Weekend Kitchen Makeovers

Part I

I’d say that the kitchen is probably the most important room in the house. So much family stuff goes on in the kitchen, and guests tend to hang out in there with the host, turning get-togethers into what I call ‘kitchen parties.’ It’s not surprising, then, that it’s the one room that many homeowners tire of quickly. Sure, we can always get a new garlic press or spatula to give us a kitchen pick-up (that often works for me), but the glow of that will only last a short while, and it does nothing to change the overall aesthetic of the room.

If you’re tired of your kitchen but don’t want to do anything major like replace the counter, backsplash or cabinetry, there are some pretty easy things that you can do to revamp your kitchen and restore it to its rightful place as the heart of the home. Here, then, is the first part of some suggestions for kitchen improvements that you can do in a weekend:

Change door pulls and knobs
This makes a huge difference to the look of your kitchen cabinets and it’s relatively cheap. Home Depot and Rona both have a good selection of pulls and knobs. If you’re uncertain about how your choice will look with your cabinetry though, buy one and hold it up to your cabinet door to see how it looks before you change them all (and your mind).

Paint the room
I know you hear it a lot: Painting a room is the number one thing you can do to freshen and change it. But it’s true. If you’re tired of your kitchen, give it a fresh coat of a nice, warm colour. Behr paint from Home Depot has a great little tool on their website called ‘Colour Smart’ (http://www.behr.com) that you can use to experiment with different colours in show rooms. Behr has a good selection and they’re very reasonably priced.

If you don’t have the energy to do the entire room try an accent wall paint one wall of your kitchen a different colour. I’d do a bolder version of the main colour, or another colour completely—one that’s complementary to the main colour. If you don’t have a backsplash, another trick is to paint the backsplash area a punchier colour from the rest of the room to give it the look of one.

Remove unnecessary counter-top items

If you’re short on counter space, remove and hide the stuff that tends to crowd you, like small appliances, utensils, and just plain old junk. Just keep stuff that you use every day (like the coffee maker) or things that look nice (see below).

Show your nice things
There’s nothing pretentious about showing your nice things it’s only a shame when you hide them. Use a spot of the kitchen to display good dishes, tea pots, or cooking ware. If don’t have nice stuff, get some. It’s pretty easy and inexpensive to go to HomeSense to get a nice pepper mill, canisters, or a sugar bowl. Or be creative and get a spout for a wine bottle and use it as an olive oil dispenser.

It’s really not necessary to go into big-budget renos to achieve a new kitchen look. You can actually do this quite easily and cheaply—and entirely on your own. Stay tuned for Part Two.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.