Does your kitchen give you a bad feeling when you walk into the room? Do you find yourself avoiding spending time in the kitchen to prepare meals, or just wishing you had a better-looking kitchen? Does a lack of space make you avoid cooking and go for takeout instead?
If your kitchen aesthetics and functionality are lacking, here’s how you can take it from drab to fab, regardless of your budget.
- Move things around to get more space
The one thing almost everyone wishes they had is more space in the kitchen. There never seems to be enough counter space, and whatever space you have must be carefully allocated. If you’re really cramped, you might have to choose between keeping the toaster oven or the blender on the counter, and storing the other item in a cupboard below.
If clutter is a problem, moving things around to free up space is the first place to start. Start by taking everything off your countertops and then think about your workflow in the kitchen. Where do you prepare food the most? Keep that area clear. Where do you never do any food prep? Use those spaces to store your small appliances, like a blender, mixer, or toaster oven.
Once you have a general idea of where you want things to go, test it out and see if it works. Adjust things throughout the first week to see if you can find the optimal placement. Sometimes it does require rearranging things a few times before you find the ideal flow.
If you’re really cramped for space, that’s a good reason to get that outdoor kitchen you’ve been eyeballing. If having a kitchen in your backyard has always sounded like a good idea, make it happen because it will instantly give you more space for food prep, and it will encourage you to cook and eat outdoors. Check out these outdoor kitchen design ideas for inspiration.
- Get rid of junk and clutter
Eliminating junk and clutter will instantly make your kitchen look and feel better. If you have a junk drawer or two, dump it out and get rid of it. Find a proper home for everything and use that drawer for something else, like spices or utensils.
If you have clutter lying around, like bills, documents, or your kid’s schoolwork, collect it all and file it away. The longer you leave important papers in the kitchen, the more likely they are to disappear when you have to move them and don’t remember where you put them.
- Buy space-saving organizational aids
Browse your local home décor stores to see if you can find any organizational aids for your kitchen. For example, there are tools designed to hold your pots and pans, either on the wall or from the ceiling. You can also find storage and shelving units that sit on top of your counter and provide you with vertical space.
For instance, a popular version of this comes as a three-tiered unit for holding things like flour, sugar, and spices. If you find one of these units with open space under the platforms, you’ll get even more storage.
- Use an over-the-sink cutting board
When you don’t have the money to remodel your kitchen and get an island, cutting boards that fit over your sink are the perfect solution. With one of these, not having much counter space to prepare your meals won’t be an issue. Some of these are actually more than just cutting boards – many of them also hold fruits and veggies in a shallow bowl with holes so you can rinse them easily before you slice them.
When you use a cutting board over your sink, it will be easier to clean up and you won’t have random cutting boards laying on every free section of your counters, making it look cluttered.
- Change your aesthetics
If you’ve always wanted to decorate your kitchen in a specific style, go for it. You’re going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so why not make it look the way you’d like? You can go for styles like shabby chic, farmhouse, modern, French country, or even eclectic. Choose whatever style makes you happy.
Don’t let your boring kitchen stay that way
You spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so don’t hesitate to spice it up a bit by changing the aesthetic if you don’t like the current look.
It’s your home and you deserve to prepare your meals in a beautiful kitchen.
