Easy ways to make your kitchen look more expensive
A beautiful Baltimore area kitchen we staged this month.
Kitchens are one of the most popular rooms in a house. If you’re looking to get your home ready to sell or updating your current look, you don’t have to demolish and replace everything in the room. Often, a fresh coat of paint on the walls and even the cabinets can make a huge difference in the overall look of your kitchen. Sometimes, freshening small parts of the area is all you need.
Here are some ways you can make your kitchen look more expensive—and some of them cost less than $50.
Clear your countertops.
This isn’t the easiest task because, let’s face it, we all need appliances to be convenient. Having the blender at the ready for smoothies, the coffee maker primed for brewing, and the toaster handy for breakfast waffles makes life easier. However, give it a try. Take every single item off your counters. You’ll likely find your kitchen looks more upscale simply by clearing the countertops. Now, put back only one or two essentials—possibly the coffee maker. Then find a place behind cabinet doors to store the other appliances. If you’re like most people, you will likely find items inside the cabinets that could be placed elsewhere because you only use them once or twice a year. Put those in the garage/pantry/basement and use the cabinet space to keep appliances handy yet tucked away when not in use. Now that your counters are clear, add some pretty things: a display of plants, some layers of visual texture (wooden cutting boards, basket of lemons, etc.) that will show off your counter space without looking cluttered.
Update old countertops.
Quartz, quartzite, and granite are examples of popular, lasting, and appealing countertop types. Each type has its own pros and cons, and there are other choices, too. Quartz comes in lots of colors and designs, is easy to maintain, but is susceptible to heat damage. Quartzite costs about the same per square foot as quartz, but installation can cost a lot more. Quartzite is resistant to heat but usually requires sealing once a year because it’s porous. Granite is and has been popular for years because it is heat resistant, long lasting, and easy to clean. Granite also comes in lots of colors and styles. Marble is another popular option because it is heat resistant and lasts a long time. Marble tends to be expensive, scratches easily, and if using a light color, stains are possible.
Some other options that aren’t as pervasive as others are also gaining in popularity. If you are making upgrades to your kitchen to prepare to sell your house, we recommend choosing from the more popular options, as we always suggest being sure your house appeals to the highest number of potential buyers. If, however, you’re styling your home and updating it for yourself, some other options for countertops include butcher block (scratches easily), concrete (sometimes cracks), stainless steel (noisy), and soapstone (discoloration).
Add Visual texture.
Visual texture is natural elements that soothe our eyes when we glance at them, making rooms appear more cohesive. It’s easy to add items like wooden cutting boards, plants, and woven trays to display shiny items to help your kitchen look warm and inviting. Lemons and limes are a go-to for home staging for a good reason. They add a pop of color to a kitchen and invoke a clean citrus smell. Baskets and trays are very popular home styling tools because they help group items and show them off in an appealing manner. An example would be a woven tray (wood texture), with an herb plant (nature), a folded dishtowel (soft visual), and a jar of whole coffee beans with white mugs (shiny). Combining textures is a design technique that is visually attractive and doesn’t cost a lot of money.
Update the hardware on your cabinets and faucet.
Recently, we had a home staging client who didn’t have the funds to update her entire kitchen. We recommended a good scrub to her cabinets, since they were in good shape, and new hardware for the cabinets and drawers. The updated hardware gave the kitchen an updated look and was minimal labor and cost. Another quick update is the kitchen faucet. We all use our kitchen sinks so often that we don’t even notice when they become a little worn looking. Scrub the sink until it shines, get that new faucet installed, and enjoy the updated look! (LTK links for faucets and knobs/handles?)
Sourcing: Chunky Gold Handle, Polished Brass Pull, Acrylic Pull, Sunflower Set, Gold Bar Set, Champagne Bronze Knob
Let there be light!
Natural light is the best source of light. The best way to let in more sunshine is to take down dated window treatments and curtains. If privacy is an issue, install a shade and pull it down at night. Using the right light bulbs for the room is also very important. Use bright white bulbs (not too yellow and not blue). When choosing light bulbs, there are three things to consider: lumens, watts, and K (Kelvin). Lumens basically means how much light the bulb emits. The higher the lumens, the brighter a room will look, low lumens will create a dimmer lighting atmosphere. Watts mean the amount of energy a light bulb uses. Kelvin relates to the temperature of the light—from 1,000 to 10,000. The lower the temperature, the more yellow it appears. The higher the K temperature, the more blue the light appears. For most kitchens, living rooms, and bathrooms, something between 3,000-4,000K will give the whitest light. (insert LTK link for lights here?)
Sourcing - Sconce 1, Sconce 2, Tiered Chandelier, Quatrefoil Light, Black Chandelier, Rattan Chandelier, Wood Beaded Light, Lantern Chandelier, Soft Gold Chandelier, Gold Pendant
Want to learn more design tips? Check out our post Decorating With Design Principles (Part One) — Shamrock Hill Design - Home Staging Baltimore
Which of these ideas will you use to make your kitchen look more expensive? If you have more ideas to make your kitchen stand out, we’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below!
We’re here for all of your Baltimore home staging and interior design needs, so please reach out to us.