The kitchen has always been one of the most important rooms in any home. How many times have you found yourself with a dozen or so guests gathered in your tiny kitchen, while your sprawling living room remains empty? And although not all kitchens are designed to be the heart of the home, somehow they just always are.
When it comes to renovating, kitchens and bathrooms are the rooms that require the biggest investment in terms of money, skills, and time. Here are a few tips on how to improve your kitchen without having to actually renovate it from top to bottom.
Start by sorting through your things. Do you really need all this stuff? Is the kitchen the best place to store these objects?
Next, make a list of your needs:
- More workspace
- More storage
- Better lighting
- A corner for the kids
- Upgraded aesthetic
- Etc.
From there, you’ll need to establish a budget, prioritize what is possible for you to actually do, and plan out your steps. And set yourself a deadline—nothing’s worse than living in a renovation war zone for months!
Ok, so now you’re ready to begin.
- Repainting the entire kitchen in white will brighten up the room and make it appear more neat and orderly. When you’re done, you can add an accent colour if you want.
- Repaint your current cabinets. It’s important to use the right type of paint and to properly prepare the surface to ensure optimal adherence.
- Change the handles on your cabinets and drawers. A ton of styles are available, from minimalistic to bold. The important thing is finding the right balance.
- Add cabinets. Available in renovation centres or stores like IKEA, base cabinets are a simple way of adding more storage to your kitchen. Safety tip: always make sure they’re properly installed and secured before using them.
- Change your cabinet doors. If your cabinets are standard size, you can change only the doors—a small change with a huge visual impact.
- Change your countertops. Do your counters date back to the 90s? Are they out-dated and out of style? Changing a laminate countertop is easy and you can even take advantage of the occasion to install a butcher’s block!
- Add extra storage for kitchen accessories and tools. Extra shelves, sliding trash can, pivoting shelves for your corner cabinets, and wine glass drawer racks are all great ways of optimizing your cabinet space.
- Add shelves. In some cases, this is an interesting option, but keep in mind that shelves (as well as the items they hold) will be visible. Be smart when it comes to choosing what elements to display on them, don’t overcrowd them, and make sure to wipe them down regularly.
- Add/change light fixtures. Kitchen lighting has two functions: to light up your workspace and create an inviting ambience. Your best bet is to install recessed lighting, but that can turn out to be a pretty complex job. Another option is track lighting, which lets you position the bulbs in whatever direction you choose. Under-cabinet lights are great and easy to install (you can even buy ready-to-install kits). For the perfect finishing touch, install a pendant light over your island—it’ll give off a warm glow and mark off your dining area. You might also want to consider installing a dimmer, perfect for creating the ideal ambience.
- Add a backsplash. Adding a backsplash will make cleaning a breeze and add style to your kitchen. Skills and know-how permitting, I would suggest opting for a ceramic backsplash. For a quicker and easier solution, go with peel-and-stick panels.
- Paint your ceramic floor tiles. Are your ceramic tiles damaged or out-dated? Good news is you can easily repaint them! Repair any cracks, fill in any chips or gaps, clean the tiles, and prepare the surface according to the paint instructions. Make sure to use the right kind of paint and follow the instructions to a T.
- Add an island. Obviously, your new island won’t be the exact same colour or material as your already-existing cabinets. Rather than trying to match the two, why not embrace and highlight their differences instead? A modern island in a classic kitchen. An antique island in a streamlined kitchen. Play with contrasts: style, colour, material.
- Add a bistro table and stools. Space permitting, extend your kitchen into a cozy dining nook by connecting a high bistro-style table to a portion of your counter, forming a “T”. On top of becoming a useful dining corner or extra workspace, it’s the perfect area for doing homework, arts and crafts, or hosting happy hour.
- Tone on tone. Kitchens are often smaller than we would like. Here’s a trick for making the space appear larger: paint both your cabinets and your walls grey—that way they’ll blend into one another and create the illusion of openness.
Find the perfect balance. You meticulously picked out all your elements: cabinet handles, backsplash, island, light fixtures, accent colour, etc. And every time, you went with the prettiest, most stylish option. But now that all these elements are combined together, the result is just not what you were expecting. It’s important to keep in mind that not every element needs to stand out; balancing sombre with sassy is how you create the perfect harmony.
Happy renovating!
