In Long Beach there are these incredible ranch style homes designed by architect Cliff May. Their modern design connects the outdoors with the indoors, perfect for the sun-drenched California lifestyle. Since these homes were built in the 1950s they occasionally could use a little TLC. Here are some very basic upgrades to the kitchen that cost about $300.

The Step-by-Step Process
1) Demolished very old wooden shelves. This took one large hammer, a nail puller and some muscle power.
2) Spackle one-trillion nail holes.
3) Installed dry wall to cover up a big scary hole.
4) Paint, paint, and even more paint. Color palette: Ultra White all around, Blue Bayou and CrossFire for the accent walls (by Olympic Premium) in semi-gloss.
Painful lesson: Do not use gray primer with white paint unless you plan on going over the wall with 1000 coats. But, gray primer on bright colors works brilliantly.
5) Installed a utility light (hurray no more dark corner).
6) Replaced old shelves with floating shelves from IKEA.