Wouldn’t you love for your kitchen to feel like a luxury home kitchen? The reality – you can achieve it for a fraction of the price. A luxurious home environment can be yours with these helpful tips.
1. Substitute granite countertops for granite top overlays. Several companies make a polymer/granite “shell” that fits directly over your current countertop. The result? A countertop that looks like you spent thousands, for half of the granite price.
2. Instead of marble tile flooring, use ceramic tile. Several man made varieties of tile mimic the look of marble and can save you money.
3. Substitute hard wood flooring with high-end laminate wood varieties. Hardwood is expensive and has high maintenance. High-end laminate flooring looks just like real hardwood, and comes in hundreds of choices. It also can get wet, and doesn’t scratch like hardwood flooring.
4. Substitute granite sinks for deep bowl- under mounted stainless steel sinks. Sinks can be expensive, especially when using granite, or other solid surface material. Use a deeper bowl, two or three compartment stainless steel sink. This will keep the sleekness you desire, without the high price tag.
5. Instead of custom faucets and fixtures, use ‘off the shelf’ varieties. Many luxury kitchens have high-end custom fixtures. These days, home improvement stores offer the same great looks, but by common manufacturers. Delta, Moen, American Standard are just a few that will save you money, without anyone knowing.
6. When renovating a kitchen, re-face wood cabinets instead of starting new. This process involves keeping the original cabinet, but having a laminate finish over the old. Cabinet and drawer fronts are brand new. With new door pull hardware added, the final look is of high-end cabinets that don’t hurt your wallet.
7. Instead of expensive, sleek metal cabinetry, use self-assembly cabinet manufacturers. Instead of spending thousands on sleek, modern cabinets visit a store like IKEA. They have dozens of choices for cabinetry that you can assemble yourself. If you need help, they have assistance that you can purchase separately.
8. Substitute stainless steel appliances for stainless steel finish appliances. Appliance manufacturers now offer stainless steel finish appliances. These appliances don’t give the fingerprints that stainless steel gives, and the appearance is still modern and luxurious.
9. Instead of crystal and expensive lighting fixtures, choose “off the shelf” fixtures. Pendant, recessed, and under counter lighting fixtures can be expensive. Use varieties that are readily available at your favorite lighting or home improvement store.
10. Instead of granite and mosaic tile backsplashes, consider using glass and ceramic tile. Mosaic tile and granite can be expensive and laborious to install. With the wide variety of tiles the options are limitless. You can achieve a high end backsplash, to compliment your luxurious kitchen without the cost!
