1. Make a fresh start. To see your kitchen in its best light, begin by giving it a thorough cleaning — but don't stop there. Grab this opportunity to get rid of broken appliances, chipped dishes, unneeded duplicate items (do you really need five ladles?) and anything that bugs you. Make a special point to keep counters cleared of everything but the few items you use daily.
by Jute Interior Design 
2. Assess your breakfast nook. If you have a table in the kitchen, consider how it is working for you. Do you have comfortable chairs? If not, could you pick up a few nice cushions to improve them? If your table and chairs take up too much space, consider swapping them out for something slimmer or even a built-in piece.
See a bright kitchen nook makeover
by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design See a bright kitchen nook makeover
3. Personalize your space. Who says all kitchens must look alike? In this colorful kitchen, simple wire wall-mounted racks display favorite cooking magazines with pretty covers, and floral print wallpaper adds a feminine touch to an accent wall. Think about what you would add to your kitchen if you weren't worried about pleasing anyone else — then see if you can make it a reality.
See more of this 19th-century Belgian house
by Holly Marder
See more of this 19th-century Belgian house
4. Include something for the little ones. If your household includes children, you know it can be a challenge keeping small hands busy (and out of hot pans) in the kitchen. Add a chalkboard wall, convert a low cupboard to a secret play area, or keep a bin of Play-Doh and art supplies within reach.
by Ruhl Walker Architects
5. Make liberal use of fresh flowers and potted herbs. There is no room I can think of that can't be improved by the addition of freshly cut flowers and living plants. Make a weekly habit of picking up a bouquet or going out to the garden to cut flowers. Keep costs down by dividing a single market bouquet into one main arrangement plus a number of smaller ones in bud vases.
A windowsill herb garden is a lovely thing to tend, but you can also keep freshly cut herbs on the counter in vases of water, just as you would flowers.
by Ryland Peters & Small | CICO Books
A windowsill herb garden is a lovely thing to tend, but you can also keep freshly cut herbs on the counter in vases of water, just as you would flowers.
6. Create a soft landing place. Instead of letting an empty corner go to waste, fill it with low seating and soft cushions to create an inviting nook for reading, dreaming or napping.
10 Great Ways to Use Kitchen Corners
by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
10 Great Ways to Use Kitchen Corners
7. Use attractive baskets to store and organize. Look around your kitchen and take stock of what is cluttering up your counters and shelves. Giving everyday basics a home (for example, storing napkins in a nice basket) can make using your kitchen a much more pleasant experience.
by Violet Konieczna
8. Replace standard overhead lights. Proper lighting can completely change how a room feels. While good, clear light is a must for cooking, it feels wonderful to be able to dim the lights or augment the overheads with table lamps when you are dining or just hanging out.
Try hanging a drum pendant for a softer look, tuck a table lamp onto the counter for extra illumination or install bent-arm sconces on your open shelving.
by Susan Teare, Professional Photographer
Try hanging a drum pendant for a softer look, tuck a table lamp onto the counter for extra illumination or install bent-arm sconces on your open shelving.
9. Keep a well-stocked pantry. From dried grains, pastas and beans to special condiments and long-lasting root vegetables, a thoughtfully kept pantry is key to pulling together delicious, healthy meals at a moment's notice.
by Gast Architects
10. Borrow (unexpected) furniture from another room. Desks, dining tables and chests of drawers can all look amazing in the kitchen and be surprisingly functional to boot. Upholstered furniture is even less expected in the kitchen — and all the more wonderful because of it.
by Alice Lane Home Collection
11. Try a real rug. While you wouldn't want to use a priceless antique directly in front of your stove and sink, most other rugs will hold up surprisingly well in the kitchen. A rug with deep colors and an intricate pattern will hide stains, and the feeling of a wonderfully soft rug underfoot makes cooking a joy.
by Best & Company
12. Appreciate what you have. We can all daydream about our ideal kitchens (mine would include a fireplace and French doors to a private garden), but there is something to be said for accepting and enjoying things as they are. If you find yourself thinking negatively about your own kitchen, make a point of stopping and naming three things about it that you love.
Tell us: What do you love about your kitchen? What small changes could you make to enjoy your kitchen more?
Visit the Houzz kitchen library: Guides to kitchen counters, cabinets, colors and more
by Maple & Gray
Tell us: What do you love about your kitchen? What small changes could you make to enjoy your kitchen more?
