Instead of the cost and expense of totally gutting your kitchen and building back a new one, why not give your kitchen a slight face lift to make it more current?
Here are a few easy interior designer tips, tricks, & ideas for to update a kitchen on a budget.
photo courtesy of Susan Serra flickr.com/photos/kitchendesigner/6856909939/Cabinets
Whether your kitchen cabinets are stained or painted, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders for updating a kitchen.
Painting cabinets is relatively easy, however time consuming.
Consider the color of your appliances before selecting a new cabinet paint color (unless you are planning on replacing your appliances).
Black appliances don't always look good with light colored cabinets and white appliances don't always look good with dark colored cabinets.
Off white cabinets don't always look good with white appliances and vise versa.
Luckily, stainless steel appliances look good with both dark and light.
White tends to be the most popular color for painted kitchen cabinets, however you should consider other colors as well.
Some more unique colors to consider for your cabinets are gray, gray-green, navy, brown, and black.
Also consider adding additional moldings to your cabinets prior to painting to give your kitchen a more custom look.
See the article How to Paint Wood Cabinets for more information.
Countertops
New granite, marble, or quartz countertops can cost thousands of dollars, however can instantly upgrade the look of a kitchen.
If those countertops are not in your budget, consider using countertops that you can install yourself, such as butcher block, concrete, or a high end laminate.
Backsplash
If your kitchen needs a little something to make it more luxurious and updated, consider a new backsplash (especially if you do not have a backsplash at all right now).
You can spend relatively little money to buy a few tiles and install a backsplash yourself to spice up the look of your kitchen and protect your wall from splatters.
Also consider using sheet metal, beadboard, sheet glass, or mirror for your backsplash.
See the article Unique Backsplash Ideas for a Kitchen or Wet Bar for more ideas.
Lighting
Many kitchens have an ugly fluorescent light box providing the only light in the room.
If possible, remove the light box and install a more updated light fixture in its place.
Updating existing light fixtures with more updated ones is relatively easy and can usually be completed in 30 minutes or less.
If removing it is not possible, paint the light box the color of your ceiling so it is less noticeable.
Above and below cabinet lighting is not only functional but also beautiful, so consider adding it for more interest.
Your upper cabinets make shadows on your countertops which under cabinet lights eliminate.
Knobs and Pulls
Purchase new knobs and pulls for your kitchen cabinets that are more modern and unique.
Knobs and pulls not only look nice but also protect your cabinets from abrasion from your hand opening and closing the doors and drawers.
Exchanging existing cabinet hardware for new and updated hardware is very easy and takes only a few seconds per knob or pull.
Shop online instead of in your local stores to find unique and interesting cabinet hardware that not everyone has seen before.
If you are planning on painting your cabinets, you can fill in your existing cabinet hardware holes and use hardware that is a different size. Larger drawer pulls than the stadard 3 inch is more luxurious.
