Kitchen Design
10 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Kitchen
If your kitchen’s in a style rut but you’re not ready for a remodel, here are small ways to make big improvements
Maybe your kitchen is looking a little dated or lackluster. Or maybe you’d just like to switch up its style. Whatever your motivation, you don’t need to dive into a major kitchen renovation to make significant upgrades. Here are a dozen simple yet strategic ways to give your kitchen a fresh new look and improved function, plus some helpful design tips and links to help you achieve your goals.
2. Upgrade Countertop Accessories
Doing dishes is another of life’s inevitabilities. But the chore feels more pleasurable when using a pretty dish brush and soap dispenser. And if you prefer to leave those items on the counter, upgrading them to objects of beauty will give your whole sink area a little lift. Consider decanting dish soap into a glass or handmade ceramic pump bottle. (Olive oil pourers work well too.) Instead of sponges, buy a wood-handled scrubber that fits in a ramekin or can stand up in a bud vase. Set the ramekin and soap bottle on a tray or small stand to add an elegant touch and protect your countertop.
While you’re at it, buy coordinating canisters and trays to corral anything else you must leave on the counter, and treat yourself to fresh new dish towels that work with your color scheme.
Shop for kitchen storage and organization
Doing dishes is another of life’s inevitabilities. But the chore feels more pleasurable when using a pretty dish brush and soap dispenser. And if you prefer to leave those items on the counter, upgrading them to objects of beauty will give your whole sink area a little lift. Consider decanting dish soap into a glass or handmade ceramic pump bottle. (Olive oil pourers work well too.) Instead of sponges, buy a wood-handled scrubber that fits in a ramekin or can stand up in a bud vase. Set the ramekin and soap bottle on a tray or small stand to add an elegant touch and protect your countertop.
While you’re at it, buy coordinating canisters and trays to corral anything else you must leave on the counter, and treat yourself to fresh new dish towels that work with your color scheme.
Shop for kitchen storage and organization
3. Roll Out a Rug
What could be easier than rolling out a new kitchen rug? Unless your kitchen is very small, consider a small area rug or runner instead of a tiny mat — they offer a little more visual impact and protect (or hide, if that’s your goal) more of your floor. Runners look particularly chic in long galley-style kitchens and between islands and perimeter cabinetry. Just make sure the rug you pick is easily cleanable and nonslip.
One purpose of a kitchen rug, of course, is to make standing on a hard floor more comfortable. There are stylish padded kitchen mats out there, but don’t feel limited to them — memory foam rug pads can turn virtually any rug into something akin to an anti-fatigue mat.
8 Steps to Finding Your Design Style Using Ideabooks
Add Warmth and Personality to Your Kitchen With a Runner
What could be easier than rolling out a new kitchen rug? Unless your kitchen is very small, consider a small area rug or runner instead of a tiny mat — they offer a little more visual impact and protect (or hide, if that’s your goal) more of your floor. Runners look particularly chic in long galley-style kitchens and between islands and perimeter cabinetry. Just make sure the rug you pick is easily cleanable and nonslip.
One purpose of a kitchen rug, of course, is to make standing on a hard floor more comfortable. There are stylish padded kitchen mats out there, but don’t feel limited to them — memory foam rug pads can turn virtually any rug into something akin to an anti-fatigue mat.
8 Steps to Finding Your Design Style Using Ideabooks
Add Warmth and Personality to Your Kitchen With a Runner
4. Swap Your Counter Stools
If a line of bar or counter stools greets everyone walking into your kitchen, you want it to make a great first impression. Swapping ho-hum stools for seating in a bold color and-or pattern instantly perks the room up. Counter seating is also a perfect place to introduce natural texture into your kitchen — look for woven seagrass or rattan accents.
If you choose an upholstered chair with a back, it’s likely to make your island a more welcoming place to sit than would a hard, backless stool. Keep in mind that an upholstered seat may be wider and taller than your old stools, especially if it has arms, so measure the arm height and width before purchasing.
Plan Your Kitchen Island Seating to Suit Your Family’s Needs
Shop for bar stools and counter stools
If a line of bar or counter stools greets everyone walking into your kitchen, you want it to make a great first impression. Swapping ho-hum stools for seating in a bold color and-or pattern instantly perks the room up. Counter seating is also a perfect place to introduce natural texture into your kitchen — look for woven seagrass or rattan accents.
If you choose an upholstered chair with a back, it’s likely to make your island a more welcoming place to sit than would a hard, backless stool. Keep in mind that an upholstered seat may be wider and taller than your old stools, especially if it has arms, so measure the arm height and width before purchasing.
Plan Your Kitchen Island Seating to Suit Your Family’s Needs
Shop for bar stools and counter stools
5. Add Artwork
Framed artwork can make any kitchen feel more cultivated and cozy, but it’s an especially effective way to warm up a white kitchen that you’d like to look less clinical. In addition to hanging art on walls, designers lean it on backsplashes, range hoods and open shelving. Little vintage-look oil paintings are obvious picks for transitional, farmhouse and traditional kitchens, but don’t count out abstract prints, which can create pleasing tension. Really, any style you like — including your kids’ framed finger paintings — will add a personal touch.
