How to Spruce Up a Tired Kitchen

How to Spruce Up a Tired Kitchen

The kitchen is a busy room in your home. It sees cooks, diners, guests and every inhabitant of the home, generally on a daily basis. All of this traffic means that it can see a lot of abuse year in and year out, so it is understandable that the kitchen requires some maintenance and remodeling from time to time. The frequency of visitors to the kitchen also means it is a prime location to decorate and furnish with trendy gadgets, colors and surfaces. This is another reason your kitchen can become outdates over time, so do not be afraid to make a few updates. The good news is that studies have shown the two rooms where homeowners can expect to see the greatest returns on their renovation dollars are the kitchen and bathroom, so you can take comfort in knowing you will somewhere in the neighborhood of an 80-100% return on your renovation investment in appraisal value or re-sale.

How to Avoid an Expensive Renovation?

The things is, most folks want to renovate their kitchen and understand that the return will be worth it in both comfort and value, but with a full scale renovation costing upwards of $60,000, it is really hard to come up with the resources without breaking your bank. A solution to this dilemma is to cut some costs by narrowing the focus of your renovation to just a couple of areas or plan to make the full remodel in phases. The items below also represent some ideas for updating your kitchen without a huge expense.

Paint

You can quickly and cheaply update a drab kitchen with a new shade of paint that makes the countertops and cabinets pop. You should select one classic color and also an adventurous shade to see which you like better.

Cabinets

The cost of new cabinets can be prohibitive, even if you are not having them custom made. For this reason you might try painting the existing ones. Another option to update your kitchen is to try some new doors and hardware. These changes are a fraction of the cost to build/install new ones.

Flooring

Hardwood and stone surfaces are great in the kitchen, but they can be expensive too. These days there are many companies that coming out with trendy linoleum styles that resemble tile and materials. These vinyl products are easy to clean and reasonably priced.

Backsplashes

Backsplashes are great for adding some color and a little pizzazz to an otherwise bland kitchen. They can be installed easily by the homeowner with little more than a tutorial and a few hours.

Islands

An island can run you anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand depending on what you choose. Should you have the room in your kitchen, it is a nice way to add some storage and create an additional workspace without building more cabinets.

Affordable Home Additions

These are all nice additions that won’t kill your bank account and provide some modern touches to a space that sees a lot of traffic. Even though they are not expensive upgrades, they will positively impact your home equity as well.