Kitchen Remodeling on the Cheap: Proven Ideas for Creating Your Dream Kitchen on a Budget

So, you're tired of your old kitchen. Well, you are not alone.

According to the annual survey by, Kitchen & Bath Business, the trade journal of kitchen and bath remodeling professionals, so are over 5 million other homeowners who plan to remodel their kitchens this year.

But, at a price tag of $7,000 to for a facelift and up to $50,000 or even more for a complete tear-out and redo, kitchen remodeling on a limited budget can be a real challenge – but not an impossible one.

And, the effort can pay big dividends. According to Re­mod­el­ing Mag­a­zine's latest "Cost vs. Val­ue Re­port", even modest kitchen remodeling provides a higher return on investment than almost any other remodeling project – meaning that you can enjoy your kitchen for years to come, plus reap a nice return on your investment if you decide to sell your home down the road.

Staying on budget does not have to mean doing without either essentials or some very nice refinements. You just have to choose wisely and use common sense.

We build dozens of kitch­ens each year, and over the years have learned a few things about how to build beautiful, functional kitch­ens that are at the same time affordable.

Here are some ideas that we have found work well.

Creative Cabinetry

Your cabinets will make the most visual impact in your new kitchen and will probably be the single most costly part of your makeover – as much as 40%. But that doesn't mean they have to break the bank or look cheap.

Here are some tried and true ways to get cabinets that look like a million bucks but cost a whole lot less.

Look Local

Don't automatically assume that factory cabinets from your lumber yard or big box home center are going to be cheaper than locally-made custom cabinets. This was probably true 20 years ago but not any longer.

New technologies such as affordable computer-controlled CNC milling machines have allowed local and regional cabinetmakers to duplicate the cost-lowering efficiencies of large-scale manufacturing. So, odds are that the local guy's prices are very competitive.

In fact, considering the enormous overhead of the major cabinet manufacturers, and the retail markup of the design studios and lumber stores that sell them, local cabinetmakers are often considerably less expensive because you are, in effect, buying them directly from the "factory", with no middleman.

Plus, from the local guy, you can get precisely sized and fitted cabinets. You are not stuck with a cabinet manufacturer's stock sizes.

Include Installation

In checking cabinet prices, make sure you are not comparing pers­im­mons to pine­ap­ples.

Factory cabinets need to be installed and installation is not included in the price of the cabinets. Installation is "in addition to", and is often a costly addition to the price of the cabinets.

Local cabinets are usually priced installation included. Unless you are going to install the cabinets yourself, make sure your cabinet price quote includes installation.

Also, be mindful of the other costs typically added to the base price of factory cabinets. These may include delivery, assembly, and set up as well as installation. All of these "extras" can easily double the cost of a factory cabinet.

Stick to Stock

Instead of splurging on full custom cabinets with special doors designed by Cousin Nell (you know, the – ahem – artiste), use your cabinet maker's stock sizes, standard doors, and regular finishes.

Most shops have a catalog of dozens, if not hundreds of designs and finishes already available. One of them should suit you. Use true custom cabinets only in the one or two places where a stock cabinet will absolutely not work.

Fake It 'Til You Make It (Cheaper)

Gussy up a budget wood to look like something pricier.

Cherry finish on alder or soft maple looks as much like cherrywood as cherrywood does, and costs less than half what cherrywood costs. (Bet you can't say that fast).

Often even experts cannot tell absent a very close examination. Beech, maple, and birch can emulate a host of pricier hardwoods like walnut and mahogany.

Ask your cabinet maker for advice. It's usually free, and well worth listening to.

Optimize Organizers

Drawer and cabinet organizers are very useful but the cost of built-in custom organizers can add up fast. If you can make them work, use after-market lazy susans, spice racks, and other organizers rather than custom-built items.

But first, make sure the add-ons are actually cheaper. Sometimes they are not, or the added cost of installing them in already-built cabinets exceeds the savings on the aftermarket item.

Sweat Some Savings

Any work the cabinet maker does not have to do, you won't have to pay for, and there are some fairly easy but time-consuming cabinetmaking tasks you can probably do yourself.

• Knobs & Pulls: If you are at all handy, install door and drawer knobs or pulls that you buy yourself.
• Door & Drawer Hardware: You can almost certainly install the door hinges, and possibly the drawer runner hardware – saving about a half day of the cabinet maker's time.
• Stain & Varnish: You can probably stain and finish if the finish is not too complex. However, if it ivolves techniques such as overglazing or color washing, leave it to the pros (or pick a simpler finish).

Efficient Economical Appliances

Your new appliances will do lots of work, and use a lot of electricity. They deserve careful selection and a good balance between initial cost and lifetime operating expense.

(Energy) Star Power

Don't buy an inefficient appliance just because it is cheaper. If the price difference is not too great (and maybe even if it is) buy Energy Star® appliances.

The Energy Star® Program

The Energy Star program administered jointly by the EPA and Department of Energy is almost 20 years old.

Many consumer groups think it is past time to update the program to apply even stricter standards for being rated an Energy Star.