Obviously, choose inexpensive art that you don’t mind getting grease-splattered or heat-damaged. (Thrift stores are perfect sources for this sort of thing.)
Framed artwork can make any kitchen feel more cultivated and cozy, but it’s an especially effective way to warm up a white kitchen that you’d like to look less clinical. In addition to hanging art on walls, designers lean it on backsplashes, range hoods and open shelving. Little vintage-look oil paintings are obvious picks for transitional, farmhouse and traditional kitchens, but don’t count out abstract prints, which can create pleasing tension. Really, any style you like — including your kids’ framed finger paintings — will add a personal touch.
Obviously, choose inexpensive art that you don’t mind getting grease-splattered or heat-damaged. (Thrift stores are perfect sources for this sort of thing.)
6. Add or Update Window Treatments
If you have undressed windows or basic blinds, installing Roman shades or cafe curtains in a beautiful fabric can reinvigorate your kitchen with color and pattern. Coordinating with other textiles in the room, such as your chair cushions, rug and potholders, will give the space a cohesive look.
Woven grass or woven wood blinds (faux or real) are another option that look especially good in coastal, farmhouse and transitional rooms, and they’re easy to wipe clean to boot.
Keep in mind that fabrics and natural materials absorb odors and oil, so whatever you choose should be cleanable, especially if it’s near your cooktop.
Which Window Treatment Should You Choose?
If you have undressed windows or basic blinds, installing Roman shades or cafe curtains in a beautiful fabric can reinvigorate your kitchen with color and pattern. Coordinating with other textiles in the room, such as your chair cushions, rug and potholders, will give the space a cohesive look.
Woven grass or woven wood blinds (faux or real) are another option that look especially good in coastal, farmhouse and transitional rooms, and they’re easy to wipe clean to boot.
Keep in mind that fabrics and natural materials absorb odors and oil, so whatever you choose should be cleanable, especially if it’s near your cooktop.
Which Window Treatment Should You Choose?
7. Replace Cabinet Hardware
A subtle and simple way to give your kitchen a fresh look is to replace the cabinet handles and knobs. You can make a traditional kitchen feel a bit more contemporary by opting for a sleek, modern pull, for example, or a sterile-feeling kitchen feel warmer with brass or wood. If the new hardware has different dimensions than the old hardware, just add backplates to cover the previous holes. Whatever you choose should be durable, feel comfortable in your hand and be properly proportioned for your cabinetry (no dinky pulls for wide, heavy drawers, please!).
If you’re concerned about having to change out your plumbing fixtures, appliances and lighting to match your new hardware, rest assured that mixing those metal finishes is not only OK but recommended by many designers. When in doubt, stick to a single color and finish in each category. For example, designers often choose stainless steel and chrome for plumbing fixtures and appliances but opt for unlacquered brass for the cabinet hardware. That said, given how high-touch and visible a faucet is, if yours is just “meh,” consider upgrading it to a beautiful new model anyway.
How to Mix and Match Your Kitchen Cabinet Hardware
Shop for knobs and pulls
A subtle and simple way to give your kitchen a fresh look is to replace the cabinet handles and knobs. You can make a traditional kitchen feel a bit more contemporary by opting for a sleek, modern pull, for example, or a sterile-feeling kitchen feel warmer with brass or wood. If the new hardware has different dimensions than the old hardware, just add backplates to cover the previous holes. Whatever you choose should be durable, feel comfortable in your hand and be properly proportioned for your cabinetry (no dinky pulls for wide, heavy drawers, please!).
If you’re concerned about having to change out your plumbing fixtures, appliances and lighting to match your new hardware, rest assured that mixing those metal finishes is not only OK but recommended by many designers. When in doubt, stick to a single color and finish in each category. For example, designers often choose stainless steel and chrome for plumbing fixtures and appliances but opt for unlacquered brass for the cabinet hardware. That said, given how high-touch and visible a faucet is, if yours is just “meh,” consider upgrading it to a beautiful new model anyway.
How to Mix and Match Your Kitchen Cabinet Hardware
Shop for knobs and pulls
8. Install Wall-Mounted Storage
Open shelves, racks and rail systems are relatively inexpensive and easy to install, offer quick access to kitchen tools and dishes, increase storage space without blocking light and can fill awkward spaces that standard cabinetry doesn’t fit, like corners and under sloped ceilings. Plus, when thoughtfully styled with attractive items, they can add a ton of charm.
A blank wall is an obvious candidate for open shelves and plate and pot racks. But there are some other places to sneak in open storage. For example, rail systems with hooks can be hung above a stove to allow easy access to utensils and pots and pans. At the end of an island or cabinet run, they look pretty styled with decorative items such as herbs, baskets and fancy dish towels. And you can free up cabinet space by hanging coffee cups on a peg or rail mounted just below your upper cabinets.
