Easy ways to upgrade your kitchen

We use our kitchens an awful lot—to cook, making a cuppa, doing work/homework at the breakfast bar or dinner table. Because it’s a practical space in comparison to other rooms in the home, it’s easy to become blind to its aesthetics. Your kitchen’s fixtures and fittings take a lot of hammer over the years; unfortunately, a complete kitchen refit isn’t cheap.

This is mainly because you can’t change one cupboard without changing them all, and the same goes for the worktops…this is what makes the budget spiral. Whilst laminate worktops are relatively inexpensive, unless you’re a competent handyman or joiner, there’s the extra cost of fitting them to the dimensions of the space. Even in new houses the walls can be ‘out’, and older houses are notorious for odd shapes and measurements in each room.

Of course, decorating your kitchen is an easy fix if you’re craving a revamp, but there are also other things you can do to update this room without breaking the bank.

Lighting

It’s easy to add lights in your kitchen plinths and/or task lighting under the wall units that illuminate the worktops. You could put rope lighting under the wall units or across the top of them, so that light is reflected back up to the ceiling, creating a softer ambience than the stark, bright lighting from the main switch.

Painting

As mentioned, you could paint the walls and/or ceiling for an easy refresh. What you may not have considered is painting your units. Frenchic paint is a unique formula that covers practically any surface. If you join The Frenchic Fan Forum on Facebook, you will see the many transformations people have achieved in their kitchens with just a pot of their paint. Follow their instructions for application.

Shelving

If you feel that the layout of your kitchen makes the room feel cramped, an easy way to open it up is to replace a couple of your wall units with open shelving, which can still house your glasses/mugs/plates/whatever, but put them on display. The look is reminiscent of ‘loft style living’.

Wrapping

Vinyl wrapping is a cheap way to update your kitchen cupboards or your white goods. The latter can often bear scuff marks and scratches that look unsightly; by wrapping the door in a funky vinyl, you not only update the look of your kitchen, you’ll also be hiding any obvious wear and tear. You could even apply vinyl wrap to your tiling or splashback to update your kitchen’s design.

Accessories

A very quick way to give your kitchen a fresh look is to update your accessories. Choose a complementary colour (something bright, if possible, rather than simply grey or white) that will draw your eye to the items. Replacing your tea/coffee/sugar jars, your oven gloves and tea-towels and your kettle in the same colour scheme will not cost very much and will help your kitchen look more co-ordinated.

Upgrade your bulbs with new Smart LED's from Energizer, change the colour of the light to match that of the room or even create a start contrast

Check out our Smart Tech Range

Quirky storage

There are loads of ideas across Instagram and the web that you could copy or adapt into your kitchen. They will help you organise your utensils and kitchen tools whilst adding a touch of creativity and uniqueness to the room’s design. Old bed slats threaded together could serve as racking, for example, as could an old curtain pole and hooks. Spray or paint them as desired to fit your theme/scheme.

Handles

Updating the handles of your kitchen units can make them appear more modern if you can’t afford to replace them altogether. You can buy these from most hardware stores or look across the web for alternatives to the norm, as there are definitely some unusual designs out there, such as those in leather or rose gold finishes.

These are just a few of the ways you can transform your kitchen without ripping everything out and meeting all the costs associated with a complete refit. Don’t forget to take advantage of our Sensio offer before the end of the month.