Consumer Reports, the Nat­ur­al Re­sources De­fense Coun­cil and the Con­sum­er Fed­era­tion of Amer­ica have come out in support of stricter testing that would make Energy Star appliances even more energy efficient than they are today.

The FTC Energy Guide

Click to enlarge and for an explanation of the ratings.

Manufacturers, who have spent millions of dollars complying with current Energy Star requirements, are opposed to stricter standards that would require the investment of more millions of dollars. No doubt, in today's Green social climate, the consumer groups will eventually win.

In the meantime, when considering an appliance, don't rely exclusively on the Energy Star sticker. Read the yellow Federal Trade Commission's Energy Guide label that by law must be attached to every large appliance.

This shows the appliance's estimated annual electricity use and average operating cost compared to similar models. A great many manufacturers provide Energy Guide labels for their appliances online, so you can do your initial comparisons in front of your computer. No driving or walking required.

With a little research and careful shopping, an energy efficient appliance may actually end up costing the same as or less than its energy-hog cousin.

Many communities offer tax credits or tax deductions to encourage the purchase of these high-efficiency appliances.

Also, see what your local utilities are doing. They usually have some kind of rebate or buying club program in place.

Watch for sales.

Manufacturers off-load last year's appliances (except refrigerators) in September and October. Then come the Christmas sales starting in November, and the super discounts in January when stores need to get rid of the remaining last year's models. Selection may be poorer but if you can find an appliance you like, the savings may be substantial.

In May look for deals on refrigerators. Most factories roll out their new refrigerators during the summer, so April and May are the months to look for discounts on last year's refrigerators.

In every case compare the FTC Energy Guide label information and pick the most energy-efficient appliance that meets your requirements.

Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gimmicks

Shy away from "bells and whistles" unless they will make a real difference in your day-to-day life. Most don't.

Of course, one man's gimmick is another's feature. Somebody must be buying this stuff or the appliance companies would not keep making it.

Carefully consider, however, if you will actually use features that are not necessary to the basic function of the appliance. A cooktop with a drop-in deep fryer or griddle is neat but what does it do that a couple of new pans cannot do just as well? And, for a lot less money.

The big thing today are smart refrigerators with LED screens that connect to the internet. They can display the family calendar, look up recipes, and let you leave notes for other family members. They know if the freezer door has been left open, the icemaker is empty, or you are running out of milk.

Messages sent to your smartphone keep informed up-to-the-minute of the goings-on in your refrigerator and connectivity to Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT allow you to tell your refrigerator to make more ice or start thawing the chicken for dinner from your smartphone.

Someday smart refrigerators may be the centerpiece of a modern kitchen and we will wonder how we ever got along without them. But the technology is not there just yet. Refrigerators have been around for 100 years and have somehow managed to function just fine all that time without being particularly smart.

The other biggy is a built-in coffee service. Not only are these expensive to buy and install but they usually require you to use the appliance maker's specialized coffee packs.

The packs are expensive, and we don't think appliance companies have the know-how required to guarantee better quality coffee for the higher price. (We also don't think coffee bean farmers should be manufacturing appliances. But, hey, that's just us.)

Shun Stainless

Stainless steel is the new "must-have" appliance finish. We have no clue why.

Stainless ain't stainless. In fact, it's a maintenance nightmare. It shows the print of every finger that touches it and requires nearly daily cleaning to keep its good looks.

In restaurants, where stainless appliances originated, daily cleaning is a chore required by law but in your home kitchen, why pay more to get added work?

Appliance makers recognize the problem and have come up with stainless finishes that resist fingerprints, at an even greater cost of course. But, we think the best course for a budget-minded kitchen remodeler is just to stay away from the more costly and more troublesome stainless finish and go with something less maintenance-intensive.

Stick with white. It's cheaper, never goes out of style, and is everyone's second if not first choice of appliance color, so it's easy to resell.

Put your fab color scheme in something easy and cheap to change, like paint, wallpaper, and curtains. That way you won't be replacing your new "teal blue" appliances in 5 years because the color is so incredibly out of date. (If you are old enough to remember Avocado and Harvest Gold, you know exactly what we mean.)

Restrained Refrigeration

The refrigerator is the big power hog in your kitchen, so buy the most efficient refrigerator you can afford. It will more than pay off in the long run.

As a general rule, the tried and true freezer on top models are going to cost less than side-by-sides which are less costly than newer freezer-on-bottom and French door models.

Don't buy the model the manufacturer is advertising heavily. That's the most expensive model. Absolutely shun the so-called "professional" appliances. They are hugely expensive for what you get which is essentially a home appliance wrapped up in a restaurant-looking cabinet.

The current design trend is toward built-in refrigerators. These are just shallow refrigerators, often called cabinet-depth refrigerators, designed to be wrapped in cabinet wood to look like they are part of the cabinetry. Often they can be fitted with a wood door cover to look like a tall cabinet with big doors.

Figure on doubling your refrigerator budget to buy a cabinet-depth refrigerator which actually holds 30% less than its full-depth cousin. And add a few hundred dollars for your carpenter to build it in. If this is the look you want, fine. But expect to pay for it.

