Have an outdated kitchen and aren’t ready to remodel yet? There are several projects you can do to update your kitchen. By doing these smaller projects, you can make your kitchen look better and extend it’s life. This way you can wait until you are ready to do a full remodel. Before you start anything, see what projects you want to do and get everything picked out.
Paint your cabinets
Painting or refacing your cabinets is an easy way to modernize your cabinets. Just go to your local paint shop and get your desired paint. Make sure to sand the surface of your cabinets first to remove any paint, stain, and/or varnish. This way, when your new paint is on, you are less likely to have any chipping or peeling.
Change your hardware
Outdated hardware can really drag down the look of your kitchen. Changing your hardware is a simple, easy process. Just remove your old hardware and then using the same holes, install the new hardware. It will take you only a few hours tops, depending on how many cabinets your have. If you are switching from pulls to knobs, or vice versa, it will take a little more time. This is because you need to fill the holes, paint, and then drill new holes for the new hardware.
Paint the walls
A fresh coat of paint is a great way to give your kitchen a quick face lift. By painting your kitchen is a light, bright color, you can make your kitchen look bigger and more inviting. Or if you’d prefer a darker color pallet, even just having a new color will help freshen everything up. No matter the colors you choose, making sure that you have good light fixtures will make sure your kitchen looks great.
Install new lighting
If you plan to put your lighting in new locations, cut all the holes and running wires before you paint. Otherwise, if you are just changing out fixtures where they are already located, install after painting. With your new wall paint on, now it’s time to install your new light fixtures. A quick and easy way to add more light to your kitchen is to buy some type of under battery powered cabinet lighting. There are many different style options to choose from and they will be easy to uninstall at a later date.
Buy new decor
Changing up your decor is such a great way to make your kitchen look more up-to-date. Add shelves, artwork/other wall decor, open storage- such as a magnetic knife holder or a rack to hold your cookbooks. If you have a seating area in your kitchen, buying new barstools will help too. Plus, then you already have the barstools you want when you are ready to do a full kitchen remodel. By whittling away at acquiring decor now, these costs will already be taken care of when you do decide to remodel.
Install organizers in your cabinets
If you lack proper storage space in your kitchen, buying organizing storage bins, racks, and hooks can help give you a bit more space. Aslo, you can find what you need much easier with everything properly organized.
Change your trim and baseboards
If your various trims and baseboards are looking pretty damaged and outdated, it would be a good idea to get these replaced in the meantime. For the most part, when you remodel your kitchen, the footprint shouldn’t change too drastically. Even with footprint changed, by taking time to take off trims and baseboards, you should be able to reuse them.
Afterwards
Once you finish these simple projects to update your kitchen, you can start saving up for your new kitchen. You’ve already bought the odds and ends that are the finishing touches for any room- decor, lighting, hardware, etc so you no longer have to take these into account for the full kitchen remodel budget. Remember, you don’t have to do all these projects, or buy all these items at once. Save a little and get something that you’ll love even with new cabinets, flooring, appliances, and whatever else you add to your future new kitchen.
There are many expensive items that go into installing a new kitchen such as appliances, flooring, and cabinets. So now you can save up for these big ticket items. As well, by preparing for the expensive items now, you may be able to avoid financing some, if not all of the costs. Also, you will have a buffer for possible hiccups that can happen with any home improvement project because you have already bought stuff that can continue to be used in the future.
To get a better understanding of how much your budget should be, go out and take a look at what appliances, fixtures, flooring, countertops, etc you’d like to have. Check out our other blog about the material differences of kitchen cabinets to learn why some cabinets are priced higher or lower than others.
Once you are ready to remodel your kitchen, Shakespeare is here for you. We understand just how overwhelming remodels can be, so we not only update you on what steps your project is at, but also help you find what you want. Also, we offer StarMark Cabinets, they are a high quality custom cabinet company based here in the United States. They offer many door styles and colors, as well as internal cabinet organization to make your new kitchen the best it can be. Contact us today for a free estimate.