Modest kitchen reno from Houzz.com
Most people do not have the latest in kitchens and would love to have theirs look like a magazine shoot. Unless you have recently won the lottery, this is beyond a lot of us, but we can spruce up what we have without breaking the bank.
#1 Fresh Paint
Every 4 or 5 years, give your kitchen a fresh coat of paint in a different colour or colours. This alone will give your kitchen a fresh new look. You could paint it all the same or have a contrasting feature wall, it is up to you, Don’t forget to put a fresh coat on the trim and doors, as well. These do not have to be white, they could be the contrasting colour instead of a feature wall.
#2 Chairs
If you have a conventional matched set of table and chairs in your kitchen, take away the chairs and replace them with Parson’s chairs or modern, clean lined chairs, anything that is a contrast to the table (and hutch/sideboard, if you have one) This little detail alone will update the look of your kitchen. Remember, matchy-matchy is really out of date at the moment.
#3 Lighting
You probably don’t want to go to the expense of hiring an electrician to install pot lights, but you can get a modern multi-head style light to replace the old central fixture and install after-market under-mount lights or light pucks, under your upper cabinets. This will look up to date and give you far better task lighting in which to work.
#4 Cupboard doors
You can remove and replace the cabinet doors, instead of the whole run of kitchen cabinets. Consider just replacing the upper doors. You can buy just the cabinet doors in a clean, modern style in contrast to your lowers. A slab door will go with any style. Then paint all your cupboards one colour or paint the uppers a light colour and the lowers a dark colour. Preparation is the most important thing when painting kitchen cupboards. They must be completely free of kitchen grease and well sanded and primed with a high adhesion primer.
#5 Hardware
Change out all the knobs and pulls with something totally different. Change the hinges if they are visible. Although knobs and pulls can be very expensive, most big box stores sell some of the styles in packages of 8 to 12, which is much more affordable.
#6 Flooring
If your flooring is worn and tired, the most inexpensive fix is sticky tiles. These, unfortunately do not wear well, and I would consider some other do-it-yourself flooring such as Allure by Home Depot, in which the strips of tile or wood look stick to each other and ‘float’ over the old floor or underlayment. (See my post ‘DIY Flooring Find) Each of the Home Improvement stores has their own version of this product and it is very reasonable to install. Even laminate can be used in the kitchen if you treat the joints with a special sealer as you are putting it together (at least in the high damp areas, like in front of the sink)
You can do all or just one or two of the above suggestions to update and refresh your kitchen for a minimal outlay monetarily.
Happy Decorating!
Shelf Liner – Dowdy or Cool?
April 5, 2013 by Leslie Bailey
The first few years that I kept house, I thought that shelf liner was too ’50s housewife’ for me! I didn’t see the need for it, thought that it was just being persnickity. Boy, was I wrong. Most cupboard shelves are made from MDF or pressboard and need to be protected from damp dishes and everything else. Your cupboard shelves just get destroyed without it. And it makes them far easier to clean (when you finally break down and do it).
You can use anything you want for the job, as long as it has a relatively waterproof surface. Mactac is often used but kind of hard to apply neatly and the low tad shelf liners are really easy to use but pretty uninspired – but functional. Vinyl wallpaper works well. Oil cloth, cut to fit and laid in place can be a funky and colourful alternative. although it has no adhesive, it is heavy and stays put well. Even way paper is fine. That lumpy, non-skid stuff that you buy in rolls, works well, but you can’t slide things in and out very well. In other words, anything that is slightly moisture proof, easy to cut and lay and also removable, is fine. (It is far nicer to wipe or replace than scrubbing out marked and bubbled shelves.
So the answer is that it doesn’t really matter if it is dowdy or cool, it is just plain necessary, so have some fun with it!
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