A much better choice, if you have the room (and most kitchens do), is to increase the depth of your base cabinets to match the depth of your normal refrigerator then wrap the refrigerator in a wood panel. The refrigerator looks built-in and you get a lot more countertop space and some extra drawer storage.

To learn more about the other advantages of opting for deeper base cabinets, see our article Off the Wall Kitchens: Living Without Upper Cabinets.

Home (Cooking) on the Range

A separate cooktop and wall oven are going to cost about twice as much as a good quality range with a built-in oven.

Unless you are or aspire to be a daily or near-daily baker, forget the wall oven. You won't use it enough to make it worth the price.

Wall ovens are also hard to design into small kitchens because of their sheer size and mass. They always seem to be in the way of other essential kitchen functions.

Range ovens are too low to the floor to be comfortable enough for frequent use but if you use it only once in a while, it's a bargain.

Many of us don't use the oven at all – substituting countertop toaster-ovens and microwaves, and most home cooks use it only once in a while.

So here is an opportunity to save big by avoiding that expensive cook­top + wall-ov­en combination.

If you have natural gas in your home, choose gas to operate your range. Gas ranges are a little more expensive to buy but less expensive to operate and, as most professional chefs will agree, better to cook on.

But, keep in mind that efficiency is relative. Cooking on gas for a year saves just $18.00 in our hometown, Lincoln, Nebraska, overcooking with electricity. Of course, publicly-owned Lincoln Electric System's electricity is some of the cheapest in the country, so the difference may be much greater where you are.

Don't Buy the Brand

Just because you've bought GE appliances all your life, as your father and grandfather did before you, does not mean you should buy GE today.

Brand name is a lot less important than it was just a decade ago.

There are only a handful of large appliance manufacturers left in the world, and the number keeps shrinking. All of the smaller companies have been gobbled up by the big brands, and most of the big brands have been absorbed into the monster appliance companies: Whirlpool and Sweden's Electrolux.

Whirlpool, for example, now owns Ad­mir­al, Am­ana, Bras­temp (Spain), Con­sul (Bra­zil), Est­ate, Gib­son, Hoo­ver, Inde­sit (Italy), Ing­lis (Can­ada), Jenn Air, Kitchen­Aid, May­tag, Norge, Ro­per and Whirl­pool.

If you bought an appliance in the past ten years, odds are you bought a whirlpool, whether you knew it or not. But, if you didn't, then you most likely bought an Electrolux.

AG Electrolux, a Swedish company, has moved on from its clunky vacuum cleaners (introduced to the U.S. in 1933) to manufacturing a variety of appliances under its own name but also as Eur­eka, Frigid­aire, Kel­vina­tor, Tap­pen, West­ing­house, and White-West­ing­house.

Brand is no longer a reliable indicator of quality. Elect­ro­lux, for eample, uses the same compressors in all of its refrigerators, so whether you buy an upscale Maytag or downscale Estate, you are getting the same basic refrigerator.

The Maytag may have more features but it does not actually refrigerate any better than its economy cousin.

Whether a particular refrigerator is called a Whirlpool, Admiral or Maytag has very little to do with quality. It mostly depends on which brand name management thinks will sell the best.

The only place where brand name does make a difference is price. A Roper refrigerator is generally cheaper than the same Amana or Maytag refrigerator.

The car companies have been doing this for years, A Plymouth Voyager is cheaper than a Dodge Caravan which is cheaper than a Chrysler Town and County – although they are exactly the same mini-van.

The appliance makers have adopted the same pricing strategy – and we keep falling for it.

Whirlpool, Electrolux, and GE brands jointly account for nearly half of the U.S. appliance market, followed at a distant fourth by Korea's LG Corp.

The rest of the market is split among Robert Bosch, GmbH (Ger­many), owner of the upscale Bosch, Gag­ge­nau, and Therm­ador brands; Sam­sung Group (Kor­ea); Sharp and Pan­son­ic Corp­ora­tions (Ja­pan) and a few dozen niche companies.

Many of the niche players, however, do not build their own appliances but rely on the Bigs for actual manufacturing.

Ikea's (Sweden) refrigerators are, for example, made by Whirlpool which also manufactures for Kenmore (US) and some refrigerators for the up-scale appliance brand, Therm­ador (US).

So, even if you did not buy one of the Whirlpool-owned appliance brands, there is a good chance you unknowingly bought a Whirlpool disguised as an Ikea or Kenmore.

Kenmore, the name given by Sears to its store-brand appliances since 1927 and owned by Transformco, an affiliate of ESL In­vest­ments since the Sears bankruptcy, makes exactly none of its own products, it never has.

Electrolux (Frigidaire) and LG Corp., as well as Whirlpool and Samsung, make Ken­more's full-size refrigerators. The giant Chinese appliance maker, Hai­er, provides most of Ken­more's compact refrigerators, Dan­by, an Ohio-based mini-fridge pioneer, makes its wine coolers and San­yo Elect­ric Co. of Ja­pan builds most of its freezers.

Other Ken­more appliances are made by Elect­ro­lux (Swe­den), Pan­a­son­ic (Jap­an), Bosch (Germany-Poland-Turkey), and Mabe (Mexico).

