The Ugly Kitchen

My husband and I bought our first home in August 2010.  Overall, the home was in great condition, but was very drab color-wise and the kitchen and bathrooms were slightly outdated.  I added a picture (above) of the kitchen when we first moved in so that you can see our boring, laminate cabinets.  New cabinetry was not in the budget, so we worked with what we had.  Also, while the cabinets were unattractive, they were in good condition, so we didn't want to replace them based on aesthetic appeal only.

First, we bought trim at Lowes for about $3 per 8-foot piece and cut it to size to frame the cabinets to add texture and detail.  Below is a picture of one of the drawers with trim prior to painting.

Follow that with 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint (Glidden brand - 'Cornsilk'), and new hardware from Target (about $70 for all pieces) .. and you have a completely "new" kitchen for about $150.  It was a time consuming project, but well worth it.