Kitchen renovations require budgeting for a long list of pricey things, but what eats up most of your money—a whopping 29 percent of your budget, according to the National Kitchen & Bath Association—is the cabinetry. It costs more than the countertops or the floors or even the installation of all those pieces. If you're thinking to yourself, "Do I reeaaaally need to update my '70s-era galley kitchen?", stop it right there. There's an easy way to reduce the cost: Forgo standard kitchen cabinet doors altogether. No, we're not talking open shelving. Instead, hang curtains—you could use some leftover fabric from a failed crafts project!—to hide all your late-night snacks and cooking utensils just as well as a piece of wood, but with 100 times more style. Here's how to do it:

Pleat it

It's the decorating equivalent of swiping on some mascara. With pinch pleats, basic gray linen suddenly looks voluminous and put-together. Getting a rod pocket sewn in isn't a bad idea either.

Or use grommets and rings

You know the ease of flinging back your shower curtain? You want the same for accessing your plastic wrap.

You can always just focus on the sink

Hanging curtains over every kitchen drawer and door is a weekend project, we admit it. For the impatient, we recommend rehabbing a single spot: the area under the sink packed with cleaning products and rusty pipes.

Regardless, treat them like real curtains

Don't be blinded by their functionality; curtains are accessories first and foremost. So go wild and pick a fabric in a colorful geometric print—you can always switch it out for another pattern in a couple months.