Easy, Affordable Ways to Spruce Up Your Kitchen
Hate your kitchen, but can’t afford a big remodel? Put your DIY skills to good use, and spend a little bit of money to create just a few changes that will make the most important room in your house stand out like new. There are several easy, affordable ways you can spruce up your kitchen and create a big impact without lots of money.
Spruce Up Cabinets
Refinishing cabinets, even painting them, is pretty time-consuming business. Here’s the secret of big kitchen project that most people forget: you can’t use the kitchen during those projects. While your kitchen is out of use, you’ll have to spend a ton of money eating out every night. Stick to smaller projects, and change your kitchen while keeping it functional.
Hardware is one of the easiest, most affordable things to change in the kitchen, and it makes a big impact. First, open cabinet doors to determine the size needed. Measure between the screw holes in the doors. Most commonly, cabinet handles are made with a 3-inch or 4-inch spread (the space between the screws). After measuring, go to any hardware store to find new hardware for the kitchen. Don’t forget to count any drawers and lower cabinets that need new hardware as well.
Use an ordinary screwdriver to remove all the existing hardware and attach the new stuff to your cabinets and drawers.
Change the Color
You don’t have to change the cabinets to change the color of the kitchen – do it with fabric. Take down old curtains and re-upholster chairs to bring new life into the room and freshen up the entire design.
Think about changing the window treatments altogether to give the kitchen a whole new look. If you’ve been using hanging curtains, try Roman shades instead. Curtains are affordable at discount and thrift stores. Recovering those chairs is a very simple DIY that can be done in a couple of hours.
Adding a few new matching throw rugs to the room will add even more color and help change up the look of the whole room.
Add a Backsplash
If you work on one area at a time, a backsplash can be installed in the kitchen without too much disruption. If you do your own tile work, you can save a lot of money on a project that will create a huge difference. Remember to measure the wall space you want to cover first; this allows you to calculate how much material you need. Tiles are purchased by the box, so try to keep the project down to a single box in order to spend the least amount of money.
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Organize
A few small touches here and there will give the kitchen a completely different look. Make the space feel new again by getting it tidied up. Organize your kitchen by eliminating all the stuff you don’t need, and find a way to display the items you want to keep. A few floating shelves look great on a plain wall and give you valuable storage space for commonly-used items. Add big baskets or decorative boxes to keep items accessible and still attractively stored.
Accent
Add unique or unusual items, like an antique door handle repurposed as a towel rack. Look for eye-catching plates and kitchen items at thrift stores, and add them to the room as decorative pieces. That 30s-era coffee maker that doesn’t work can still be a beautiful accent in a vintage-style kitchen. Use paint to make used items look new, and color them to match your new room design.
A few affordable small changes will create a big new look in your kitchen, and you won't have to go through the expense or pain of a huge remodel.
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