Kitchen Design Ideas on a Budget: Our Best Money-Saving Tips

Giving a touch of color with pleasant accessories that accompany us when cooking, choosing the right furniture, or the distribution in the design of modern kitchen design ideas, is the key to creating our own environment and feeling good in a place that occupies a privileged position in the house.

In the market we can find a thousand kitchen pieces of furniture, a multitude of styles and modules, distributions for small and larger ones, integral, island-shaped, or smart kitchens with cutting-edge technology, gray, black and white or strong colors, cheaper or luxurious … etc.

Gastronomy lasts over time and we must understand that decorating and conditioning this space must provide us with long-lasting solutions over time.

To obtain good results in decorating the kitchen and making better use of the space, a basic study needs to be carried out that will help to give a clue about what the priorities are before starting to decorate similar to the one we already did in the tips for reforms a bathroom, and thus, be able to decide what will be the perfect environment.

Regardless of whether it is large or small, irregular or square, it must share an atmosphere of warmth and practicality. So let’s go-to design… (Remember that in the end, we have added portals with interesting photographs and images to get some ideas).

How to distribute the kitchen

Ideally, it should be spacious, bright and orderly to achieve a special charm in that corner where we can spend so many hours without realizing it.

Not all of us can enjoy a large space or in a perfect way. So let’s see how to optimize its usefulness to cook better. Here comes what the experience of years of cooking designates as the “Work Triangle” and that many professionals apply when designing kitchens. It is a coherent division of the kitchen according to its work areas.

👉 A single line of cabinets, in light colors, is the solution in long kitchens. A “widening” effect is achieved and, in addition, you can choose to place a bar or table on the opposite wall. We also have to say that more and more great designers are contributing their grain of sand to the culinary world. A great example of design is this modular furniture that is totally transparent …

👉 An island kitchen is an option if the space is very large, it is an extra surface to prepare food or use it as a breakfast area; with drawers or cabinets you will gain space to store whatever you want.

👉 For a square shape, the best distribution is the “U” shape. It will be practical and functional. Whether in a large or small space, the objective will be to use one side as a counter and bar area, and the other as a kitchen and sink.

• Modules for recycling and cleaning are practical next to the sink.
• If the oven, dishwasher or microwave is placed on a high module, it will be more conveniently accessed.

Kitchen Paint Colors Ideas

Daring to change the color of the wall, will give a radical change with very little money (We remember the article on how to paint a wall with good tricks). A tone that highlights the qualities of the space and the furniture will be ideal.

We remember an App for mobile phones ( HERE – Itunes Apple) that you simply take a photo of a room, and it tells you the colors it uses. Useful to know how to choose the colors of the kitchen !

The orientation of the kitchen can help determine the suitability of one color or another. Those facing North require warm and luminous colors, whereas those facing South improve with shades such as white or green.

East-facing ones are best for grays, creams, and pastel shades. The ones that face west are perfect for cool colors.

• The color pink or mauve, are two tones that can combine well with each other creating a soft contrast with the white lacquered furniture.
• The gray kitchens is a color that provides a sense of spaciousness and brightness.
• The eating area can be differentiated by dressing the wall with a cheerful striped wallpaper, giving a modern air.
• The universal colors of neutral tones, based on green, brown or yellow, go well with any style. The off-white combines cleanliness and clarity.

If we want to learn more about color we have a good extensive guide article on color in architecture.

Home Kitchen Design Details, complements and accessories

The complements and small accessories will give the last note to the kitchen, achieving a very personal atmosphere:

• Candles in different combined colors placed on the shelves, or on the bottom of the table, will give warmth.
• A vase will give joy if it is decorated with a good bouquet of natural or artificial flowers. It will be ideal for the corner of the countertop. 
• Small fun or designer accessories always give a touch of joy or distinction to a space that is often a meeting point. So take note!

• A pot with a plant by the window will give life and color.

