Easy Kitchen Refresh ideas you can do affordably today (psst…all of them cost less than $200!).
Our kitchen has always been a work in progress. Our house was completely renovated by a flipper before we purchased it and when we moved in, the kitchen was brand new, builder grade with espresso cabinets and no kitchen island. Too new to rip out and start over but not really my taste. My dream is to one day knock out a wall and completely redo the whole kitchen with chef-grade appliances and countertops set an inch lower than standard (I’m short). One can dream.
Meanwhile, we’ve made things work with affordable changes, one or two at a time. It started a few years ago when we repainted the cabinets from espresso brown to light grey. Jon and I did the work in our garage over a couple of weeks. It was a painful process but totally worth the effort. And since we used extra durable cabinet paint, the color has held up far better than the previous espresso that the builders installed.
Next came the backsplash — again, we did it ourselves and it was a relatively easy upgrade. It took some serious planning to get the tiling right around the outlets and flush against the cabinets but once it was finished we were really pleased with the work.
That work took place a few years ago and we hadn’t done much with the kitchen since then. This spring, I’ve been itching for a change, despite being on a pretty tight budget of late. So we did our most recent Kitchen Refresh on a dime. Its amazing how much of a difference a few small changes can make. Here’s what we did:
New Kitchen Table
This was far and away the biggest change we made, even though it cost less than $200. Our previous table was a tiny, black pine IKEA table that I’ve literally had since before Jon and I were married. It was pretty beat up and, even worse, it just sucked all the light out of our little breakfast nook corner. This part of the house also serves as our back entrance and mudroom. Coats once hung on that back wall and it was a cluttered mess.
Simply moving the coats to another wall and swapping in a new white pedestal table from IKEA at once made the space brighter, lighter and a zillion times more functional. The table cost $179 and we already had the chairs, so we really got a lot of bang for our buck with this one.
New Canisters
We’ve been using the same set of shiny red flour and sugar canisters since before we got married. They were ok but starting to feel a little dated. They were also fairly narrow at the openings so it could be hard to measure flour properly without making a huge mess. So, I swapped what we had for wide-mouth plain glass canisters. Actually, I only purchased the flour canister (it was $14 at Target). I had intended to buy a smaller one for the sugar but it was out of stock so I made do with some canisters I had already at home. I love that I can see exactly how much flour and sugar we have left, can measure from them easily, and they look much more modern and bright than our old ones.
Rethink Storage and Organization
My mother accuses me of reorganizing my kitchen constantly. She might be right! As our kids get older it seems like I’m regularly re-evaluating where things are stored and what we even need (goodbye sippy cup collection!). This whole reorganization started about a month ago when we revamped our trash and recycling storage with a unit that fits in a cabinet. As part of this most recent update, I shifted around storage in a few more cabinets and drawers, moved our stand mixer (which is red and didn’t fit with our new color scheme) to a cabinet and swapped in a cheap knife strip for our clunky old knife block.
These little (almost free) changes removed SO MUCH clutter from our countertops. Even better, having the knives stored right next to the kitchen sink makes it so easy to clean them and put them right back where they belong. As a result, I’ve completely done away with our dish drying rack — which was always a huge clutter catcher. These little tweaks have made it so much easier to get and keep the kitchen clean and organized.
Trays and Boards Galore
I have a huge collection of serving trays and boards, so I decided to put them to work as decor to add texture to the countertops and walls (see the canister photo) and by creating different “zones” around the kitchen. I especially love our little breakfast station — which neatly corrals our toaster, butter dish and some dry cereals so they’re easy for the kids to get to and serve themselves.
Add Inexpensive Houseplants and Artwork
To give things a really polished, fresh look, we added houseplants EVERYWHERE. I don’t have the greenest thumb — Jon is the plant care expert — so we picked up a mix of low-maintenance live plants and supplemented with some fake versions to place in low-light areas. The little pops of green have really brightened things up. None of the plants cost more than $15, even with pots, so again, very affordable.
Finally, we needed some artwork to fill the newly-vacant (and freshly painted) wall behind the table. Jon and I debated about a million options — framed artwork (expensive), graphic wallpaper (a risky commitment) — before I suggested we create a plate collection. I have a ton of random plates for my food styling work. Many of them are thrift shop one-offs I’ve purchased for a dollar or two. I collected a bunch of them in complimentary colors and started slapping them on the wall. I used command strip picture hangers for the lighter ones and added plate hanger discs for the larger ones. I LOVE how this turned out! And it cost almost nothing!
There are still a few more tweaks I’d like to make this spring. I’d like to paint the legs of our center island white and add a fresh new area rug beneath it. We could also use some new window treatments but the thought of dealing with that just gives me a headache. If you’ve got ideas there I’m ALL EARS.
Meanwhile, I’m basking in the glow of my brighter, happier kitchen.
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