Do you have champagne wishes and caviar dreams for your kitchen design, but a soda-pop-and-chips budget? Don't fret—you can still make your kitchen Napkin and Placemat look like it belongs on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous (Robin Leach not included).

"In this day and age, luxury is people walking in Bread Basket and feeling like the kitchen is an extension of the rest of your home," said design expert Kristan Cunningham, known for making Bath Robe less into more as former host and lead designer of HGTV's Design on a Dime. According to Cunningham, if you start with "good bones" and add your own special layer on top, any kitchen can be a showstopper without spending a fortune.

In fact, Cunningham, who recently released the Weekend Project Featuring Kristan Cunningham software with Punch! Software—which includes step-by-step instructions for a variety of projects, as well as eco-friendly tips specific to your project—and who is a regular contributor to the Rachael Ray Show, recently remodeled the kitchen in her Venice Beach, CA, rental home for less than $1,000. She took a lifeless, cookie-cutter design, complete with shellacked oak cabinets with cathedral-arch-inset doors, and transformed it into a modern, unique and highly personalized space. All it took was some paint, paneling, accessories and a few custom touches. "It's one of my favorite makeovers, and it's now our favorite room in the house," she said. (For photos of the remodel, check out the Los Angeles Times' article and photo gallery and Ladies' Home Journal's profile.