Where to Hang Open Shelves in the Kitchen
Open shelves, racks and rail systems are relatively inexpensive and easy to install, offer quick access to kitchen tools and dishes, increase storage space without blocking light and can fill awkward spaces that standard cabinetry doesn’t fit, like corners and under sloped ceilings. Plus, when thoughtfully styled with attractive items, they can add a ton of charm.
A blank wall is an obvious candidate for open shelves and plate and pot racks. But there are some other places to sneak in open storage. For example, rail systems with hooks can be hung above a stove to allow easy access to utensils and pots and pans. At the end of an island or cabinet run, they look pretty styled with decorative items such as herbs, baskets and fancy dish towels. And you can free up cabinet space by hanging coffee cups on a peg or rail mounted just below your upper cabinets.
Where to Hang Open Shelves in the Kitchen
9. Amp Up Your Lighting
Lighting designers recommend layering ambient, task and decorative lighting in every room of the home. But it’s especially important to have sufficient lighting where food prep occurs.
One easy way to improve the functionality and safety of your kitchen through lighting is to add discreet plug-in or hardwired LED strips beneath upper cabinets to illuminate work surfaces. These have the added bonus of highlighting your pretty countertops and backsplash. While you’re at it, add LED lights inside glass-front display cabinets, inside toe-kicks and below island overhangs.
How to Properly Light Your Kitchen Counters
Lighting designers recommend layering ambient, task and decorative lighting in every room of the home. But it’s especially important to have sufficient lighting where food prep occurs.
One easy way to improve the functionality and safety of your kitchen through lighting is to add discreet plug-in or hardwired LED strips beneath upper cabinets to illuminate work surfaces. These have the added bonus of highlighting your pretty countertops and backsplash. While you’re at it, add LED lights inside glass-front display cabinets, inside toe-kicks and below island overhangs.
How to Properly Light Your Kitchen Counters
Kitchen lighting should serve a purpose, but when fixtures are out in the open — such as those hanging over your sink and island — being attractive counts for something too. If your fixtures are a bit bland for your taste, replace them with designs that simultaneously direct light where you need it and add some visual spice. Picture lights look chic over sinks, for example. Sculptural pendants, vintage-inspired designs and woven grass shades are a few other looks to consider.
Another more contemporary option is to swap your over-island pendants (and old can lights too) for decorative flush-mount or semiflush-mount lights. This style of lighting keeps sightlines uninterrupted and works particularly well in kitchens with low ceilings.
How to Get Your Kitchen Island Lighting Right
Another more contemporary option is to swap your over-island pendants (and old can lights too) for decorative flush-mount or semiflush-mount lights. This style of lighting keeps sightlines uninterrupted and works particularly well in kitchens with low ceilings.
How to Get Your Kitchen Island Lighting Right
10. Perk It Up With Paint
Painting is harder than most of the previously mentioned projects. But it’s probably the best bang-for-your-buck way to completely transform a kitchen’s look, whether you hire a pro or tackle the project yourself.
If prepping, sanding, priming and painting all of your cabinetry feels too bold or labor-intensive (we did promise easy, after all), you can focus your efforts in areas that will make a big impact. You could paint the walls, for example, or just the upper or lower cabinets. Or you could paint your island a color that contrasts with your perimeter cabinetry, as do nearly half of homeowners renovating their kitchens, according to Houzz research.
14 Bright Ideas for Adding a Little Color to Your Kitchen
Tell us: What small updates made a big difference in your kitchen? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen design stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for your kitchen
Painting is harder than most of the previously mentioned projects. But it’s probably the best bang-for-your-buck way to completely transform a kitchen’s look, whether you hire a pro or tackle the project yourself.
If prepping, sanding, priming and painting all of your cabinetry feels too bold or labor-intensive (we did promise easy, after all), you can focus your efforts in areas that will make a big impact. You could paint the walls, for example, or just the upper or lower cabinets. Or you could paint your island a color that contrasts with your perimeter cabinetry, as do nearly half of homeowners renovating their kitchens, according to Houzz research.
14 Bright Ideas for Adding a Little Color to Your Kitchen
Tell us: What small updates made a big difference in your kitchen? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen design stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for your kitchen
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Nothing is certain in life except death, taxes and kitchen clutter. Whether it’s junk mail, mismatched Tupperware or small appliances, stuff just has a way of accumulating on surfaces and in cabinets, reducing our prep and storage space and creating visual chaos.
Before you grab a screwdriver or buy anything for your kitchen, take everything off your countertops and open shelves and give them a good wipe-down. Remove all of the magnets and papers from your fridge. Recycle the plastic lids for which you will never find a mate. Now, before putting an item back, ask yourself, “Do I use this daily, and do I love the way it looks?” If the answers aren’t “yes” and “yes,” stow or give it away.
Decluttering alone may be enough to make you love your kitchen again. At minimum, it’s given you a clean slate so you can really see what your kitchen looks like — and therefore what you want to change or add.
How to Conquer Kitchen Counter Clutter for Good
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