Vik­ing, based in Green­wood Mass. (no, it's not Scand­i­nav­ian) manufactures most of its own appliances but Whirl­pool (Ama­na) makes its freestanding refrigerators, Sharp its microwaves, and Mar­vel (Now owned by the UK's AGA Range­master Group and renamed AGA Mar­vel) its under-counter refrigerators.

The fact is, to find out who makes what for whom requires a complex and constantly changing scorecard.

Gen­eral Elec­tric, for example, which has been manufacturing home appliances since 1905, has left the appliance business to focus on its high-margin industrial manufacturing.

GE sold its small appliance division (toasters, coffeemakers, etc.) to Black & Decker in 1984, and in 2016 sold its large appliance division (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) to the giant Chinese appliance manufacturer, Hai­er after the FTC blocked its sale to Electrolux.

The sale ended an era for the pioneering Amer­ican appliance brand that introduced the first affordable home refrigerator (The Moni­tor Top) to the country in 1925.

Haier, which barely has a presence in North Amer­ica (1.1% of the market in 2016), sees the acquisition as a ready-built gateway into the U.S. and Can­a­di­an mar­kets.

According to Zhang Rui­min, company chairman and delegate to the 19th Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty Cong­ress, it is now in the process of "fixing" the division to improve profits by consolidating management and production.

Hai­er is mounting a challenge to the Whirl­pool/Elect­ro­lux worldwide large appliance hegemony. It is already the dominant appliance manufacturer in China and is rapidly expanding outside of its home country through strategic acquisitions. It bought Jap­an's San­yo Elec­tric washing machine and refrigerator units in 2011 and New Zea­land's Fish­er & Pay­kel Ap­pli­ance Hold­ings in 2012.

Haier stands to inherit GE's 900-acre Ap­pli­ance Park in Louis­ville, Ken­tucky, and state-of-the-art appliance factories in La­Fa­yette, Georg­ia, and Bloom­ing­ton, In­dia­na. And, in a major departure for GE which has always been very protective of its historic brand name, Haier will continue to use the widely recognized "GE" brand name (but not "Gen­er­al Elec­tric") and logo on its appliances for 40 years.

So, while GE appliances will look the same on the showroom floor, with the familiar GE logo on the front, they will no longer actually be made by GE, or necessarily in the U.S. by American workers. How much of GE's 12,000-person American workforce will remain after the takeover is still very much up in the air. But, odds are that a lot of the manufacturing will eventually be relocated to Asia.

So, the lesson for today, kids, is forget about brand. Look for features, warranty, and efficiency, not brand name. Brand name no longer tells you much. Inside the pretty cabinet, a Maytag or Ikea is likely to be a Whirlpool, a Kenmore is quite likely a Frigidaire, and GE is actually a Haier. You can no longer tell from the brand name who makes the appliance.

Counter(top) Measures

After cabinets and appliances, countertops are the most expensive item in your new kitchen and savings here can be substantial with no sacrifice in function or quality. It must be durable, stain-resistant, and easy to clean. It takes a lot of abuse. You cut on it, scrape and scratch at it, scour it, pound it, and spill hot liquids on it. Yet after years of use, it is still expected to look as good as ever, and most do.

We discuss the pros and cons of most of the countertop options available for your remodeled kitchen in our two-part article New and Traditional Countertop Materials and strongly urge you to increase your countertop IQ by reading it. But, here is our take on price vs. value after working with countertops for nearly half a century.

Paper, Plastic & Pressure: High-Density Laminates

Since " high-density laminate" is quite a mouthful, most kitchen people shorten it to just "laminate", while most non-kitchen people call it "formica". We can't do that without risking a "cordial" note from For­mi­ca Corporation's lawyers reminding us not to misuse the For­mi­ca® registered trade name.

Laminate is the no-question winner in the price/value countertop category. Unless there is a very good reason for using another material, stick with a good quality laminate countertop.

Sure, granite, Corian® and Silestone®, stainless steel and concrete countertops are beautiful and will certainly make your friends and neighbors do the "ooh" and "aah" thing. But, at a price.

The price, in an average size kitchen, is about $2,000 for the "ooh" and another $2,000 for the "aah". And, with upscale countertops becoming more commonplace, the oohs and ahs just ain't what they once were.

We have heard all the same talk about how the pricier materials are so much better than laminates. Well, they can be better, not always but often enough. But, they are absolutely not four to ten times better. They are, however, four to ten times more expensive.

It's hard to believe now but at one time, in the 1920s and '30s, For­mi­ca® was an upscale luxury material used for the high-end countertops on the ocean liner Queen Mary and in pricier and more stylish hotels, restaurants, clubs, and bars (or speakeasies).

Even after it became a commonplace household material in the 1950s suburban housing boom, it was still regarded as a modern engineering marvel: tough, rugged, sanitary, and long-lasting with almost no maintenance required.

Today its august beginnings have been forgotten. But, it is still the miracle countertop material. Its layers of paper and plastic bonded under high pressure form a countertop surface rivaling the durability of stone.

Manufacturers are adding more sophisticated features like textured surfaces, translucent wear layers (to give the material visual depth), and design printing that is more realistic than ever.

