Believe it or not, it is pretty easy to upgrade cheap kitchen cabinets to look like those high end designs you see on television and in magazines. When we moved into this house, we were a bit discouraged to have these laminate white kitchen cabinets without a ton of custom features or unique amenities. So I decided to do a little research to figure out how I could make them look a little bit fancier without spending a ton of money. The first step was painting our island unit in this cool-toned grey color. I love the rooms that have a contrasting island, and thought that it would be a perfect (and inexpensive way) to upgrade the look without having to purchase new rta cabinets. Another step we took to update the room was replacing all of the knobs and handles. This ended up being a bit more pricey than expected, but I think that the benefits far outweigh the cost.

Just because you want to use cheap kitchen cabinets to save some money, doesn't mean that you can't have an awesome high end looking home. Believe it or not, we used those prefab kitchen cupboards that you can find in the back of Home Depot for this particular design, but the unique architectural touches such as the log beams, large stucco hood and beautiful center island make the room look so much more fancy. If you are going to skimp on the cabinetry cost, I would recommend using those savings elsewhere. The key to achieving a fantastic look like this is by understanding how to mix bargain finds with higher end pieces. For example, the farmhouse kitchen decor that we added to this particular room was all found at a local flea market for next to nothing, but the custom granite countertops took up a lot more of the budget.

I have been trying to figure out a way to upgrade our cheap kitchen cabinets to give them a more high end look. There are actually tons of ideas online for simple and unique ways to achieve this, so now it is just a matter of deciding which I want to use. I really love how these black kitchen cabinets and island look against the tan shade of the upper units and pantry row. The contrast is lovely and gives the room a classic yet contemporary feel -- exactly what I am going for in our house. We have those old pine finished units so they definitely don't have the look of any type of modern kitchen cabinets. But if I paint them in a combination of these colors, then add bronze knobs and hardware, I think that I could have a very similar look without having to gut the kitchen.

I have always heard that you should never settle for cheap kitchen cabinets because they do not hold up over the years but, I must say, the inexpensive ones I bought and installed from Home Depot have lasted me just fine. In my opinion all white cabinets look pretty much alike so it didn't make much sense to to spend a ton of money on "high end" ones that look just the same as what I installed myself. As you can see, we used some of the money we saved to invest in some really nice black granite counter tops to give that high end look. I think that combining the expensive counters and knobs alongside cheap kitchen cabinets wholesale, actually made everything look very lavish and professionally done.

Cheap kitchen cabinets do not have to look drab and boring. With a little bit of creativity and research into DIY kitchen ideas, you can definitely create a high end look with your existing units and, not to mention, on a budget. Before we gave our space a face lift, we had those typical oak cabinets that you see in a lot of 1980s and 1990s kitchens. I wasn't sure if I could achieve the rustic french country look that I really wanted, but I was determined to try. The first step was sanding down the varnish and top coat of stain off of the kitchen cabinet doors. It actually resulted in this cool contemporary meets country finish so I went with it for the rest of the units. We added a coat of varnish just to seal and protect the finished product but, overall, I can't believe how good it looks for so little money.