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Kitchens get so much use that they start to look a little tired and rusty before you know it. Whether you’re making small upgrades to your home, or going for a full renovation project, a kitchen renovation is a great way to start to change the feel of your home. So it’s no wonder that along with the bathroom, this practical space is often a top priority when it comes time to remodel. It can seem intimidating at first – remodelling a kitchen is a major project. We've mixed low-cost and slightly higher-cost improvements, but these solutions will have you enjoying your new kitchen in no time.
So, how do you breathe new life into your kitchen? We're excited to share this list of ideas with you to enhance your tired old kitchen. And you don't need to do a full kitchen renovation to make a difference! With this list, our goal is to make life easier and, best of all, there's something for every budget.
Instead of buying herbs at the grocery store, use your kitchen's sunlight to grow them yourself. Find a space in your kitchen that gets a lot of sun and create your own mini herb garden to bring more life into your kitchen. You can harvest and preserve fresh herbs in your very own home. The most popular kitchen herbs to grow include basil, chives, cilantro (coriander), lavender, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, and peppermint.
We love this one! If you have enough sunlight and space in your home, we highly recommend cultivating a mini home veggie garden in your kitchen. The best-potted veggies to grow on your windowsill include green onions, loose-leaf lettuce, tomatoes (choose small ones for the best results), spinach, chillies, carrots, sprouts (use mason jars to grow), garlic, beans, peas, and radishes. There are several benefits of growing your own veggies.
What better way to brighten up the sink area to make doing dishes a little more enjoyable?
The easiest way to bring more life into your kitchen is to keep your blinds open and have the sunshine streaming in. Allow sunshine to light up the room to boost your mood as well as give more life to the plants, herbs and veggies blossoming in your kitchen.
If you run out of windowsill space for your potted veggies, no problem! Add a hanging feature using a metal hanging pot holder. Hang the pot holder in an area that gets a good amount of sunlight. Hanging plants bring more life and dimension to your kitchen. When it comes to plants in the kitchen, the more the merrier. Choose white jasmine in a hanging pot to bring a sweet scent into your kitchen that is delicate and subtle. It creates a fresh scent in the space.
Hanging baskets filled with colourful fruits and veggies bring colour and life to your kitchen. They also add more dimension to the space and make it appear more cosy and inviting. We love the bohemian look of these hanging fruit baskets. There are many bohemian-inspired home decor looks we love to bring more life to your entire home.
Don't be afraid of colour in your kitchen space. Why not paint it red? Well, not literally, but the use of colour is perhaps the single most important way you can re-design your space.
Changing the colours in a room can immediately bring life into it, adding vibrancy back into a darkened space or injecting a splash of colour into an otherwise neutral palette. Adding colour can be a fast and efficient way to make a shift, whether you want to add a feature wall or refresh all of the walls with a new shade. It can add a point of interest that elevates the design and makes it stand out. But a “pop of colour” doesn’t mean the colour has to be overly bold.
Apply a few coats of a clean, neutral colour or white to the walls, ceiling, door and window frames to brighten up a dark, tired room instantly. The best way to do this is to paint your kitchen with green colour, and while the simplest thing to do is to paint a single accent wall, a much more dramatic option is to extend the accent wall into the surrounding planes. The surrounding planes can be the cabinets or storage that is colour-coded to the colour of the wall. If you want to further integrate it, you can match the accessories or create a contrast.
Another great colour choice for a kitchen is yellow if you have a small kitchen. Paint colour affects your mood and yellow is a lively and cheerful colour as it reminds us of sunshine. It also stimulates the appetite making it a perfect choice for a little kitchen space. If you have a bigger kitchen, go for a more calming colour like blue. Deep blue tiles and Mexican-style tiles work well in an indie-inspired kitchen and work to create a more joyful carefree kitchen. Our advice is to buy these tiles online for a reasonable price that reflects your own taste, style and colour requirements. Contact local tilers to get installation quotes.
Pottery dishware is a rustic elegant choice for a kitchen full of life and creativity. You can even make your own at a local pottery shop. Mix and match the shapes, sizes and colours of your pottery dishware to add more life and fun to your kitchen essentials.
Ditch the plastic and go for wooden dish racks, cooking utensils and decor features. Using wooden kitchen features allows for a kitchen to feel more trendy and it is also more environmentally friendly. You can buy bamboo dish racks and utensils online for about $10.00 to $20.00 AUD.
We love Koch & Co's indie-style wooden tray fleur decoration that can be used as a brekkie tray or a beautiful kitchen decor feature.
Looking to upgrade your storage space? The right cabinet space can make your life easier. Cabinets can monopolise the visual wall space in a kitchen, especially in small kitchens, making them the first choice for an upgrade. But it's important to remember that they aren’t just for space. If painting cabinet doors isn't enough to make them look new, there are other ways to redesign your kitchen cabinets.
If your cabinet structure is in good shape, you might be able to replace your cabinet doors fully. That way, you can choose a totally different door design than the originals while keeping the layout of your kitchen intact. You could replace the door handles with something new for a fast and easy change if you're satisfied with the doors but want to make a small change. A new style or shape may give an otherwise familiar piece of furniture a whole new dimension.
Don't forget the countertops. In addition to the counter space you need to make meal prep and the cooking process simple, don't forget about storage space in custom drawers. Think about the countertop appliances you keep and which ones you need easily accessible. For example, you need easy access to your chopping boards, coffee machine, and other appliances. But your lower cabinetry should have enough room for food to eat, as well as pans, and if you don't have a pantry, the cupboards are even more important to keep clutter and mess hidden.
Choose green natural cleaning products to bring more life and health into your kitchen space. Chemical-free products are better for the environment and better for you. Traditional cleaning products can be harmful to your family and pets, and the kitchen where you're preparing and growing food is not the place for potentially harmful substances. Use natural home remedies as much as possible to clean your kitchen area. You may have natural cleaning staples in your kitchen already such as lemon, bicarb soda and vinegar.
Mason jars are a more eco-friendly storage option that looks trendy and beautiful in a kitchen. Use these reusable jars to store natural honey, raw cane or coconut sugar, sea salt, spirulina, chia seeds, and other essentials to keep them fresh.
A long vintage rug will add an indie decor feel to a kitchen space making it more cosy and relaxing. Rugs with Aztec and Bohemian designs look flawless in a kitchen space. Rugs have the ability to completely transform a space. Vintage-inspired kitchens tend to have interesting accents that make the space feel fun and lively.
Preparing food in the kitchen is a daily task, so why not create a space that you love being in? Your kitchen should exude health, abundance and life, which can be achieved through mini herb and veggie gardens, sunlight, greenery, colour, and cool decor aspects. Whether you're completing a full kitchen renovation or you just want to breathe new life into your house, there are plenty of options you can look at.
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