For­mi­ca's stone-look laminates are now so realistic that you have to touch the material to confirm that it is not stone.

So, stick with a good quality laminate. If you like the look of granite, buy a laminate that looks like granite. If you want a different look, try soapstone, slate, limestone, marble/travertine, sandstone, linen, burlap, paper, steel, bronze, copper, or zinc, to mention just a very few of the thousands of colors, designs, and textures available.

For a heritage kitchen, try one of the many retro patterns available, like "boomerang" from For­mi­ca.

Completing the illusion are the widely available laminated edge moldings that make laminate tops almost impossible to distinguish from stone. These applied edgings are constructed of the same laminate used on the countertop itself and are available in several profiles emulating standard stone edges. They work better with small format laminate patterns but if properly done, the only way to tell the countertop is not stone is to touch it.

In about 20 years you and your neighbor with the granite countertop are both going to be tired of your countertops and want to change them. She's going to throw away a $6,000 piece of rock, while you are going to junk $1,000 worth of paper and plastic. Who was smarter? Here's a clue: she's going to look pretty lame.

There's a reason this stuff has outsold every other countertop material combined for the past 70 years. It is by far – by far – the best countertop value.

Ceramic Tile: Like Stone, But Better

Our clear second choice for the value-conscious countertop buyer is ceramic, porcelain, or stone tile.

Tile is, if anything, even more versatile than laminates, comes in many more colors, patterns, and textures (and that's saying something since there are over 1,000 laminates to choose from), and can actually cost less. It can also cost a great deal more. Tile is both the least expensive and most expensive countertop option. You can easily spend just pennies per square foot for good-quality ceramic tile on sale. You can also spend many thousand dollars per square foot for hand-fired, hand-painted art tiles.

No doubt you have heard those horror stories about tile countertops. Tile stains, cracks, and so on. Actually, it is less susceptible to cracking than granite, soapstone, or concrete. Stone tile is porous and needs to be sealed periodically but so does a stone slab. Stone, after all, is stone no matter what its shape or size.

Look for tile that is rated for countertop use – which is generally tile that is suitable for semi-wet areas. Most ceramic tile meets this criterion easily. On sale, it is possible to find suitable tiles that cost $1.00 per square foot, or less. Quite the bargain. And to sweeten the deal, ceramic tile is literally made out of dirt – clay and silica (sand) – requires no nasty petrochemicals and is, therefore, a reasonably green material – much greener than even the "greenest" engineered countertop, which is chock full of eco-unfriendly petrochemicals.

If you use good judgment and common sense, you can create a countertop that will easily last as long as stone for the price of a quality laminate.

Still longing for that granite look? Use granite or granite-look tiles instead at one-quarter the cost. And, if you want that "Wow" factor, it's hard to beat the color, patterns, texture, and flexibility of tile. Mix and match to your heart's content. Play with patterns and colors. Add a few art tiles for interest. Just go crazy! It's fun.

Ceramic tile, then, is definitely our second choice for high quality, durable, budget countertops

Solid Surfacing Countertops

Now we get into an area where there is much disagreement among our professional countertop guys and gals. But a solid plurality of us prefers solid surfacing to all of the remaining options.

Solid surfacing, like Corian®, has the twin advantages of being cheaper than most of the rest of the pack, and at least as durable. Some of us don't care for the matte appearance of the material but this is an aesthetic, not a value choice. Tough, durable, almost impossible to stain, reparable if it is damaged, and relatively inexpensive, solid surfacing is a solid (pun intended) third choice for the value-conscious.

The Also-Rans

Then there are all of the rest – all of which are excellent materials: durable, long-lasting, nearly indestructible. They will outlast you, your house, your city, and probably the United States.

You will grow tired of your countertop many, many years before it wears out. If you just have to have these premium materials, we will install them for you. Now all you have to do is figure out where to save the money to pay for them.

Mixing It Up

Have you heard of some rule that says all of your countertops have to be the same?

We haven't either. A good way to get an interesting look is to mix and match countertop materials. Use laminates for most of the countertop but perhaps hard maple at the prep counter and granite on both sides of the range. We have seen this technique used to wonderful effect by decorators and creative homeowners. It works, and it's cheaper than all-premium countertops – a whole lot cheaper.

(Back)Splashes of Color

If you really want to jazz up your kitchen, consider the artful ways backsplashes can be used.

The days of automatically matching the backsplash to the counter are long gone. Glass, stone, tile, and even wood can be used as a dramatic and inexpensive kitchen accent. Ceramic, stone, glass, or metal tiles are available in tile shops and kitchen showrooms, or we can buy them for a little less at home improvement stores. Here is where you can get creative at a very modest price.

Any material that cannot be damaged by water is suitable for a backsplash. The old standbys are laminates and tile. But, we have also used glass, wood, both stained and painted, nonferrous metals of all kinds, even cork.

The possibilities are virtually endless.

Fiscally Friendly Faucetry

There is no appreciable quality difference between a good mid-range faucet and an expensive designer faucet. The difference is only the cachet of the mark.