• If you decide to put covers on the chairs, the fabric can be the same shade as the curtains, to match. (See article on home textiles ) 
• By mixing pieces of different colors, they acquire more prominence but it is reasoned that they are very few.

If you can find the ideal distribution, custom furniture, matching paint, and details combined, you will have managed to find the perfect environment. It is possible to change the design with a minimum investment, only a suitable distribution will be necessary.

Sometimes, unleashing creativity with simple details or leading pieces can make a kitchen more enjoyable and workable.

It should not only be a place to enjoy gastronomy, cooking, or cooking, it can also offer a space for meetings, sharing, and conversation.

Add meters

In recent years, the kitchen has been a source of ideas in design, gaining ground today and becoming comfortable and manageable. They are looking for practical accessories and furniture to make cooking easy and to be the best host on any occasion:

• To vent more space, it will be necessary to dispense with tall cabinets by opting for pull-out modules, display cabinets and shelves, which have more than one function if their interior is equipped well and are increasingly taking center stage when choosing their current and practical design.
• The seating capacity can be occupied by a bench, which will be an alternative to give space; the stools are ideal for not subtracting areas.

• If, on the contrary, you opt for chairs, you can choose materials that are easy to wash and with designs that facilitate the passage area.
• One detail that must be taken into account is the distance between the table and the closest piece of furniture; To add meters, round or folding tables, due to their design, take advantage of the corners.
• If the room allows it, an island unit for the kitchen , with or without a sink, in addition to presenting a work area, can offer several functions: storage area and office area; on the sides, it will be ideal to place large drawers or shelves.

• The drawers with several trays multiply their capacity by adapting to the needs; a good solution is to make the base area profitable by integrating drawers.
• The columns with a removable opening system, placed next to corners, allow you to store tall bottles and containers.
• The modules with wheels have gained relevance, since they are integrated into any furniture and are easy to handle.
• An ingenious solution will be to put stainless steel plates on the back wall, which can act as a mirror giving a feeling of spaciousness.

Kitchen Trends and Style

Keys, the most current designs. The style of the furniture or its distribution as we have already mentioned are some key aspects in kitchen design. The most and current modern kitchen designs ideas can give us some clues and suggestions to decorate without the need to go to a professional.

We observe in shop windows and decoration magazines the style of contemporary kitchens that are consolidated in clear trends united with the rest of the house without physical borders, continuous movements open with great fluidity to the dining room, living room, and exterior.

Fashion trends are adapted to personal uses, respecting the distribution and preserving current airs.

1.- Flexibility in kitchen materials

Its design has to give off functionality in all its materials and a surprising aesthetic taste, attending to ergonomics with mixtures of good lighting and resistant and durable materials.

Combinations of stainless steel workbenches, and workshop modules to keep order added to stone, corian, zodiaq, solid wood or lamicolor countertops with curved line finishes. Glass, aluminum and steel are the right proposals for a kitchen with an aseptic and contemporary character.

2.- Lightness in the kitchen furniture

Find storage solutions with internally lit removable columns for weekly or monthly purchases, and designed to also store crockery or glassware.

Drawers with sliding systems with straight sides and anodized aluminum, with a soft closing system in two heights, are practical and simple options that have been practiced for a long time in the decoration of dining rooms . All of this will provide us with a perfect setting for order and quality of life. Remember the famous phrase “Less is more.”

3.- General ecological sensitivity with the installation of the kitchen

Furniture manufacturers offer their products with minimal consumption of raw materials and energy, long life, recycling, and non-toxic finishes that guarantee us total freedom in the choice of finishes. If we look at the energy consumption table.

We will quickly realize the importance of household appliances in the kitchen; The oven, dishwasher, or the different types of refrigerators that we buy are what they really consume. So be careful where we spend the money!

With the help of free-standing columns or cabinets, it will allow us to hide a refrigerator, an oven, or a microwave. Shutter enclosures for the small format and thus obtain a continuous surface appearance.

In addition, hiding all the electrical appliances from view, hiding them will allow us to isolate it from the noise they may cause in the daytime area.

