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11 Ways to Update Your Kitchen Without a Sledgehammer

Give your kitchen a new look by making small improvements that have big impact

Judith Taylor
Judith TaylorDec 3, 2019
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OK, so you have a perfectly good kitchen. The layout works and the cabinetry is solid, but it just needs a little uplift. There are plenty of relatively minor changes you can make that don’t involve restructuring your life or your house. Here are several you can try.
Beach Dwellings
1. Repaint Your Cabinets

A fresh coat of paint can transform a kitchen from dark and dingy to light and airy. If you are a few years away from that big kitchen renovation, this is a great time to have some fun with color.

Find a contractor on Houzz
Dijeau Poage Construction
2. Upgrade Your Countertop

Changing a dated countertop will give new life to your entire kitchen and add immediate value.

Contact a countertop installer
Judith Taylor Designs
3. Install a New Backsplash

If your cabinetry and countertop work nicely but your room lacks pizzazz, a new backsplash can add loads of personality and really boost your kitchen. A bit of texture, sparkle or gloss will give simple cabinetry plenty of presence.


Shop for tile on Houzz
Parker House Inc.
4. Make a Statement

New jewelry always picks up a mood, and it can do wonders for your kitchen, too. New hardware can dress up plain cabinets, while standout lighting fixtures can add a surprising wow factor.
Rad Design Inc
5. Change Your Faucets

A detachable spray hose comes in handy for so much more than just giving a bath to the toy poodle. Try a spout with a flexible braided water-supply hose. It looks better than a plain black rubber hose and will last longer.
Nic Darling
6. Expand Your Horizons

Need more surface area?
You may not need to start from scratch. If you have an island, you can introduce a different material, such as wood, on an added eating counter either below or above the island level.

The standard countertop/island height is 900mm. A nice option, like you see here, is to add an extension at dining table height (about 760mm is typical). The great thing about adding an extension like this is that regular kitchen and dining chairs will pull up to the counter comfortably. If you prefer a higher surface, you could opt for bar height (900-1200mm).
Whitney Lyons
7. Consider Refacing

New cabinet fronts and doors can provide a welcome facelift if the layout already works and the cabinetry boxes are solid.

How to Reface Your Old Kitchen Cabinets
MartinPatrick 3
8. Rethink the Uppers

Open shelving offers an opportunity to display collections or just keep frequently used items accessible. Wine and oil bottles are great for showing off.
Venegas and Company
9. Add Cozy Touches

A runner is a great addition to a galley kitchen floor. I don’t know why we are disciplined to treat our kitchen like it has a different set of rules when it comes to decor. For example, I’m all for adding a table lamp for an unexpected element in a kitchen.
Incorporated
10. Add a Floating Island

If a new bank of cabinetry is beyond the budget, try a ready-made freestanding piece to add extra storage and a surface for working and eating.

Why not add a new top to a freestanding piece of furniture and extend the edge for an eating counter? The minimum overhang would be 25-30cm, but there are a few considerations to note when extending the top. Take care not to shift the balance of weight so much that the piece is unstable (people love to rest their elbows, adding weight to the surface). Also you may need to add brackets to support the overhang.
SV Design
11. Add a Showstopper

A simple kitchen with simple cabinetry is downplayed by a showpiece range hood. Playing up one feature is a great way to detract from less interesting elements.

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Comments (146)
See 143 more comments
  • Athina

    Instead of ripping out the existing counters, my brother just got their dated tiled counters resurfaced with a thin version of quartz, as well as replacing sink and faucet. It looks like a new kitchen. Their solid wood cabinets are similar to the ones in this article.

  • Patt

    Engine99, unless you're a very experienced cabinet person, it could be really difficult to move the cabinets yourself without damaging them.

  • bets1211

    engine99 - had same issue with outdated layout and cherry cabinets too. They unfortunately yellowed due to the poly factory finish. We pulled down all the cabinets ourselves then sent them out to be sprayed, and we put them back up. No cabinets were damaged. Highly recommend SW emerald urethane - needs about a month to fully cure so had to be careful but now no issues at all, they look perfect. We also upgraded to soft close.

    We tweaked the layout, used most of the existing cabinets and had to purchase a few new ones that we also had painted to match. A new sink went in where the old one was, and while the stove location stayed the same we did change to a 36”. We moved the fridge, got a 2nd oven, beefed up the molding, and totally reconfigured our island. We saved enough to splurge on a Danby marble countertop for the island. We kept the granite on the perimeter and the countertop fabricators made adjustments for us.

    It was a lot of work but well worth it. The kitchen and the island is so functional now, and current.

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