New kitchen, no contractor! Here are some seriously simple ways to style up your cook space...
1. Add a Peel-and-Stick Backsplash
These days, faux tile you stick right on the wall looks like the real deal! Take it all the way to the ceiling for a wall of wow.
2. Get Really Glam Barstools
A new row of seats can make a big impact, especially when they’re metallic and have cool legs.
3. Paint Your Island
Got all-white cabinets? The contrast of dark gray painted on an island creates drama — the good kind.
4. Give Cabinets a Paintover
These cabinets may look brand-new, but they’re actually from the ’80s. Their dark wood finish quickly became a distant memory after a fresh paint job — crisp white on top and golden yellow below. For the smoothest result, always sand cabinets before painting.
5. Put Up Open Shelves
They make empty wall space functional. Style them with brackets and use a diamond drill bit if you’re mounting shelves on a backsplash.
6. Change Your Faucet
It’s one of those things people live with forever, yet a swap helps take years off a kitchen. A kind with a repositionable spout makes doing dishes a little bit easier.
7. Switch Out Your Stove
It’s not hard, as long as the one you want fits the same spot as the old stove. Suddenly your kitchen has a new centerpiece!
8. Hang a Pendant
A pendant in a natural material looks pretty in any style of kitchen. It’s a real game changer if your current light is made of an entirely different material, such as glass or metal.
9. Bring In an Island
Score extra counter and seating space … personality, too, when it’s a bright color.
10. Upgrade Your Cabinet Knobs and Pulls
Knobs are easiest because one size fits all. When changing pulls, simplify things by getting newbies that are the same width as the old ones to avoid a patch-and-drill job.
11. Try a Totally New Shape of Light
When you have only one ceiling light box for a fixture, a wide style like this delivers four times the light — and the chicness!
12. Dress Up a Window With a Punchy Shade
If you have basic blinds, replace them with a Roman shade. You can have it made in a cool pattern.
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via hgtv.com