When it comes to adaptive improvements, there are lots of ways to make it affordable yet striking!
Kitchen Remodel:
These are actually old plastic cabinets from the early 1970's that had dark wood veneers.
We painted them, replaced the hardware, and added slide out shelves.
Many homes with one or two people don't need a dishwasher - it sits 95% of the time taking up space. Instead, we installed a Finnish Drying Rack over the sink - Wash and put away the dishes in one motion!
We also took the doors off one cabinet and added a dedicated power outlet for the microwave convection oven to get it off the counter below. A window and skylight along with simple track lighting added tremendous light.
The vinyl floor covered an awful green/yellow one. The Ikea counters replaced a yellow formica counter and the drop in sink is much deeper along with a new single handle faucet.
We even found more storage by opening up the bulkhead up top!