The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home. It’s where everyone gathers, you spend time making meals, and where memories are made. If your kitchen is outdated or doesn’t reflect your style, it can be a place where you’d rather not be. To make your kitchen a space you love, here are some simple upgrades you can do that make a big difference.
1. Swap Out Hardware
Hardware is like the jewelry of the kitchen. Whether you have outdated knobs or no hardware at all, swapping it out or adding hardware makes a big difference in the kitchen. It’s also a great way to bring in another finish like gold to add some shine and sparkle to your space. If you aren’t planning to paint your cabinetry or update your doors, check the distance between the screw holes for pulls to ensure your new hardware will fit. Standard sizes are between 3″ to 5″ center-to-center measurements.
2. Add a Backsplash
One of our favorite ways to add some interest to the kitchen is adding a backsplash. For this simple kitchen refresh, we kept the cabinetry and added a marble mosaic backsplash that had grey and brown tones that tied into the new countertop and existing cabinetry. If you want to do this upgrade on your own, check out our tutorial on how to tile a backsplash!
3. Paint Your Cabinets
If the layout of your kitchen works for your lifestyle and family, but the wood or color is outdated, think about painting your cabinetry. White and bright cabinets make your kitchen feel more open, while colorful cabinetry is hitting the scene for fun colors in the kitchen. For a more in-depth change for your cabinetry, think about replacing the doors and just painting the frames.
In this kitchen refresh, we replaced the cabinet doors and painted the frames and it totally changed the entire look of the kitchen.
Before
After
For another simple kitchen upgrade, think about only painting your island. Not only will it give your kitchen a fresh look, but it also saves on costs and time because you’re not having to paint all of the cabinets in the kitchen. The cabinets in this kitchen were a great quality and the layout worked well for our clients. Our suggestion was to just paint the island in a navy blue and it turned out beautifully.
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4. Open Shelving
We love open shelving! It’s a great way to display fun dishes, plants and herbs, or cookbooks in the kitchen. In this kitchen, we removed the upper cabinet to the left of the sink. This allowed more light from the window to flood through the space. It also provided a spot for decor and other kitchen items. For more tips on how to style shelving, check out our tutorial on 8 steps to perfectly styled shelves and our IGTV video about styling shelves in the kitchen.
5. Update Countertops
You can DIY concrete or butcher block countertops or get all new countertops. Changing out your countertops can make your kitchen look brand new. To learn what countertop material would work best for you, check out our guide to countertop options 101.
