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If you are like typical American families, you probably spend the majority of your time (400 hours a year) in the kitchen rather than in any other room in the house. Not only are you cooking in there, but also eating meals as a family, spending quality time together, or having guests over.

This means that your kitchen should be up to par for all this socialization. You don’t want to feel embarrassed by your kitchen space and be anxious about inviting people over.

Don’t have much money to spend on kitchen upgrades? Here are 11 of them that are easy to undertake and will leave your wallet feeling happy.

 

1. Update Your Lighting Fixtures

 

This is one of the easiest ways to bring more light into your kitchen and make it look more modern. Too many older kitchens look like they could be the setting for a horror movie, with a dark and dank atmosphere.

Nowadays, there are lots of lighting options available for cheap that you could install yourself without much problem. If you aren’t sure about doing electrical work, then hire a professional electrician to help you with the task.

 

2. Add Some Open Shelving

 

If you have empty wall space for this, adding open shelving is a great way to add more storage capacity to your kitchen and reduce the clutter. One of the main reasons why a kitchen looks old or ugly is because there’s just too much stuff sitting around the counters distracting the eye.

Sometimes it’s easier to declutter if you have the storage space to place items on. And with open shelving, it’s easy to see exactly what your kitchen has and it makes it more likely you will use all your kitchen implements to the max.

 

3. Boost the Greenery in Your Kitchen

 

Another easy way to perform a cheap kitchen remodel and give it a more modern look is to add some plants. Pick some plants that speak to your soul and place them throughout your kitchen, picking spots that are out of the way so you don’t trip on them every time you walk past.

Also, if you do a lot of cooking and use herbs in your cooking frequently, then consider adding a herb wall to your kitchen. These are a great addition because you can use them to add fresh herbs to your meals making them healthy and delicious, and they don’t take up any space at all.

 

4. Modernize Your Backsplash

 

When was the last time you updated your backsplash? If you can’t remember or you have been using the same backsplash that the house came with, it’s time to replace it.

There are many cool and funky designs for backsplashes available for you to take advantage of. Look around and find something that goes with the rest of your kitchen’s ambiance.

If you want something easy to install, there are stick-on backsplash tiles that you could buy as well.

 

5. Add a Wooden Counter

 

A fantastic way to conduct kitchen updates is by transforming your kitchen counter. You probably use your kitchen counter every single day for a variety of tasks, so it could probably do with some upgrading.

There are many ways to do that. You could add a butcher block wooden countertop. These are cheap and easy to install.

Another option is to look for salvaged granite or stone remnants to use on your countertop. Again, these are much cheaper than buying new granite or stone countertops.

You could also use a countertop painting kit and upgrade your countertop for cheap in that manner.

There are even kits you could use to make your countertop look like it’s concrete, which is a great look for a warehouse-style kitchen that some folks are loving nowadays. No one will ever know the difference.

 

 

6. Find an Antique Faucet

 

A great way to jazz up your kitchen is to add a new faucet to your kitchen sink. If you are using just a typical stainless steel faucet, then consider upgrading to something antique. Go around to the antique stores and find something that appeals to your sensibilities.

Not interested in going antiquing? Then visit the nearest hardware store and buy a tall modern faucet to add to your kitchen sink.

Many modern faucets also come with additional functionality, which is nice to have when you are rushing around to clean the kitchen and get to bed sooner.

 

7. Paint the Walls

 

Who doesn’t love a painting party? If you haven’t refreshed the paint on your kitchen or bedroom walls in a while, then why not take the chance to do that this upcoming year?

You can make a family event out of it by bringing in friends and family and ordering pizza after to celebrate.

There are so many gorgeous paint colors to pick from as well, so you might run into difficulty choosing. Get the whole family involved and find a color that everyone would like on your kitchen walls.

Or if you have a particular color theme in the rest of your home’s decor, then follow that.

 

8. Add Some New Hardware

 

Your young ones might bang the kitchen drawers shut every single day several times a day. This might result in a lot more wear and tear on these poor items than you would like.

An easy way to make your cabinets and drawers look fresh again is by adding some new hardware to them. This is probably one of the most inexpensive kitchen renovation tactics because you can find cheap knobs and pulls for cabinets easily.

You could either go searching for them in antique stores or a thrift or salvage shop. Can’t find all the same kind? Then mix and match to create a more interesting setting.

Sometimes you can find customized hardware on a store like Etsy, which means you support local small businesses. This is always a positive.

Or you could paint the hardware if you don’t want to bother buying new ones.

But new ones shouldn’t run you more than $200, so it’s a cheap but worthy investment to make in your kitchen.

 

9. Refresh Your Cabinets

 

Don’t like your old dingy cabinets anymore? Were they white at some point, but have yellowed over the years because of all the smoke and exhaust from cooking and other kitchen activities?

Freshen them up by painting them in a brilliant new color. Something like maroon or dark blue would give your kitchen an entirely new face. Or you could stay true to the modern minimalist style and paint them stark white or cream white.

Make sure to match the ambiance and color scheme of the rest of your kitchen when you paint them.

If you have wooden cabinets, you can update them by sanding and refinishing them which is an easy and cheap fix.

 

10. Hang a Sliding Pantry Door

 

This one isn’t something most people think of when updating their kitchen, but is again a very affordable way to add a rustic feel to your kitchen.

It’s easy to buy old doors from salvage shops or get a custom door made by your nearby carpenters. Then have these doors slide to cover your open pantry shelving, so you can hide all your goodies when guests are around or when you are not using them.

This is also a great way to save space since a normal door would always be in the way and if you have a small kitchen, it might not be a viable option.

If you are the handy type, then you could make a weekend project out of this one, searching for a door, sanding and finishing it, and hanging it up on your kitchen wall. It could be fun and could end up teaching you a lot about DIY jobs.

 

11. Remove a Load-Bearing Wall

 

If you have a tiny kitchen and you would like to increase the space available, then you could get a contractor to remove a load-bearing wall and open up your kitchen space a bit.

It’s a bigger job than the other ones mentioned above, but it’s still a cheap and effective way of revamping your kitchen space and making it look more modern. Never undertake this job yourself, since it’s quite complicated and requires an expert’s touch.

You can learn more about it here.

 

Kitchen Upgrades That Will Make You a Happy Cook

 

Spending hours in the kitchen and not enjoying it is such a sad proposition. Once you complete some of the cheap affordable kitchen upgrades mentioned above, you will be a happy camper indeed.

Don’t forget to contact us if you have any questions about removing a load-bearing wall or any other wall removal issues.