One of the most used rooms in a home is the kitchen. Family and friends gather in this room on a daily basis. It is important to the home owner or the potential buyer that the kitchen is up to date and inviting.
By updating your kitchen, you can add value to your home. You can do it yourself without spending thousands of dollars remodeling. It just takes some imagination and creativity.
Give walls new focus. Instead of building a cabinet into every blank wall, try hanging some inexpensive floating shelves. Floating shelves show no brackets or hardware, and appear to be "floating" on the wall. They can create a feeling of airiness while providing easy access to dinnerware or glasses.
If you want to update your backsplash, and don't want to spend a fortune, try using inexpensive ceramic tiles. Start with a basic field tile and randomly insert a few accent tiles. You can also make shaped patterns to highlight certain areas, such as behind your sink or your stove.
Flooring can also be a great place to make a dramatic change. You can install vinyl or linoleum tiles fairly easily without much experience, and they can dramatically change the appearance of the kitchen.
Another way to change the appearance of your kitchen is to remove the doors from wall hung cabinets. This can give the kitchen a casual country look. Homeowners can display their favorite glassware.
Homeowners can also freshen the kitchen by painting the walls, ceiling or by just adding fresh paint to trimwork or doors. Maybe there is a small splash of color in the floor you want to accent, by painting trimwork with the same color, this brings out the floor.
Replace worn laminate countertops. If the laminate is still in good shape, it can be tiled over. New oversize tiles (24 x 24 inches, 12 x 24 inches) are easy to work with and can make for a more continuous countertop with fewer grout joints.
Replacing old cabinet hardware with new is a great idea. It is like adding jewelry to your kitchen! All you need is a screwdriver and a few hours. Knobs and pulls come in many different styles and colors. Be sure to measure the distance between the holes on the old hardware. It is easiest if the screws for the new hardware are the same. Otherwise you will have to patch the old holes and drill new ones.
If you want to maximize your kitchen space, try to customize an unfinished island with attachments. You can purchase a small kitchen island from a home center and customize it to fit your needs. Add baskets, drawers and hangers. An island will keep your supplies all together and organized, making baking and cooking easier.
With a little imagination and time, you can transform the look of your kitchen while adding value to your home, and do it all on a limited budget.
