Well, have no fear, you can do it and you can do it not only good enough, but in a fabulous way, trust me. I know, I did it on very little money, seemingly temporary, but it's still going strong (mostly) with no plans to redo it. At the time, our daughter was getting married and we couldn't afford the Long Island wedding (I won't even go there) AND a dream kitchen, and with family coming to the wedding from Europe and other family, it just had to be redone, there was no way around it. So, I figured I'd get to work and redesign the space and do it in a VERY inexpensive way. There was no other choice.

We reused our old cabinets, had them painted for $400 (they're worn now, it doesn't last) reused our old appliances, every one, added a ton of windows, and I designed the rest of the room with strong lines and numerous built ins.

The Lesson? Sheetrock (we call it sheetrock in our area) is a good thing, and it's CHEAP. What's cheaper than sheetrock is my husband's labor. Added together was a new kitchen. We even took space from an area beyond the kitchen. 

Here's my finished kitchen, click on the big white arrow to see more images:

http://www.kitcheninteriors.com/portfolio/kitchen/chelsea_a.html

You can do it in a fantastic way. Good luck!