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'Home Town' hosts share budget-friendly kitchen renovation ideas

From counterops and backsplash to flooring and paint colors, here are the practical tips to doing a kitchen renovation on a budget.
/ Source: TODAY

Ben and Erin Napier, hosts of the hit HGTV show "Home Town," visited TODAY Wednesday to give their best budget-friendly tips when it comes to renovating your kitchen. (Plus, they shared a few details about how they could help renovate your own home town — see more details below!)

1. Colored cabinets

As parents themselves, the Napiers understand how hard it is to maintain a white kitchen while toddlers run around with sticky and messy hands. Their solution is to paint a darker color on your lower cabinets. Not only does it make your kitchen pop, it can also keep that classic look while avoiding dirty fingerprints.

"Home Town" HGTV kitchen renovation
Before: The white kitchen looked stuck in the '80s or '90s.HGTV
"Home Town" HGTV kitchen renovation
After: Black cabinets (even if it looks slightly navy!) add a modern touch and will easily hide stains.HGTV

2. Butcher block countertops

If you're looking for warmth, durability and a rich texture for your countertop, butcher block is the way to go.

"You can spend a lot on (countertops)," Ben Napier told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. "But you don't have to with butcher block."

The upkeep is fairly simple, too. All you have to do is use cutting board oil once or twice a year. The Napiers warn that you should never put a clear coat on your butcher block counter.

"If water gets in there," Erin said. "It gets trapped and your countertops would rot."

3. Tiled backsplash

An easy way to punch up your kitchen is to add backsplash tiles. Subway tiles are classic, but you easily add a bigger personality with colorful patterned tiles. The best part? They're affordable! Look for tiles that have the pattern printed on rather than going all the way through.

4. Vinyl flooring

Vinyl flooring gets a bad rap, according to the Napiers, but new lock-and-place tiles are changing the game. In one of their renovations, the couple replaced oak wood floors with LVT, aka luxury vinyl tile. Rather than peeling and sticking to the floor, these tiles lock together in place.

"It wears great," Ben said. "It has a really long life span, it's cheap, kidproof, waterproof, petproof, etc."

And if you live in an area prone to flooding, this flooring can easily be pulled up, let out to dry and then simply put back down.

Fans of "Home Town" know that the show is based out of Laurel, Mississippi, but the Napiers aren't stopping there. In November 2019, the couple announced that they are going to restore and renovate a small town somewhere in the U.S., and they encourage fans to pitch their own.

"If your town needs some love, if it's been struggling, we want to know about it!" Erin Napier said on the Fourth Hour of TODAY.

So if your small town has a population of less than 40,000, a run-down downtown area and houses that could use some "love," email rescuecasting@rtmedia.com with more information and pictures for the chance to win.

For more tips and to see the Napiers in action, tune into the premiere of their fourth season of "Home Town" Monday, Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. EST on HGTV.