Visit the Houzz kitchen library: Guides to kitchen counters, cabinets, colors and more
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
Find Local Pros by Category:
Architects & Designers · Interior Designers & Decorators · General Contractors · Home Media Design & Installation · Landscape Architects & Designers · Kitchen & Bath Designers · Design-build Firms · Closet & Home Storage Designers · Carpet and Flooring · Fireplaces · Tile, Stone & Countertops · Specialty Contractors · Landscape Contractors
Find Local Pros by Metro Area:
Atlanta · Austin · Baltimore · Boston · Chicago · Dallas · Dc Metro · Denver · Detroit · Hawaii · Houston · Las Vegas · Los Angeles · Miami · Minneapolis · Nashville · New Orleans · New York · Philadelphia · Phoenix · Portland · Salt Lake City · San Diego · San Francisco · Seattle · St Louis
But my first idea was: cleaning thoroughly! We did it once in our house in Florida (which is usually rented longterm). The kitchen is old, looked rather run down and dirty. After three days of disassembling, cleaning, scrubbing, oil-rubbing, painting and reassembling, the whole kitchen looked sparkling and fabulous.
Make the best of what you already have!
We took off the top laminate doors (refacing from 80's) to expose the original 1959 shelving. We still have to take the frame off of the front. For now we painted it a light color.
On the bottom cabinets I took off the doors, filled all the holes, sanded them all down and painted them Urbane Bronze (Sherwin Williams). When we reinstalled them we flipped them so that the arch was on the inside and the flat part was on the outside for a more modern look. We spray painted all of the hardware.
We will remove the laminate and linoleum flooring. Then we will paint a map of The Cuyahoga River on it (we're from Cleveland). One day we will put in slate...
We also removed huge down lighting. I couldn't even putt coffee pot on the counter before we did that. We also took off the laminate back splash. Maybe one day we can add tile. Maybe even a new light. For now, I am really proud of our hard work.
I think the toughest obstacle is going to be convincing my husband to let me paint the top shelves hot pink!!!!
I know it would be difficult to convince MY husband to paint something hot pink, but I'd do it anyway (when he's on a business trip ;-)). I think it will work very well in your kitchen.
bevhart2 - Tiny isn't so bad, there's less to clean!
The kitchen/dining space is 3x5 meters. Not very big! Along one short wall we've placed a stove, small cabinet with sink, and a fridge. There's about 30 cm of counterspace on one side of the sink, and 50 cm on the other. That's ALL the counterspace! We're using a bookshelf for the pantry, a dresser in place of a hutch (all our small appliances are piled on top) and a homemade hutch (my FIL built it years ago) to house bowls, pots and pans, etc. There's not much floor space left so for the meantime we're using a small folding table as a dining table. It's just not working!
One change we've already made that helped, is to put a shelf over the sink cabinet. I now keep the most used dishes up there: plates, glasses, cups and mixing bowls.
After brainstorming ideas, we've come up with plans for a long, shallow cabinet (2.4 meters by 55 cm) that will replace the bookshelf, dresser and hutch and free up some much needed real estate in that room! The piece will actually be five cabinets tied together with one long countertop (ahhhh, I can hardly wait!). Two 60 cm wide units will have a fabric skirt on the front, to hide a few slide-out shallow drawers for pots and pans, root vegetables, and spices. Three 40 cm wide units with drawers will work well to store table linens, pantry items, and so on.
We'll also build a drop-leaf table that can be scooted against the wall most of the time, and only pulled out when needed. We've never seen a drop-leaf table here (we live in South America) so we plan to pick up the necessary hardware on our next trip to the states, and build one ourselves.
Making those changes should make our tiny kitchen/dining space a lot more functional -- and pretty!
... I'll stick to daydreaming.
Carol Meyer--Oo lal a. Fabulous kitchen. It's a dream. Love the dark cabs too! If I could get a fireplace in the kitchen, for sure I would!
for the red knob. There are a couple of places on the inet that sell aftermarket red knobs. You just have to match your stove. Good luck.
http://www.curbly.com/m/14114-roundup-10-inspiring-kitchen-cabinet-makeovers
In addition to Houzz, check out the forums at GardenWeb (http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/). These two sites were a huge help to us!