If you buy a it's because you appreciate the artistry of a Waterstone or Lacava. A Delta faucet will give just as good service, it just does not have the Italian pizzaz of a Lacava or the hand-made reputation of a Waterstone faucet.

If you must have high design, expect to pay for it. But for most of us, the thousands of excellent mid-range faucets have so many design choices that looking any further for a faucet is just not necessary. Concentrate on getting good functionality and a durable finish.

The ins and outs of selecting an excellent faucet that does not break the bank are discussed at length in our multi-part article Faucet Basics. But here are the highlights:

The key to a reliable faucet that will give years of service is a good quality valve. The valve is what makes a faucet work. It controls the volume and temperature of the water flowing through the faucet. If the valve stops working, then you no longer have a faucet, you have a chunk of pretty metal sitting uselessly on top of your sink.

There are several reliable valve types on the market but for most homeowners, the valve to look for is a ceramic disk valve.

For your faucet finish, stick with heavy chrome. Faucets are available in everything from gold to "hand rubbed bronze" (which was never hand-rubbed, and today is often not even bronze) but these premium finishes can easily double the price of the faucet.

Our second choice for easy maintenance and great looks: brushed stainless. If you have a few more dollars to spend, opt for a PVD finish. This is a finish created by vaporizing metallic ions in a vacuum and depositing the resulting vapor in a very dense coating on the faucet. By some accounts, PVD finishes are some 20 times harder than the standard electroplated chrome finish.

PVD finishes can emulate a lot of premium finishes that are much more expensive: gold, silver, copper, bronze, polished brass, steel, even black iron. And, one of the bonus features of PVD finishes is that unlike many other premium finishes, they require almost no maintenance other than a wipe-down every once in a while.

Stylish But Stinting Sinks

A kitchen sink is a lifetime investment, so some thought should be given to getting the right one: a sink that fits your particular style and is durable enough to last for many, many years, yet does not cost a fortune.

Undermount and Tile-in Sinks

Sinks attach to your countertop in four ways: drop-in, tile-in, undermount, and integrated.

Undermount sinks, as you would expect, are mounted under the countertop. Tile-in sinks are used with tile countertops and designed so the top edge of the sink is flush with the countertop tile.

Tile-in and undermount kitchen sinks are preferred by most homeowners over drop-in sinks because they seamlessly flow into the countertop, eliminating the grunge-collecting lip of drop-in sinks.

Until recently, however, undermount sinks could be installed only beneath pricey stone or solid surfacing countertops. There was no good way to undermount a sink in a laminate countertop that would last more than a few years.

That has all changed.

Integrated Sinks

Karran Products has introduced acrylic and stainless undermount sinks that bond seamlessly to a laminated countertop. In fact, "undermount" may not be the right word. These sinks are essentially integrated into the countertop. The sink selection is still rather limited, and there are just a few countertop fabricators familiar with the product (we happen to be one of them) but the list of both is growing.

At about $600 installed, the Karran sink is no more expensive than a premium drop-in sink and is a whole lot less expensive than any undermount alternative.

We started installing these sinks about 12 years ago. At the time the concern was that the exposed edge of the laminate around the sink would get wet frequently and do something awful like delaminate.

A very patient For­mi­ca engineer explained to us regular English (not engineer-speak) that the resins in the laminate and the high pressure used to bond the layers together make that completely impossible.

Still not entirely convinced, we cut some 1" squares of various laminates and submerged them in a jar of water (with a little alcohol to inhibit algae). There they still are, after over a decade, obstinately refusing to show any evidence of delamination.

Laminate is not the only material that will support integrated sinks. Sinks can also be integrated into solid surfacings, like Corian® and some engineered stones like Silestone®. They can also be integrated into stainless steel, copper, and zinc countertops. As you might expect, the cost of these premium products can be a little budget-busting.

Drop-in or Overmount Sinks

If integrated sinks are not for you, then the choice is a drop-in sink, the most common type of sink in the U.S. offering more style and color choices than all other mounting types combined, and the largest variety of materials.

Drop-in sinks also have the advantage for the budget-conscious of being the least expensive sink option.

Sink Materials

Sinks can be made of any material that holds water, including, stone, wood, bamboo, copper, zinc, and solid surfacing material but most are made of enameled cast iron, stainless steel, and plastic. Of course, makers of plastic sinks don't call them plastic. They are a "polymer", "acrylic", or a "composite" sink. Plastic sinks are an economy sink that doesn't really economize, simply because they scratch and stain readily and need to be replaced often.

Our favorite sink, money being no object, is an enameled cast iron sink. Cast iron is heavy and usually pricey but almost guaranteed to be a lifetime sink with reasonable care. In fact, one sink company, Kohler, is so confident of the durability of its cast-iron sinks that if you manage to chip it, the company will replace it at no charge.

Those of you with horrid memories of your grandmother's old, tired, scratched, and stained cast iron sink, may shy away from the material because you don't want that haunting image recreated in your sparkling new kitchen. Relax! Your grandmother's sink was probably 50+ years old and scrubbed daily with an abrasive cleaner.

