5 budget-friendly kitchen renovations

If you love cooking and entertaining you may spend a lot of time in your kitchen. As you stand there making dinner or washing dishes, do you ever look around and think "Wow, my kitchen needs a makeover"? It's probably thought that's followed quickly by, "but I can't afford it." Well that's not necessarily true. With a little bit of budgeting and a whole lot of DIY, you can afford to renovate your kitchen without spending a fortune.

Try these money saving kitchen renovations:

Change your countertops. The countertops can be the centerpiece of your kitchen and they can also be very expensive to replace. However, there is no need to rip out your old countes and replace them with new materials; it's costly and it makes your kitchen inhabitable during the renovations. A more budget friendly option is to paint and seal your countertops with Envirotex, a pour-on high gloss finish. It will give your kitchen a whole new look and have your counters looking brand new.

Sand cabinets instead of replacing them. Changing your kitchen cabinets can brighten up your kitchen and give it a more modern look. You don't need to spend a fortune on custom ones, either. An updated look can be as easy as sanding and painting or staining them.

Install new light and faucet fixtures. This is an easy fix to spruce up your kitchen. Light and faucet fixture styles change over time; updating them can give your kitchen a whole new look. If you are on a limited budget changing your room fixtures is a quick kitchen renovation that you can do yourself. It helps save on labor costs and it doesn't take more time than a trip to Home Depot and a few extra minutes to install.

Sand and re-stain hardwood floors. Wood floors are a good investment because they add value to your home, but they can be costly to replace. If your floors are still in good shape and just need to be refreshed, you can sand and re-stain them instead of tearing up your floors and replacing them. It's a lot quicker and a lot cheaper.

Replace appliances with cheap versions on Craigslist. If you need new appliances or want to replace mismatched appliances, you don't need to visit a home furnishing store and spend thousands of dollars on an entire suite. You actually don't even need to look further than your computer. Log onto Craigslist and check out local listings for used appliances; it can be a real money saver.

Using these tips will not only save you money but also time on a costly renovation. You'll be enjoying your kitchen again in no time!