Appliances: Out with the Old, In with the New

Does your kitchen need to be whipped in shape a bit? No easier and lower-cost way to do it than with some new appliances.

It won't take you more than a few hours to rejuvenate your kitchen and add some color to it with some shiny new appliances.

Also, you should know that whichever appliance you decide to buy to replace your old one, it is not just your kitchen appearance that will benefit from this. Due to the 'cash for appliances' program, if you buy Energy Star rated appliances you may be instantly eligible for a rebate on those that are the most energy consuming. The rebate program is federally funded with $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but the rules vary by state.

Before shopping for new appliances, check information from your state, easily done with an internet search engine, and see which appliances qualify and how much the rebates will be. In some cases rebates are deducted as a percentage of the cost, in others they are an already set amount that may vary, depending on the appliance, from $50 to $200 per item as dictated by the Department of Energy.

In some states the launching of this program will suffer some months of delay. For example, Oklahoma will begin its program April 22 and is limiting rebates to one per appliance and two per household. Another regulation specific to this state is that owners will also dispose of the old appliances that were replaced with the Energy Star models. The program in other states has had an early launch and the funds were quickly exhausted Minnesota is one such state.

Although a great opportunity, you should not let the rebate funding influence your plans for your kitchen renovation. New appliances are a good investment even if they don't come with federal funding.

If you replace older appliances with Energy Star qualified models, you can not only give your kitchen a new look, you can save every month on your electricity bill. After heating and air-conditioning, refrigerators are the most energy-consuming appliances in anyone's household, so a new model will be an investment that will pay off every month.

In some states the rebate program may be restricted to certain items, like refrigerators or washers, but even if that is also the case with your state, you shouldn't refrain from paying the extra $600 for a new stove that will definitely improve the look of your kitchen. The change cannot only be cheaper than new cabinets, walls or floors, but is also one that is quick and painless. An all-inclusive renovation of your kitchen can take weeks of constant dust-inhaling and mess-cleaning, plus finding a good contractor will give you a lot of headaches, whereas a simple appliance replacement saves you from all that and achieves quite the same effect: a fresh-looking kitchen. In but a few hours you can have a brand new kitchen, no mess and no stress.