The kitchen is the heart of your home, so give your kitchen some love and try one, or all, of these entry-level updates:
Cabinet refinishing
My chosen route for updating my kitchen cabinets was a kit from Rustoleum. It is called Kitchen Cabinet Transformations, and it comes with almost all of the supplies you need to get the job done. You have the options of going lighter, going darker or even antiqued finishes, so you really can customize these to your liking. For only $60 you will get supplies that will cover 100 square feet of your cabinets. Of course, there are other ways to refinish your cabinets, including sanding, staining and sealing, but I chose Rustoleum because of the price, and the fact that I didn't have to guess at anything during the process because a step-by-step DVD was included.
Hardware
There are so many options to choose from so this really gives you creative flexibility. Even if you have pulls and knobs that you're happy with, pick up just one or two options to give yourself a different point of view. When we moved into our current house there was new hardware in my kitchen and I had no problem with it, but after refinishing my cabinets I wanted to see what it would look like if I took the opposite approach. After seeing how the new silver pulls brightened my kitchen even more I went back and purchased more for my remaining cabinets. For this, all you will need is a Phillips-head screwdriver.
Theme
Purchase new items for a new kitchen theme. It's all right if you stick with your current theme, just don't hang onto the outdated or worn items. A few ideas: new hand towels, new kitchen canisters, coffee mugs, display plates, window curtains and floor mats.
Paint
Who doesn't love a new paint color? If you have painted baseboards or crown molding, take a couple extra minutes and spruce these up as well. In addition to paint, purchase painters tape, paint rollers and trays, edging brushes and a drop cloth for your floor.
Lighting
Walk into any big-box hardware store and you can easily be overwhelmed by all of the lighting options. It can be fun to browse through, but it is much less overwhelming if you do a little research beforehand and have an idea of what your price range is, and, of course, what style matches your updated kitchen.
De-clutter
This one is very important! If you aren't going to de-clutter, your updated kitchen won't be living up to its full potential. Try finding multi-purpose items to thin down your stock and gain more counter space. Nowadays, you can find things designed specifically to save space. Think knives on a magnet strip on your wall instead of in a butcher block on your counter.
Check out these websites to find more inspiration for these easy-to-tackle projects:
www.pinterest.com
www.houzz.com
www.realsimple.com
www.goodhousekeeping.com