Without a doubt the kitchen is the busiest room in the house. With that in mind the look and feel of the kitchen is greatly affected by the appearance of the cabinets. If you're thinking about a complete makeover of your kitchen and changing the look completely, but the budget is important, then you will probably want to go with a new look for your current cabinets.
Tearing out and replacing cabinets will be expensive, but sometimes it's the best way to go if you're going to change the layout for instance or if you want to go with a completely different cabinet material for a desired look. An example of this would be that you have wooden cabinets and you would rather have metal cabinet theme to match a more modern theme. What ever the reason might be, if you do decide to replace your cabinets, there are at least a couple of ways to go.
The most expensive will be to have your cabinets custom-built by a reputable cabinet shop. This route will give the most flexible options as far different colors, textures, hardware, personal design preferences, and of course materials. Another option that can produce satisfactory results, if you're not too concerned about custom designing input, but rather trend styles, designs, and industry standards in cabinetry, is the pre-manufactured type. You can find these at most building supply retailers, especially the big chain retailers. You will have a pretty good variety of cabinet styles and hardware that can be installed by the retailer usually much quicker than having the cabinets custom-built and installed, plus the cost is significantly less.
If you don't absolutely have to have new cabinets, a cabinet facelift can do wonders to make a drastic change to the appearance of your kitchen. Some of the ways this can be achieved is by refacing or painting. Refacing can be as simple as replacing existing doors and hardware, or applying veneer to the cabinets and then replacing the doors and hardware. For instance, if your kitchen appears dark and/or small, light-colored or glass doors can give your kitchen a more open feel and appearance. If you don't like the notion of the cabinet contents being exposed by glass, there is the option of frosted glass. Refacing can save a substantial amount of money and completely change the appearance of your cabinets.
Painting is another way to drastically change the appearance of your cabinets and is probably more cost-effective than refacing. A good oil based paint will cure faster and be harder than the more user-friendly latex paint. But the trick is to prepare the project adequately and apply several thin quality coats, instead of one or two thick coats. A good paint job and replacing the hardware will do wonders in giving your kitchen an exciting new look.
In making your final decision, I would suggest that you look at pictures, showrooms, and even other kitchens and weigh all the options. Installing new cabinets will be the most costly, whether you go with custom or pre-made. Sometimes you can get a new kitchen feel by doing a facelift that will revitalize your kitchen and save a lot of money and time.