Poor choices in cleaning products are what does in most enameled iron sinks. Never use an abrasive on an enameled sink. If you can just follow this rule, your sink will still look new 100 years from now. For heavy cleaning we suggest diatomaceous earth powder mixed with a little dishwashing liquid or automobile polish (not the abrasive kind). For daily cleaning, a sponge and some dishwashing liquid are all you will ever need.

You can buy specialty cleaners for enamel sinks, like Kohler's Cast Iron Sink Cleaner but the cleaner is just diatomaceous earth powder mixed with a little polishing compount at about $1.00 per fluid ounce – rather expensive stuff.

So, if you find a deal on a cast iron sink, snap it up. It would be almost impossible to go wrong. Cast iron would be our first choice of sink material if it were not for the hefty price of this emperor of sinks.

But, since price is always a consideration in a budget kitchen, our first choice of material for a sink for the economy-minded is good quality stainless steel.

Stainless steel is durable, easy to clean, heat resistant, tarnish-free, less likely to break dishes than cast iron, blends well with just about every decor, and, best of all, is the most affordable sink.

But don't grab the first sale sink you find at Lowes or The Home Depot. Do a little research first.

There are grades of stainless steel, some are much better than others.

The steel alloy you want is Type 304 (also known as 18/8 for its composition that includes 18% chrom­ium and 8% nickel), the most common stainless used in sinks.

Less often used but still a good choice is type 302, the stainless alloy used to clad the top of the Chrysler Building in New York or 316 "marine grade" stainless

There is a slight difference in the composition the steels. The 316 alloy, for example, contains a dollop of molybdenum for extra malleability, making it easier to form of a sink in a press without tearing.

But any of the three is very suitable for sinks. They are fairly "soft" (for steel, that is), form easily, and have a little "give", reducing the chance of dish breakage.

The thicker the steel, the less susceptible it is to denting, bowing and noise transmission from pots and pans hitting the metal surface. The thickness, called "gauge" ^[1], can be determined by its number. The lower the number, the thicker the steel

Most sinks come in 18 or 20 gauge steel. The 18 gauge is the thicker of the two and is more than adequate for residential sinks. If you can find a 16 gauge sink on sale, then buy it, you cannot possibly go wrong with this commercial-grade sink.

Look at the finish. Some manufacturers have started selling highly polished stainless sinks. These glistening wonders look great in the showroom but not so great after a few years of use.

Steel scratches. Polished steel shows every scratch, brushed stainless steel does not. And, brushed steel is almost always cheaper.

The layout of your new sink is important.

In the era before dishwashers, two-basin sinks allowed washing to be done on one side, rinsing on the other. With a dishwasher, a deep single-basin sink is usually best for hand washing those big pots and roasters that will not fit in the dishwasher. If you must have a two-basin sink, choose an asymmetrical design: one that has one big basin and one small basin.Mount the disposal in the small basin.

Also, pay attention to the shape of the bowl.

The most recent fad in stainless sinks is the "zero radius" sink that has sharp 90 degree corners instead of rounded (or radius) corners. These are intended to look like handmade sinks which are usually bent out of sheet metal and welded or soldered in the corners rather than stamped out as a seamless unit on high-pressure presses.

Obviously, these sharp corners are very hard to keep clean since you can get neither a sponge nor cloth all the way into the sharp corner. We can't imagine why anyone would pay more for the annoying chore of cleaning out the corners of their sink with a Q-tip®, so we suggest you avoid this trendy style – saving money, frustration and Q-tips®, for which the environment will be most grateful.

Frugal Flooring

The least expensive floor option for kitchens is vinyl: either sheet vinyl or vinyl tile. But it's not a good value because it does not last.

Another floor to avoid is carpet. We don't see much kitchen carpet anymore but in the 1970s and '80s it was common, and there is still some of it around. There is no better way to collect germs than with a carpet installed in your kitchen or bath.

The best value is either ceramic tile, hardwood, or laminate flooring. The most eco-friendly is cork. You can find much more information on these flooring options in Flooring Options for Kitchens and Baths, as well as information on less common floors: concrete, for example. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages.

Hardwood: The Warm Choice

If you live in a pre-1940 house you just might have a hardwood floor under those layers of tacky vinyl and linoleum. Before you budget for floor replacement, tear up some of the existing flooring and look. In the 1930s it was common for builders to lay an oak strip floor in the kitchen, then immediately overlay it with linoleum to protect it.

Why they did this idiot thing is anyone's guess. We have never heard a good explanation. But, it was done, and fairly often, so look for it. It's a lot cheaper to sand the linoleum adhesive off the oak and refinish it than it is to replace the floor. You will end up with what is essentially a pristine, never-walked-on, oak floor of first growth oak – better oak than most of the flooring you can buy today.

Ceramic, Porcelain, and Stone Tile: The Lifetime Choice

Glazed tile or stone is probably the ultimate kitchen flooring material, and with care in selection can also be the most affordable. Large-format tiles (12" x 12" or larger) are usually the best choices since they are faster to install (costing, therefore less money) and easiest to maintain.

In the past fifteen years or so, tile makers have figured out how to manufacture monster format tile, 36" x 36" and even larger without the old problems of cracking or uneven shrinkage. These eliminate most grout lines but are also expensive tiles.

