Kitchn reader Cecelia and her family live in a 1918 stucco Mediterranean Revival raised-basement home in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans. Since 1918, it has undergone two significant renovations, the second of which occurred after Hurricane Katrina. The renovations weren't terrible, but they didn't make good use of the space — the setup didn't even have room for a kitchen table! So after she bought the home, Cecelia did a complete renovation of the space to open it up and bring out its true potential. See her 'After' photos below:

Paint is a powerful tool, as this kitchen makeover proves. As Nina of Swanky Swell told us, when she took on this project the kitchen was a standard builder's kitchen with lots of orange-toned wood — pretty flat and uninspiring. But the appliances were still in good shape and she needed to keep the overall costs down. So rather than gut the whole kitchen, she just focused on updating three major areas. See the 'After' photos below:

Kitchn reader Stephanie recently sent us her budget kitchen remodel, and we were so impressed we had to share it with you. Although she did have natural light coming through the skylight, her 'before' kitchen was a little dull and colorless, and certainly not the space she'd imagined! So, with a budget of under $4000, she completely transformed it into a warm, welcoming place. See the 'After' photos below:

Kitchn reader Cathy was not a fan of her outdated 1980s kitchen. The layout was terrible and it had hardly any cabinets. But she lived with until she could afford to renovate, which finally happened after she refinanced her house. Her renovation is pretty spectacular, in no small part because she tracked down most of her dream elements — a 48" Viking range, a French door refrigerator, mahogany and Carrara marble countertops! — on Craigslist and cut and chopped her way to a custom kitchen design, all without the help of a contractor. 

Keith spent a over a year remodeling his 1959 Mid-Century home in Palm Springs. A big part of the remodel was completely gutting and transforming the 1980s kitchen. The result? A gourmet kitchen with all the bells and whistles:

Melissa (of home blog The Inspired Room) knew that her kitchen was "certainly not the worst kitchen ever," but she wanted it to feel like her kitchen, not like a generic builder's kitchen. So after three years of living with it as is, she took the plunge and made it her own, focusing on giving it a better layout and a lot more charm. See the 'After' photo below:

What's the incentive to undergo a kitchen renovation? For Kitchn reader Leigh, it was a desire to make the most of the view outside. "One of the major problems with the existing kitchen was that it only had one small window looking over an amazing view," Leigh told us in a recent email. "Our goal from the beginning was to open up the views by having as many windows as possible and no upper cabinets.  To do that, we needed to redesign the space to make room for a large pantry/mudroom..."

When Kitchn reader Sherri decided to give her 80's kitchen a facelift, she knew she wanted to keep her appliances (they were all under five years old) and the look of the warm oak wood. But a few key changes and the kitchen is now much improved! See the 'After' photos below:

When Ana and John decided to sell their 3-bedroom house, they knew they'd need to spruce up their tired, dated kitchen to attract potential buyers. The original 1927 kitchen was still intact for half of the space, but there were issues: modern sized plates didn't fit in the vintage cabinets over the sink, and the appliances and open shelving (which necessitated demolishing the original cabinets on one side of the space) made the kitchen look cluttered. Visitors, Ana said, always found the original farmhouse style sink charming, but it was much too shallow to be practical. And the linoleum floor? "An eyesore and hard to keep clean."

So with a return investment in mind, the couple worked with a kitchen designer to give their (partial) 1927 kitchen a fresh, new look and make it appealing to potential buyers. Read more about the renovation and see 'After' photos below: More

In 2000 Kitchn reader Sue and her husband moved into a charming circa-1905 New Jersey colonial with a kitchen that was still firmly living in the 1980s, complete with mauve Formica countertops, sleek particle board cabinets, and a DIY backsplash tiling job. The couple saved and planned for nine years before they were able to expand the footprint and create a mind-blowing kitchen any serious cook would dream to work in. Check out the story and 'After' photos below: More