That all-important room, the kitchen! While we call it our family hub, it also serves to create meals, welcome and entertain guests, do homework or bills, watch TV, post a message and oh yea, eat. With a keen focus on your kitchen’s functionality comes the need to fix, replace, tweak, clean, organize and decorate.
Here are 10 DIY projects anyone can do themselves or on the cheap to rejuvenate your ‘all-important’ kitchen.
On a tight budget? Read, Kitchen Design on a Budget: Take the Phased Approach.
Freshen Up a Stale Kitchen
Your kitchen is where the action is, always front and center when family, neighbors and friends come to visit. Plus, it's the space where you spend a good chunk of time, cooking, eating, chatting, working and paying bills. Why look at outdated or faded furnishings when these DIY hacks are available?
- Replace the faucets. Faucets have style, and you can date a kitchen by a faucet's shape, angles and finishes. Switch out those basic, 80s and 90s pieces with faucets that suit your 21st century taste. A single trip to the hardware store, and one handy person in your household or a YouTube video does the trick.
- Reorganize cabinets and drawers. If you go through the cabinetry, drawers and pantry, you'll clear all kinds of junk out, allowing more space for all the clutter on the cabinets. Pot hooks, alphabetized spice racks, a utensil tray and easy-to-install cabinet inserts will help.
- Donate belongings you rarely use, and throw away any food that's expired. This is probably the easiest and least expensive way that you can create cabinet space on the fly.
- Change out the knobs and pulls. Like faucets, knobs and pulls can date your kitchen or may belong to a previous owner's taste rather than yours. Again, a simple trip to a hardware store will do the trick. Steampunk is trending these days; crystal and rose gold finishes add a feminine touch. If you're planning to age in place or want a more accessible kitchen, focus on bar- or lever-type pulls that don't require a tight grip.
- Put up a whiteboard. Or a poster board, or use a swatch of chalkboard paint on a section of wall or the beat up refrigerator door. Then, leave inspirational messages and love notes to add warmth and personality to the space.
- Clean the grout. Grout gets grungy over time. A simple solution of vinegar and water or Listerine - and a toothbrush - will get your grout clean in no time.
- Add some new bursts of color. One of the reason we're fans of neutral and timeless designs is because they create a palette from which you can continue to create as you go. Swap out old countertop appliances and replace them with versions that add a spot of color - exchange teapots, salt and pepper shakers, toaster, cookie jar, utensil canisters, etc.
- Grow a window herb garden. Basil, chives, parsley, oregano, thyme - all are herbs we use on a regular basis. Rather than buying overpriced store versions, utilize your kitchen window sill and grow your own herb garden.
- Freshen things up with lemon. Slice a lemon, put it in a bowl with water and heat it in the microwave for 3-minutes, or in the oven for 15. Mmmmm.
- Reset jiggly or stripped hinges. Are cabinet hinges looking worse for wear? Simply remove the cabinet doors and use toothpicks and wood glue to fill the cabinet box screw holes. Once the glue is completely dry, you can reinstall the hinges.
These DIY kitchen hacks can save you thousands of dollars while you save up for the remodel you're planning down the road.