Design on a Budget: Kitchen
- yourdesignbff
- Apr 19, 2023
- 4 min read
Hey best friends! Next stop in this series is gonna be the room that I work in the most: the Kitchen! But, I don’t mean my own personal kitchen, because I’m admittedly not very good in there (don't tell any of my Bumble matches). I have worked in residential remodeling for over 20 years, specifically focused on Kitchens and Baths (which will be coming soon, part 3!) and I have a ton of great ideas for refreshing your Kitchen instead of remodeling it. This post includes affiliate links, and I will also link to my Pinterest page at the bottom for additional Kitchen ideas!
CABINETRY
First things first, let’s talk about cabinets. Chances are, you’ve got perfectly good cabinets, but maybe the finish is just out of date. Paint them! It’s as simple as that. I always recommend you work with a pro and I’d be happy to recommend one; but, if you’re a DIY queen or king, here’s a couple products that I recommend.
This company Giani makes one of my favorite countertop products, but we will talk about that later. It comes in all of the trendy colors, but I'm always going to recommend you stick with white or light gray if you're thinking of selling soon! But, if you are like me, and you're in love with your home and planning on dying in it, go for Celadon. It's just paint, you can always change it.
This product is an enamel paint, so it will give you that hard furniture finish. It's also good for trim and shelves.
These dudes are CRITICAL if you are painting anything in your home! Always keep a little bit of paint for touch-ups handy. That way you don't have to schlep the can out of the garage, or make a mess. These are a must-have for every painting project.
ISLANDS
OK, so we didn't change the layout of your kitchen, but how do you get more space? Movable islands. Chances are, you have room for a small island and could use the extra storage and counter space. Amazon has tons of options for any style, and I've got them all linked on my Pinterest page here: Kitchen Islands
COUNTERTOPS
Next biggest area to address is your countertop. Obviously, the most expensive way to approach this is to replace the whole thing. Now, I have lots of tips and tricks for finding the least expensive countertop, but that’s a whole other blog. By the way, let me know if you’re interested in that… I have lots of insider information :-)
As I mentioned earlier, Giani also has a countertop paint kit. It really creates an awesome finish, but you have to be pretty confident in applying it because I’ve seen some failures. So, feel free to run this by a contractor or your most artistic friend, if you’re not confident enough to do it yourself.
CABINET HARDWARE
Once you've refinished your cabinets and countertops, you're gonna want new hardware. This part's easy: take the hardware off your existing cabinet and measure the distance between the two holes; that is your center-to-center measurement, and that is how you will size the hardware you’re going to buy. Or, if you’d like to install some thing that requires new holes and you’re already painting your cabinets you can certainly fill those holes with putty, sand them down and then paint them and drill a hole somewhere else! Added bonus to painting your cabinets: you can change your whole hardware design. I’m a fan of using all pulls, at least 5 inches long, I think anything shorter than that belongs in a bathroom. Knobs have their place, but I’m not a big fan myself.
Hickory is a top name in Kitchen design, it's a super quality product and they have been around forever. They are notoriously expensive, but this Amazon deal is a pack of 10 for less than $60. These usually retail about $8-10/pull. They come in lots of finishes and sizes, and the style is transitional enough to work in almost any setting.
Amerock is synonymous with value and quality in the industry. I have spec'd their products for years! This is a classic bar pull, again it's transitional enough to work in almost any setting. Lots of finishes and sizes! This is a great option for most, unless you wear a lot of pants with belt loops, you're gonna get snagged.
LIGHTING
So we’ve covered the cabinets, the countertops, and the hardware; last, but not least, is lighting. There should be several levels of lighting in your kitchen:
Ambient- the overhead lighting that lights as much space in the room as possible.
Task - any area-focused lighting or undercabinet lights.
Decorative - lighting that is like the jewelry of your kitchen, think pendants over an island. I’m also a big fan of little lamps in the kitchen. I think that, especially when you’ve turned all the ambient and task lighting off, it gives a nice vibe to your kitchen if you’re cooking or just having a glass of wine at the end of the day.
If you have an outdated ceiling light in your kitchen, this is an awesome swap. It has an adjustable color temperature, so you don't have to guess which light will look best until you install it. This is great in kitchens that have white or gray finishes, the wrong lighting will make them look too yellow or green. Sometimes pink! Lighting is weird.
If you have outdated recessed lighting, I definitely recommend installing these. They are also adjustable color temperature (not rainbow as the picture may suggest!). And they retrofit on any recessed can or junction box so you can use them throughout your home to replace outdated lighting. I put them in my closet and I LOVE the light (and it was super easy to install!)
These are great for undercabinet lighting, they just stick to the bottoms of your cabinets. No hardware, no tools, no wiring! They're rechargeable so keep the charging cord handy and remember to charge them every once in awhile! Easy!
And just like that, you have a fresh, new, well lit kitchen! You will have to figure out the cooking part on your own, but I hear Pinterest has lots of ideas for you. While you're over there, check out my abundance of ideas for all the areas of your home including your kitchen here: Your Design BFF on Pinterest
Comentários