Mia
Apart from your room, your kitchen is probably the most actively used room in your house. This is why, after every few years, you need to renovate it!
Between worn-out cabinets, greasy countertops, and peeling paints, most kitchens start to exhibit signs of damage. Even those that don’t might end up looking too outdated when you look at the modern interior trends.
Regardless of why you are thinking of renovating your kitchen, the fact remains that the need to do so arises every now and then. But, neither is renovation easy nor is it cheap.
For those ready to plunge into the task but are lost about what to do, here are five crucial kitchen renovation hacks that will come in handy.
- Function over aesthetics
Yes, aesthetically pleasing kitchens surely look Instagram friendly. But, at the end of the day, the purpose of your kitchen is to be the place where you can cook. Hence, when opting for a complete kitchen renovation, consider its functionality over the visuals.
When deciding on where to put different items, keep efficiency in mind. Your target should be to find ways to be done with your cooking tasks quickly and easily.
For instance, a large distance between a kitchen island and countertop may make the room feel bigger, but it just means that you will have to walk to and fro a lot when trying to get work done.
Instead, when renovating your kitchen, create a solid working triangle. This refers to the distance between the three main sections of your kitchen. Since these three points are the ones you will frequently be visiting, try to make them equidistant from one another.
For instance, let’s say your three most used places are your sink, fridge, and countertop. By keeping an equal distance between the three and hanging a light fixture between the area, you can easily get work done while having optimal lighting conditions to do it too.
- Light it up
Whether you plan on building a new kitchen or renovating an existing space, one of the most significant aspects to look at is lighting.
When you are cooking food, the ultimate thing you can do wrong is doing the task in bad lighting. This is because cooking is an art that requires you to catch subtle changes in the colors of the food item. After all, can you perfectly caramelize onions in a poorly lit room?
This is why you desperately need proper lighting in your kitchen. Surface-mount light fixtures that are attached to the ceiling are ideal for the kitchen. This helps you in two ways. Firstly, it offers optimum lighting for cooking. Secondly, it looks visually pleasing, thereby giving your kitchen a sophisticated look.
If you are looking for other functional decorative lighting spots, consider hanging a light fixture over your kitchen lighting as well. Also, place under-cabinets lights to ensure that you can easily find your cabinet items.
- Refinish your cabinets
Do you think your cabinets are a lost cause just because they have many greases accumulated on them? Or has their paint worn off from parts? It turns out a worn-out cabinet doesn’t necessarily translate to an unusable cabinet!
Instead, you can refinish and paint over your existing cabinets. At most, you can replace its door and drawer fronts. While you are at it, disinfect the area to eliminate any pests that have made a home in your cabinets.
Here are the basic steps of refinishing old cabinets.
- Remove cabinets from the wall, clean off accumulated dust and use a stripping agent depending on the type of finish.
- Make use of a wood filler to repair any holes present in the cabinet.
- Lightly sand out the patches
- Paint the cabinet with a fresh coat of paint.
- Reinstall the hinges and cabinets after the paint has dried out.
This way, you will save a lot of money that you would have otherwise spent on remodeling the entire area.
- Spruce up the walls
Any room, including a kitchen, can look completely different and refreshed just by a fresh coat of wall paint. Compared to a proper redo, just coats tend to cost less and are just as effective in giving new life to your kitchen.
Opt for a color that is best aligned with the rest of your house décor. Also, take into account the color of your cabinets. Usually, a contrast looks best to give the room a little gradient.
Don’t just be limited to paint. You can add a backsplash to one of your walls. We know what you are thinking. Backsplash installation tends to be pricey. Thankfully, now, you can get your hands on peel-and-stick backsplashes! These are both inexpensive and easy to install.
The best part about such backsplashes is that they are not set in stone. You can update it as often as you want. Whether it is a funky mosaic or a sleek marble, there are a lot of options available. So, you can rest assured that you will find something that complements your kitchen’s overall look.
- Highlight your stove
The main star of any kitchen is the stove. It is both the most used as well as the most visible appliance. Hence, you need to maintain and replace it often. If you only have the budget to upgrade one item, let it be your stove!
If you don’t have one already, get a hood for your stove as well. This will help with ventilation and look visually appealing as well. You can also get your contractor to build a frame of plaster around your stove if you don’t want to invest in a hood.
Also, think about the space around the stove. The best hack is to always have enough space on both sides so that you can effectively use it when prepping supplies.
Ending Remarks
With these five essential hacks, you are now ready to renovate your kitchen and give it a new look and feel! Are there other ways you can transform a kitchen space? Let us know.