Grout lines are less of a concern than they were just a few years ago.

The old cement-based grout stained and was difficult to keep looking nice. New stainless urethane ane epoxy grouts have all but eliminated this problem (See the sidebar: "Myths and Fables").

The creative options available with ceramic and porcelain tiles are endless. Patterns, solids, textured looks are just the baseline for designs. Add to that a myriad of size variations and specialty looks, and the combinations approach infinity. So if you want to get creative, a tile floor gives you every opportunity but keep in mind that tile is a permanent floor, so use care in your selection. You want something that you will still like 50 years from now because it will still be there: a hundred years from now, and 150 years...

Cork and Bamboo: The Green Choice?

For those concerned with protecting the environment while getting a great kitchen floor, bamboo and cork are considered the "green" flooring options.

Cork Flooring

Cork is a wholly green material – very possibly the very greenest of flooring materials. It is the bark of the Cork Oak and can be repeatedly harvested without harming the tree. It is minimally processed into a tile that is dense, stain-resistant, and very water-resistant.

Before plastic, it was the material used for fishing bobbers and life jackets. Ever see a cork fishing bobber sink? Neither have we. The closed-cell structure of cork defeats water penetration.

Still, it's best not to let water sit on a cork floor. The water will work itself around the cork and into the subfloor, which, if it gets wet enough, will buckle and warp, ruining the floor.

Cork does not seem like it would be durable enough for hard use in a kitchen. Yet, it is astoundingly rugged.

Cork floors installed almost 100 years ago in Federal buildings in Washington, D.C., that get lots of daily pounding, are still very much in use. But, there are a couple of things to consider. First, cork floors and spike heels do not mix very well. Second, cork expands and contracts a lot, so great care is required in its installation.

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo is also considered by many a green material – and it is certainly widely promoted as an environmentally friendly option. We have a whole lot of doubt about that.

Its raw material is green enough for the most dedicated "greenie" – a renewable, sustainable grass stem from what may be the fastest-growing plant in the world. But, in its raw state, bamboo is useless for floors. Flooring is made not of bamboo but bamboo strips (best) or fibers (worse).

The processing the grass goes through to make flooring is anything but green, and often requires some very, very eco-unfriendly chemicals and a whole lot of power. In fact, bamboo flooring is really an engineered material with a bamboo filler, similar to Silestone® which uses quartz as a filler.

We think of bamboo flooring as sort of "green-washed", that is, made to look green but definitely not truly green.

Cork is probably, then, the truly green choice but bamboo is usually cheaper and has, generally, a longer guaranteed life cycle. Fifty-year bamboo warranties are common (always assuming that the Chinese companies that make the flooring are around in 50 years)

Let There be (Energy Efficient) Light

The major ongoing cost of your kitchen is electricity. After your heating and air-conditioning, your kitchen is the big energy-user in your house. Selecting low-energy appliances and developing energy-saving habits can go a long way to reducing energy consumption. So can proper lighting design.

Fluorescent Lighting

The old king of economy lighting was fluorescent, several times more efficient than the standard incandescent bulb. It has not been largely supplanted by low-cost LED fixtures, but can still be a smart choice for the budget and the environment.

Fluorescent lighting produces much more light for the electricity used than any other form of lighting except LEDs (more below). Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) can be used in almost any place a less efficient incandescent bulb can be used. The bulbs last a lot longer - up to 5 times longer, so they do not have to be replaced as often, which is nice for landfills, and they produce the same quality of light.

Their drawback is that they require minute amounts (4 milligrams) of mercury to operate, and mercury, as you know, can be an environmentally dangerous metal. The EPA maintains, however, that the amount of mercury used is so small that the total amount of mercury use in all the CFLs made has an insignificant impact on the environment compared to the enormous environmental benefits of CFLs.

Some CFLs last much longer than other CFLs. It's usually not possible to tell from the box which CFLs are stellar performers but the Environmental Working Group recently tested CFLs and identified the seven most efficient and eco-friendliest. See the study results here.

For under-counter lighting, use T-5 or T-8 fluorescent instant-on fixtures. You may not know what these are but your electrician does. These are not pretty fixtures but they are hidden under the cabinet, so what difference does it make?

Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

LEDs produce light from one of the simplest of electronic semiconductors: a diode. A diode is a semiconductor composed of two different materials bonded together. Electrons flow from one material to the other, producing a current. This current results in the release of photons, which are what we see as light.

Just a few years ago, the big objection to LEDs was the initial cost. But, LEDs have come a long way in just a few years and the cost is coming down rapidly. They are now roughly equivalent to fluorescents and the lifetime cost is significantly lower because their operating cost is less than half that of fluorescents and they last ten times longer than fluorescents (100,000 hours compared to 10,000 hours) so they need to be replaced less often.

Available for several years as under cabinet light bars and pucks and as recessed ceiling lighting, LED bulbs that work in standard Edison-style light sockets are now on the market, and a good thing because the incandescent light bulbs they replace have now been all but banned in North America.

There is a lot more information on choosing efficient lighting and using it effectively in our article Designing Efficient and Effective Kitchen Lighting. But here are the highlights:

Rev. 02/19/23