Seven quick ways to freshen up your kitchen

Update your kitchen with ‘new look’ kitchen cabinets – replacement kitchen doors

As the lazy hazy days of summer begin to draw to a close, families everywhere are getting ready for the big Back to As autumn approaches, it’s a great time to make a few improvements to your home. Many of us feel the urge to reflect the changing of the season in our homes, but can be put off by the thought of the stress and expense of major home improvements.

The good news is that there are many small steps that you can take to refresh and update your home. For example, if your kitchen is in need of a bit of an upgrade, there are a lot of things you could do that would not be too costly, and would bring a bit of freshness and personality to your kitchen.

So in this article we take a look at seven quick ways to freshen up your kitchen. Read on to see if one or more of them could work for you!

Let there be light

Any kitchen looks better with more light coming in. So the first thing to do is to check that you are maximising the amount of natural light in your kitchen. This could be as simple as making sure that light coming through windows is not obscured by curtains, blinds or general clutter on windowsills. Go for the minimalist look to let as much light in as possible.

Then take a look at your kitchen light fittings. How about replacing some of them, or adding additional lighting such as pendant lighting over one area of your kitchen, especially an eating space. You could also fit dimmer switches where applicable, so that you can vary the amount of light as needed.

And don’t forget some extra decorative lighting such as fairy lights and candles. These small touches can make a huge difference to the ambience of your kitchen.

Add a splash of colour

Once you have your lighting sorted out, the next thing to look at is adding a splash of colour to your kitchen. This doesn’t mean that you have to completely change its current colour scheme, unless you particularly want to. But if there is a new colour you would like to bring into your kitchen, here are four ways you could could go about it:

• Replace or repaint one or more kitchen cabinets

Just changing the colour of some of your kitchen cabinets can make a huge difference to your kitchen. You could either repaint one or more kitchen cabinets or replace the existing kitchen cabinet doors with doors in a different colour. 

Whether you decide to have all one colour, or mix and match – your kitchen will look brighter and fresher. The image below shows our Paris Bella vinyl wrapped kitchen cabinet doors in a mixture of Matt Pistachio Green and Supermatt Fir Green.

• Create a feature wall

If you are happy to leave your kitchen cabinets as they are, why not change the colour of one wall? You could either paint the wall or even consider using a feature wallpaper. If both these options are more than you want to do, just look for some colourful wall art and display this on one wall. Any of these ways of adding a splash of colour can help to transform the look and feel of your kitchen.

• Add open shelving

Another way to make a feature of one wall is to add an open shelf to it and create a colourful and interesting display. One display option is to feature items that are special to you and help to tell your story. Another is to start collecting quirky antique and vintage items to showcase. Or you may prefer to display a pretty collection of flowers and plants, to bring a touch of the outside into your kitchen.

However you choose to curate your open shelving, just be careful that it doesn’t become either cluttered or neglected, as this can soon make your kitchen look very tired. But if you keep your shelving clean and vibrant, and ring the changes, it can add real interest and a welcome splash of colour to your kitchen. 

• Bring in a small item of furniture

If you have a bit of spare space in your kitchen, why not bring in a small item of furniture such as a colourful chair or small chest of drawers. Items such as these can be surprisingly practical in your kitchen as well as another source of colour.

Accessorise

If you do nothing else to freshen up your kitchen apart from adding a few new accessories, you will still be making a big difference. And of course you can easily change the theme of your accessories in future whenever you want to, perhaps even moving accessories between rooms in your home to freshen those up too.

Ten quick ideas for kitchen accessories are:

• Curtains
• Blinds
• Rugs
• Cushions
• Tea towels
• Aprons
• Oven gloves
• Storage jars
• Fruit bowl
• Chopping boards

Even if you just replace a few of them, perhaps in a matching funky pattern, they will help to fresh up your kitchen.

Replace your kitchen worktops or splashbacks

Another idea worth considering is to replace your kitchen worktops and/or splashbacks. Especially if your worktops have seen better days – and perhaps are lifting at the edges – or your splashbacks just look grubby. Changing one or both of these can make your kitchen look completely different. So it’s a very smart move for an easy kitchen update.

This is where DIY Homefit can help! We supply extensive ranges of laminate worktops, from two main suppliers – Axiom and Prima. Between them they offer an incredibly broad choice of designs, textures and materials. There is bound to be one that is just right for your kitchen!

Check out our kitchen worktops and splashbacks here.

Update your small appliances

Another quick and easy way to freshen up your kitchen is to update a few of your small kitchen appliances. Perhaps your kettle, toaster and microwave have seen better days and could do with replacing? If so, you could get a co-ordinated range in either matching or contrasting colours. For example either bright red or yellow, dark blue or green, or dramatic black. Or if you prefer something paler you could go for a mix of pastel shades such as baby pink, pale turquoise and mint green.

Whatever your taste in colour, introducing it into your kitchen for just a few small items can provide the freshness you are looking for.

Refresh your crockery

If your appliances are still in good condition, how about updating your crockery? Crockery is one of the most essential kitchen items that we use everyday, yet often gets neglected. And if you’re still getting by with the same odd assortment of old mugs, bowls and plates that you’ve been using for years, then perhaps it’s time to change.

So why not look around at some contemporary crockery ranges? There are so many to choose from, that there is bound to be a fun, funky, crockery design that is perfect for your kitchen. And if you decide to have some open shelving – as we explored earlier – it could be the perfect way to display it.

Update your flooring

Kitchen flooring takes so much wear and tear that it often does not look its best. So perhaps now is the time to give it a bit of care and attention.

If you don’t want to replace your kitchen flooring, you can make a big difference by giving it a deep clean and perhaps adding one or more rugs to give it a fresh, colourful, bright look. Rugs can work well in kitchens, as long as you select either non-skid rugs or use rug grippers to weigh them down and stop them sliding.

But don’t rule out replacing your kitchen floor, as this really can transform the look of your whole kitchen. It can also be very economical, particularly when you consider that it will most probably be more durable, waterproof, and easy to maintain than whatever flooring you currently have.

Three of the most popular flooring options are stone tiling, wooden or laminate flooring or vinyl flooring. And of course you can decide whether you want to mix or match the colour of the flooring with your kitchen cabinets and overall colour scheme. Whatever you decide, new flooring could make a powerful statement in your kitchen and transform the whole look and feel of the room.

We hope that the above ideas help you to find ways to freshen up your kitchen this autumn. For more kitchen ideas and inspiration, take a browse through DIY Homefit’s gallery of kitchen pictures and see what you could incorporate into your own kitchen.

Do visit us again soon for more home and lifestyle tips from DIY Homefit.