Do-It-Yourself Kitchen Improvements That are Easy and Fun
Draw attention to that backsplash. For far too long the backsplash in a kitchen has been merely for functional purposes and ignored in the overall fashion-sense of the room. Today homeowners are finding that by creating visual appeal here, their kitchens are instantly spruced up a notch. Tiles are a simple and effective way to improve the overall appearance of your kitchen and they come in an almost infinite array of styles so you can custom make your design. You can do a contrasting color of tile, a multi-tone color of tile, tile patterns that you create or even matching tile, to suit your taste. Also available are tiles with designs or pictures that you can insert where you choose to create a style that is all your own.
Add a kitchen island and watch the room transform before your eyes. Islands come in every style imaginable and are available in almost every price range. Not only do they offer visual appeal but they also offer great functionality. You can get them with electricity. You can also get sink, counter top and/or sitting space. You can create a bar, including having a miniature refrigerator or wine chiller installed. Need space in the kitchen for those cookbooks that you can just never seem to find? Install shelves into the island. Custom-creating or ordering your island is a fun, practical and fairly way to enhance the overall beauty of a kitchen.
Install a new floor. Today, do-it-yourself projects are en vogue and finding materials you need to re-do your floor yourself has never been easier. You can choose from tongue and groove wood, an assortment of tile (porcelain, marble, etc.), laminate, and so on and so forth. The higher quality you have, the better the room will look and with discounts abundant in almost every store around you, you are sure to find a reasonable deal for the type of flooring you would like, if you just keep your eyes and ears attuned.
Sink Boredom? Create a snazzy new look by ordering a funky-shaped sink or a gorgeous new faucet set for your existing sink. Or get yourself a new counter top to spruce up the area the sink resides in. Can’t afford a granite counter top? Consider getting yourself a slab of quartz from your local do-it-yourself warehouse and have it cut, or cut it yourself, to the size of your existing space and swap out the old for the new. Instantly, you have created a new area of interest where before existed an outdated or boring place in the room. Quartz is fairly inexpensive, yet it is extremely durable and very pleasing to the eye.
Update your lights. If you have not been down the lighting aisles in the stores lately, take a look: You will be absolutely amazed at all of the new, wonderful styles that are available on the market today. There is truly a light fixture to fit any style, and this one simple change can bring a whole new perspective into the room.
Pull down a wall and merge the kitchen with an existing room and your options are now endless for remodeling, or have a divider wall cut in two with a set of poles dividing the room from a waist-length counter top. The latter suggestion will keep your existing rooms separate but give you the illusion of more space. Just be certain when doing either of these suggestions that you have a professional assess the situation before you begin it. You have to make sure the existing electricity in the wall, if there is any there, is moveable and that the wall itself isn’t a support wall for the house (you would be amazed at which of the walls in your house have this title and job).
All of these sound okay but you are just looking for some small ways to improve the visual of the room? Add or make a nice set of curtains for the windows that match your existing decor. If you do not want to purchase them, get a pattern from the local fabric store and create your own. Purchase some matching towels and area rugs to create a more coordinated and homey feel. Add a picture and some greenery. Nothing creates life in a room faster than a beautiful plant. Or maybe you have outdated faces on your cabinets. Take your cabinet doors off, sand and stain them, add some brilliant updated knobs and/or handle pulls and you have created a new look for your once drab area. Another easy solution for an instant update in a kitchen is paint. Paint your kitchen cupboards if you want a modern look. If your existing wall paint could use an update maybe you could try a funky new color or update the one that you have with something more modern. Painting the heater or air vents in the same color that you choose for the walls is another way to add spice to the room. Other small touches that can drastically improve the appearance of the room are changing out the light switch plates (these come in every style imaginable), adding organizing units (store those pots and pans on the wall or overhead on a rack), wall shelving, stenciling or crown molding along the tops of the walls.
Whatever your pleasure, decorating small or large, there are many ideas you can choose from to improve the overall appearance of the kitchen which is, after all, the heart of the home. Make that room a happy place to be and watch the renewed interest you, your family and guests will have in it. With a little creativity you can come up with innumerable ways to make your kitchen dreams come true, even if you do not have the budget a complete overhaul would require. Happy decorating and enjoy your new space!
