7 No-Fail Tricks In Decorating Your Kitchen

Our kitchens are increasingly the center of our lives. If you aren’t cooking a meal or cleaning it up, family members are in and out to grab snacks, check the family calendar, or socialize at the dinner table. It is where we often host guests and celebrate events. You want your kitchen to look its best. Here are 7 no-fail tricks in decorating your kitchen.

Let There Be Light

Before you assume you need to replace everything in the dull, drab kitchen, consider your lighting levels. Can you improve the ambiance in the kitchen by removing the drapes, cleaning the windows and trimming back branches that prevent natural light from getting in? If you’re constantly frustrated working in the kitchen, determine whether you need more overhead lights or task lights. And if you want to upgrade the look of your kitchen, you can start with brand new modern light fixtures instead of that 1980s faux chandelier above the dining table.

Choose the Right Furniture

A pile of chairs crammed in the corner will hurt any room’s appeal. Mismatched chairs around your dining room table or breakfast bar are almost as bad from a decorator’s point of view. The solution is to find a set of matching chairs for your dining room table and if you have one, breakfast bar. Choose furniture that matches the aesthetic of the kitchen. For example, a modern minimalist kitchen shouldn’t have arts and crafts style dining room chairs.

Fix the Ugly Design Elements

Realtors sometimes say that a house is ugly to the bones. These are poorly designed homes that can’t be fixed by ripping out that old neon orange shag rug or painting over the purple walls. These are properties where there is mismatched design elements, poor layout and inferior materials which makes it ugly at a level that can only be fixed by remodeling. That awkwardly placed center island or unusably high wet bar may only be fixed by removing it and, if appropriate, replacing it with something more workable. An ugly DIY home renovation project can only be solved by replacing it with a well-designed kitchen. You can see more designs, inspirations and even make purchases online these days, from new cabinets to kitchen appliances.

Make It All Match

While hiding your refrigerator behind custom wood cabinetry is a popular, high-end project, we often overlook the basics like having your appliances all match each other and the décor. For example, a bright white refrigerator, black stove and stainless steel dishwasher clash with each other. This isn’t an excuse to buy new appliances. However, you can replace their external panels so that they all match.

Add Little Accents

Little decorative accents may revive your kitchen and you can do so on a modest budget. You could make the breakfast nook pop by adding wallpaper in just that corner. Or replace a few tiles in the backsplash with complementary colors or artistically decorated tiles. New hardware on cabinets can make them look totally different, and this is certainly cheaper than putting in all new cabinets. Throw pillows or new upholstery in the breakfast nook will make it more appealing.

Consider an Open Floor Plan

Open floor plans are all the rage, and this can include your kitchen in a variety of ways. A popular option is removing the walls between the kitchen and dining room, though you can’t do this if it is a load-bearing wall. You could achieve a hybrid effect with glass French doors between the two rooms or putting in an open pass-through that lets you see into the next room without altering the structural elements. Another option is determining whether or not you really need that breakfast bar or big kitchen island. In some cases, re-designing the center kitchen island so that it is more useful lets you eliminate the butcher block and secondary tables you brought in to get enough work and storage space.

Fix Your Floors

One little detail that makes many kitchens seem dated is their floors. Maybe it is the lime green linoleum. Perhaps it is the fact that the linoleum is ripped up. Wood floors may be stained and warped. A good way to upgrade your kitchen is to replace the flooring with something that resists spills, traffic, and dirt. Choose flooring that is stylish and fits the kitchen’s color scheme.

Given how much time we spend in our kitchens, any improvements here are worth the effort. This is especially true if it turns the kitchen and dining area into an extension of your general living space or reduces your frustrations.