4.- Modularity and functionality in kitchen equipment

Choosing the latest technological trends in appliances is important when choosing the style of your kitchen. An example of the latest in kitchen technology :

Extractor hoods with elliptical geometries made of aluminum and glass materials; refrigerators with climatic zones divided inside for better preservation of your food; steamed ovens for roasting and gratin, keep food warm and achieve precise cooking.

5.- Naturalness and beauty within the environment

The kitchen environment should be a family meeting point where everyone finds their place inside. It has to fit its owner perfectly, reflecting his life in it with an individual and independent style.

A space to cook, eat and socialize, an exquisite room to bring happiness in our lives without great costs and unattainable signatures.

Not only will we reflect the taste for decoration, but internally we will grow as our needs and the inhabitants who live in that place grow. You want a place to cook but also one more motivation to live and enjoy your home.

6.- Well-being and coherence in the final result of the new kitchen

It is increasingly difficult for us to reach that glass on the top shelf or that pot at the bottom of the cabinet. It is not always possible to enjoy breakfast and after-dinner all the time you want with all the calm in the world when we are in this part of the house.

If we think that a little more light would give it life, a better organization would be more comfortable and easier to clean, renovating it would be our right solution. Why not improve it to enjoy it to the fullest?

You need to find a balance between design and lifestyle. The appropriate colors will be searched, integrating the necessary lighting and finding the accessories that best suit the room (Shelves, sink, appliances, etc.), being important to have a good coordination so that the elements can easily combine:

Practical advice on trends for kitchens

• Lighting can take center stage, differentiating the work area from the office area in a localized way, enhancing objects or furniture. Pendant lamps are a source of ambient light and will highlight the place where they are placed, recessed spotlights increase direct light at the points that you want to highlight. (We can learn more from the article on current and LED lighting )
• A simple change will be to update the curtains helping to modify the image; Roman shades are ideal for their decorative richness, they adapt to the measurements of the windows and allow you to control the lighting; it will be important that the chosen fabrics are resistant and easy to wash.
• Care should be taken, and it is advisable, that the office area is located next to the window to invite natural light to enter, and thus, reinforce the feeling of a unique environment.

• Flowers and plants can be considered, which can bring color and, in addition, perfume the place. Playing to combine them with other objects of the same color such as lamps, curtains or covers, is a good idea; the floral centers allow giving a decorative and vital color effect, the standing flowers are another option to decorate the abandoned corners.

How to calculate a kitchen renovation budget

On the Internet we have different tools and applications to see  how much it costs to reform a kitchen  and obtain a more or less detailed guideline budget.

Of course, if we ask in specialized stores, we will also have an approximate budget that may include an offer, but, to have a general idea, we are going to see a useful application.

As we want to provide quality, professionalism and offer a tool that really adds value, we will have to go to the Valencian Institute of Building ( IVE ) which works on a basis of construction prices totally updated per year and has a useful and easy application to use to give us a real guideline value and possible reforms at home. (We can also save and print the budget).

With a decoration full of ideas, proposals and decorative secrets, you can get a new kitchen, practical and comfortable, without having to change furniture if not necessary.

Look for kitchen offers for sale! There are many and, above all, in change of season or renovation of shop windows, there you can buy interesting things.

Best photos to inspire you with good ideas

Although many times we have an idea of ​​what we want, looking at other projects and images can give us more inspiration. So we leave some websites where you will find good photographs of modern kitchens to catch a good idea, there are users who have a lot of imagination!

• We start with Instagram. From HERE and with the hanstag #cocinas there are hundreds of examples and photos.
• In ISSUU hundreds of magazines and decoration books are posted with free access and without the need to register; New Style, AD Decoration, Interiors, ELLE Decor, Architecture and Design. From HERE you can access  many magazines for inspiration.
• Pinterest is also often the perfect place to find hundreds of photos uploaded by users. You can check from HERE .

If you liked the article, comment and share!