of small crosses that people have given me displayed on the bulkhead above my cabinets, spaced to hang centered over the various cabinet doors and doorways to the room. Small colorful plates you find at thrift stores or garage sales could liven up that space and be a great conversation starter.

I LOVE the challenge of decorating on a small budget and really miss the older shows that focused more on using elbow grease and ingenuity than ripping everything out and starting new. Have fun with your project and don't forget to post after photos.

amy1082 Painting your countertops can make a big difference too! I painted my ugly stained once white countertops 5 years ago and they are still going strong!

gatsbygirl8 Wow, I'm so grateful all the comments. We're getting some really great ideas. One point to mention, we do NOT have a dining room. This kitchen is where we cook and eat. That's why I'm frustrated with the space. Our 4-seat table takes up most of our space and we have two kids. We'd love to knock down the half wall and open up the kitchen into the living room to create an open plan dining area (a girl can dream!). In the meantime, we need to find a way to make this space work for our family. Sadly, I doubt we could fit both our table and chairs plus an island.

Dezign Studio Inc Until you can knock down the wall , you can hang a large mirror, maybe 5' x 2'6", horizontally, on the wall where the china cabinet was placed .Will be cheaper at a big box store. It will make the kitchen look spacious.

eagledzines I would suggest a roman shade on the window. If you are handy, here are instructions to make one: http://jenduncan.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/11/roman-blind-tutorial-in-20-pictures-or-less.html
Use shades that compliment the colors in the room.Notice the bold prints on the yellow wall in the pic below. If you were to use similar colors in your roman shade it would liven up the room and bring in the color of your cabinets. Also, take down the valance and hang a decorative drop light.

The mellow yellow color is fine but the color combinations could use some adjustment from what was there. The Mellow Yellow color would look great with either the blue which is a Benjamin Moore color (sorry not sure of the name, but they could tell you in the store) or with the blueish-grayish color in the room. Since the table is no longer there, I'm referring to this as any accent color you may use such as in rugs, roman shade, furniture.

The knobs are place quite high on the door. I would suggest using something like the one below from Richileau. #2 is 8" and could be placed so that the top part uses the current screw hole and then the bottom would be 8" below. You could use the knobs for the drawers.

I would also recommend not replacing andy ornaments on the corner cabinet and pantry. It just calls attention to the fact that the soffit doesn't cover them.

Install some undercabinet lighting if it doesn't exist already.

Because the kitchen is so small and it does have a dishwasher, it would be best to go with a single sink with a drainboard so it still centers under the window. Then you could put a divider in the sink base and shelves and get another cabinet out of it. You could also get a handyman, remodeler or cabinetmaker to install another drawer behind the false drawer that's there. The sink is from Blanco and I believe you can order it with the sink on the right. I would also have him move the refrigerator cabinet out the to the same depth as the pantry cabinet. It looks a bit odd set back in.

I wouldn't recommend putting glass in any of these doors because you will need all the functional cabinet space you can get. There really isn't any 'display' space. If you were to get a china cabinet with glass that would work fine.

I agree with the above poster about the fan light. I would definitely update that.

twylahaj Good additional information about needing this to hold a table for four (or more). A narrower table, say 30 inches, is wide enough to seat four with dinner plates, glasses, etc. but without room for serving dishes, so if you don't need to put serving dishes on the table, that's an option that might work. An island with space for four to eat would be another option, but not sure that would fit well in the space.

Don't know if you can afford to get a new table and chairs, but getting a pub height table and stools would give you additional counter height workspace. It does nothing for storage, but it does solve the eating and food preparation space issue. Though larger, a table designed for six would be the most flexible It could be situated against the wall where the china cabinet is in the photos when it's just the four of you and pulled away from the wall if you have a couple of guests. You'd need a couple extra stools for those guests, but they do make folding ones. A nice large piece of art on that wall above the table would make it look good when pushed up against the wall but would not make it inaccessible (like shelves would) when you have guests.

Another option would be checking out wall units designed for offices. I've seen some online that have a long desk peninsula that extends from shelves and cabinet doors. You might have to add a drop leaf at the end or somehow make the peninsula part longer to accommodate four for dinner, but it would make good use of the wall space for storage as well as adding an area for eating. It doesn't however, leave room for guests.

An interesting project. Good luck!

bojaby The first thing I would do is remove the fan and replace it with an attractive fixture. Then replace the countertops with a slate or other natural looking Formica, not shiny, and choose the wood edge having the edge as close to your wood color in the cabinets as possible. Then choose a brighter accent color and paint the back splash and bulkhead/soffit the same color. Choose new cabinet hardware In a dark color that shows up on the wood. Mix pulls and knobs for interest. Replace the curtain with a Roman Shade and buy a nice sized colorful rug and your kitchen will be beautiful and your cost will be minimum. Don't forget to use colorful art on the walls and in your accessories. Have fun. You have a great kitchen it just needs a little modernization and color.

jodi1240 Another poster mentioned knobs being expensive which is true when you shop at Home Depot or other big box stores. The alternative to that is Hobby Lobby. They constantly have their knobs on sale for 50% off so check with them often. they also have a selection on line if there is no store close to you.
Painting furniture? ....Chalk Paint.

twylahaj Thanks for tip about Hobby Lobby having online option for cabinet knobs. We are not blessed with a Hobby Lobby on Long Island....