The next entry in our Affordable Modern Kitchen Contest comes from San Francisco, were with a little elbow grease and some skill Sam was able to update his kitchen to a clean new look for under 10K.

We bought an old (1913) house in San Francisco last year. It was in terrible shape, so I basically had to gut the kitchen and start from scratch. I used pros for cabinets, plumbing, electrical and floors, but did most of the remaining work myself. I kept costs down by ordering supplies myself. Also, we found a great handyman and I was able to work with him on several projects (built in bench, custom table). I did all of the finishing wok myself (paint, trim install, plaster, doors). We're still working on the house, but I think the kitchen has come together very nicely! You can see before and after pics on flickr. The pics are pretty recent-ish, but since I took them we've made a few more improvements...I wonder if we'll EVER be done with this house!

Approx cost: Under 10K