The kitchen is quite rightly called the heart of the house and is one of the essential rooms within your home. In this room, you’ll have all your family meals and even host guests, so ensuring that the utmost care and consideration goes into its decorating is paramount.
However, if you’ve lived in your property for a considerable while, you might have started to notice that your once impressive kitchen is beginning to look a little lack-lustre and in need of a makeover. Although you may have many reasons for not starting the makeover sooner, from lack of funds to not enough time, there are various ways to kit out your kitchen without breaking the bank.
Your kitchen can easily be rejuvenated with a few simple swaps – think refreshing placemats, adding art and plants, or updating your tired, old kitchen cabinets with new ones. On the other hand, you may have bigger plans in mind involving gutting the whole room and installing new porcelain tiles or countertops.
Whichever of the two routes you’re planning to go down, we’ve devised this article full of impactful makeover ideas for those kitting out their kitchen so that you can achieve the kitchen of your and your family’s dreams.
Install A Colourful Backsplash
As well as being practical, a backsplash refers to the space between where your kitchen cabinets and countertops meet and can be a fun way to incorporate an element of colour into the room. Even in smaller kitchens, backsplashes are an easy way to make a big difference without breaking the bank.
Typically, ceramic tiles are the preferred choice for homeowners, but you can use various materials if you’d prefer, from wood to porcelain tiles. Many people opt for Perspex Sheets from Cut Plastic Sheeting, as it’s an easier (and cheaper!) way of adding colour to a space compared to traditional tile or glass. Additionally, if you’d like to cut down on the costs of your kitchen makeover, you could consider purchasing peel and stick tiles that you can install yourself from your local tile shop or online markets like Amazon.
On the other hand, if you’re willing to invest a little more money into your project, you could look at sourcing tiles from companies such as Hyperion Tiles. Their website details an impressive range of products from ceramic to porcelain tiles in various hues, sizes, and designs, perfect for any home makeover project. Browse their website today for their complete product offering and any help or information on their products and see how they could make a significant impact in your kitchen.
Take Advantage Of Shelving
If your kitchen is spatially challenged, yet you’re looking to give it a makeover with a significant impact, taking advantage of shelving is one way to achieve this. When making over a small kitchen, the last thing you want is for it to look overcluttered and busy.
To do this, you must think outside the box and lean away from traditional kitchen accessories. For instance, one of the most-used kitchen items are cabinets, which are usually a prime focus when undertaking a kitchen remodelling project.
However, overhead cabinets can easily make an already small space look even more cramped in smaller kitchens. If you desire storage space but don’t want to skimp on the size of your kitchen, you could consider opting for open or floating shelving as opposed to traditional means of storage which will make the space look airier and open it up more.
If you decide to opt for floating shelves, you mustn’t overfill them; otherwise, it will achieve the opposite effect. This type of storage works the best when you experiment with a mixture of practical and pretty objects, like displaying wooden cutting boards alongside decorative dishware or drinkware and plants.
Add More Lighting Elements
Not getting enough light in one room can cause it to diminish in size, so if you have a small kitchen already, it’s in your best interest to add as many lighting elements as you can. Whether you have dark kitchen furnishings or dark background, there are various ways to work around a dark space to make it lighter.
If you have dark wallpaper or paint on the walls, you could consider lightening the room by stripping off the old wallpaper and recoating it with a less offensive colour or refreshing the space with a coat of white or cream coloured paint. However, adequate lighting makes a room look brighter regardless of its colour, which you can aim to improve in many ways.
From adding LED strip lights to the underneath of your cabinets and shelves to replacing old light fixtures or switching out old lightbulbs for newer, energy-efficient ones, there are many options available to homeowners looking to make their kitchen lighter.
Add A Splash Of Colour
One of the quickest ways to transform a room yet make a significant impact is by adding a splash of colour with paint or wallpaper. The best thing with colour is that you don’t even have to use it solely on the walls; you could refresh a tired, old piece of furniture or the panelling on your kitchen island to make your kitchen appear brighter and more modern.
Alternatively, if you’re not sure if the colour would suit your kitchen or you’re reluctant to commit to the change, you could opt to paint a single wall then wait a few weeks to see if you like it. If the decision is favourable, you could then look at incorporating more colour or a mixture of colours, and worst-case scenario, if you decide that the change isn’t a good one, you could always paint over it again.
This suggestion is perfect for those that want to cut back on their kitchen makeover costs yet still desire a significant change, as the paint is readily available at cost-efficient prices and, all-in-all, will take you around two to three days to complete.
Use Chalkboard Paint
We often hear interior designers talk about the importance of creating a focal wall in each room of our houses. Well, why not make it fun by creating a chalkboard feature wall? Especially if you have young children, adding a chalkboard wall to your kitchen is both a fun family activity and practical at the same time.
You could use it for creating weekly menus, creating shopping lists, to-do lists, ingredients and much more. Creating a chalkboard wall is also reasonably easy and doable without the help of professionals; all you need is a paint roller or brush and some black chalkboard paint which you can purchase online or from your local hardware store.
Put It All Out There
Suppose that you’re working with a much smaller space, and as a result, you suffer from the amount of storage space available to you? In that case, there is no shame in going against the trend of hiding ingredients and putting it all out there. Much like zero-waste enthusiasts, you could do this by purchasing some plain glass jars with wooden tops that you can decanter produce into, such as grains, pulses, cereals, pasta etc.
Then create neatly handwritten labels for each pot and store them on your kitchen countertop or a floating self, ultimately making your ingredients the décor – bonus creativity points if you can find multi-coloured pasta! You can then re-use the jars when it comes to restocking your pantry, making your kitchen both creative and environmentally friendly.
