Yes, it's true-- I just gave my kitchen a mini-makeover for only $15, and about 15 minutes of work! (If you don't count the 3 1/2 hours I spent scrubbing the myriads of spots, dried spills, and splotches that plague light-colored cabinets... but that's another story!) And how, you ask? The answer: a simple hardware swap!
 |
| BEFORE: even from a distance, the brass & porcelain handles look drab and dated (and if you looked closely, you'd see that the "brass" was corroded and brown-- hence the "wide-angle" shot) |
 |
| AFTER: the smooth chrome is the perfect modern counterbalance to the traditional cabinetry! |
Ahhhh, soooo much better! Sleek, shiny, and up-to-date! Wanna know a secret? I found them at Goodwill! (Shhhh...) Yep, a bag of 7 beautiful handles, exactly what I'd been looking for to replace my sad, corroded "brass & porcelain" handles that constantly looked grimy. And the whole bagful was only $1.49!!!
Unfortunately, I needed more than 7 handles-- I needed 10, to be exact, plus 4 drawer pulls. Fortunately, my local Menards happened to carry the
exact same handles, so the extra ones only added up to $13! Bringing the grand total for my fabulous updated kitchen to $15-- well, $14.49, to be exact ;)
Of course, if I hadn't found that bagful of handles at the local thrift store, this makeover would have cost about $21 more, but the total makeover would still be a not-too-shabby $34! (Possible even less, depending on what hardware you chose!)
This update was especially important, because THIS is the view that you see as soon as you walk in the front door of our apartment:
(I'm still trying to figure out what to do to the front of the island, that won't detract from everything else.) Here's the other side:
Our kitchen cabinets were actually store displays, so my Superman took the two lower center ones (where the stove is now), and turned them into an island, flanked with open shelves! I sewed the curtains that cover the shelves out of a tablecloth about three years ago (back when I was into the floral, cottage-y style). I think I need to make a new set that match my new colors, & the stylin' new cabinet pulls! :)
Another thing I want to do very soon is put a backsplash up behind the stove area. I'd love to do glass tile, or even penny tile (*swoon*) but I'm afraid that's out of my budget right now (unless I find some at Goodwill!) But I might try my hand at some paint & stenciling!
A gratuitous flower shot... I never buy fresh flowers for myself, but a sweet friend got me these for my birthday! I love the "freshness" they bring!
As you can see, my kitchen is not very large, and it is (literally) the center of the house-- the living room is to the left, and the dining room is to the right (with bedrooms opening off of those). So this $15 update visually impacts the whole house! I'm so happy with the effect this simple change has!
So what do you think? Have you done any inexpensive updates that have a huge impact on your home? Any quick tweaks?
