The good is that the cabinet doors are 'slabs'. You could remove them, wash with TSP, and sand lightly - then paint with a good semi-gloss acrylic enamel and a foam brush / roller.

New handles may make them look much better also.

If the floor is in good shape, I've heard about the flexible plank type flooring that clicks together.

I haven't painted one, but have noticed quite a few painted vinyl floors on blogs. Here's a great collection with links to instructions. I think your kitchen will look great with the updates you have planned!

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted vinyl floors on Pinterest

Whatever you do to the floor make sure you don't block the dishwasher. One day you may have to remove it.....oops LOL

From my experience painted floors are real slippery when wet.

You could laminate the outsides and change out the doors and hardware. I know that still costs, but it'll be better than painting melamine. I think that unless a professional does it, it'll scrap off etc. JMHO.

Or better yet, paint the walls a brighter color, change the handles and put some new curtains up. For about 100 bucks it'll look better without all the hassle. In the meantime, save up for a better update later!

Define ''tight budget''. Define your DIY abilities.

thanks dahoov2...Yes definitely needs new paint! Any suggestions what color to paint walls? Im not sure since if we do decide to just leave cabinets as is, they are a yellowing white...what wall color would look good with that? lol

hollysprings thanks for your message.tight budget, under $750 ideally. DIY skills -havent had much experience remodeling but I am pretty handy in general, also I would have my mom and dad help -they are super handy at these types of projects.

dahoov2 - also the backslpash is a salmon-beige color. not sure what wall color would go with that.

$750 is not going to buy much. I would change out the door handles, and repaint the kitchen. You might want to look into the Rustoleum Cabinet transformations paint for the cabinets.

Here is a link that might be useful: cabinet paint

Is the backsplash painted or some other surface? I have painted an Ikea melamine chest of drawers for a client and I scuffed it with sandpaper, thoroguhly cleaned it, followed by zinsser 123 primer and it bonded very well. I don't think I'd paint the floor- its neutral. I'm sure there are products you can use, but floors take a lot abuse, and when/ if the paint you put on top of it starts to fail, it ain't pretty.

If you keep the cabinets light, then the walls should be a midtone to contrast. Just my opinion. Greyed colors are in. So if you pick a blue or green say, make sure it's got a greyer tone to it. Yellow is pretty hot right now. Imagine a yellow with flowers on the counter to contrast.... You're kitchen is small so keep it lighter but dark enough for a more dramatic contrast. Hardware makes a world of difference. Also just counter dressing or a backsplash change makes a whole lot of difference. It's the small things.

Anything in the grey or cream family. Salmon is a tough color!!! I'd change the backsplash unless you love it. you could do like tin tiles? Those are inexpensive. They even have "press on" fake glass tiles at lowes which look pretty darn convincing! They're VINYL!!! They actually look pretty nice. Change that, your knobs and paint and voila!

We did peel-n-stick tiles in our kitchen to hold us over until we decided what to do on a more permanent basis. They were GREAT and held up really well. It was also a cost-effective way to make the floors looks a LOT better than the original vinyl sheet floors.

You could always look into butcher block counters... they are pretty affordable (although I'm judging by what IKEA stocks and not a custom cut/size). I'd buy some paint and do the cabinets and change out the hardware. Give the wall a fresh coat of paint (a neutral gray might be nice).

that's true; butcher block is about 200 for a 12' piece. All you do is sand it, stain it a different color ir you want or you can buy cherry or walnut for like 100 more or 200 more max (it goes as high as 400 for a 12' piece). You can just get a piece and oil it up and make it looks shiny.

If you've only got $750, clean up the cabinets, do a little painting and wait until you can afford to remodel. Money spent now on new flooring, or new counters, or new cabinet doors, etc, would be a waste.

You have gotten good suggestions. On the floors,have you tried a good scrub with a bucket if water with a dash of ammonia? I am amazed at how well that cleaned my 1960's flooring.

I might consider finding an old similar cabinet for free or $10 on CL to practice.

I found the following thread on updating laminate cabinet, if you scroll waaaay down there is one picture where the owner attached lattice molding on the faces and painted them white. It looks amazing.

I would consider that, new pulls, vinyl planks or squares and and laminate counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Thread on updates[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/80s-laminate-cabinet-kitchen-update-advice-dsvw-vd~303456)