10 Tricks to Make Your Kitchen Look More Luxurious
You don’t have to spend a fortune on your home to make it look like you have. With a few tricks of the trade, you can transform even the most outdated space into a slick, stylish vision. If your kitchen’s lost its way, help get it back on track with our top ten tricks- you’ll be amazed at the difference.
1. Put Your Best Foot Forward
Pull a swish looking coat over the grottiest looking outfit, and provided you do up the belt tightly enough, no one will ever guess what horrors lurk beneath. The same principle applies to your home. Regardless of how cheap or ancient the majority of your kitchenware, no one will be any the wiser if you put your best-looking pieces at the front of the display. If you’ve got some particularly lovely looking glass or crystal ware, make sure that’s the first thing people see… trust us, no one will move them aside to check out what’s skulking behind.
2.Replace Your Lighting
As Kitchen and Bath notes, nothing can make your kitchen look tired faster than some out-of-date, worn-out looking light fixtures. Even if you don’t touch a single other thing in the kitchen, a new set of lights will instantly update its look. Pick a style that complements the room (a glowing chandelier can look stunning in some environments, whereas others will suit a more contemporary look) and be sure to place them in the areas that naturally draw the eye… over islands and above the sink are two of the best (and most practical) spots to illuminate.
3. Bring Out the Fruit
Nothing spells luxe like big, bountiful bowls of fresh fruit. Polished wooden bowls filled with fresh, juicy looking apples make an ideal centerpiece to a kitchen table… and serve a practical purpose as well. Add a few glass jars filled with a mixture of lemons and limes to your countertop and voila- a pretty, fragrant display that costs pennies to create but looks a million dollars.
4. Replace Your Facet
Ripping out your entire sink unit and replacing it with a new, improved version can be a costly (not to mention time-consuming) business. Fortunately, you don’t have to go that far to make your sink look a little more luxurious. A new facet can instantly transform a worn-out looking sink without blowing a hole in your budget in the process. Look for something sleek in a design that complements your existing décor- as well as checking out the offerings at your local hardware store, it’s worth browsing the classifieds to see if you can pick up a bargain.
5. Go Big or Go Home
If the only artwork currently decorating your kitchen is a few fridge magnets and an out of date calendar, prepare to get radical. A big, bold piece will work wonders at adding a sense of splendor, especially if you go for one that takes up a fair acreage of an otherwise empty wall. Contemporary and classical pieces work equally well, depending on your overall décor. Just remember that whatever style you choose, keep it big.
6. Pimp Up Your Handles
You don’t have to replace your entire set of kitchen units to make them look better. As Readers Digest notes, simply replacing your old cabinet handles and drawer pulls with some jazzy new ones will work wonders at improving the kitchen’s overall aesthetic. If you want to add some variety, picks ones in different colors or with contrasting designs (although you may want to ensure they’re all made from the same materials and have the same finish to keep the look looking uniform).
7. Funk up Your Flooring
No matter how glam the rest of the space, it’ll never quite reach its full potential if your kitchen flooring has seen better days. As Elle Décor notes, you don’t need to go to the expense of laying a super-expensive marble floor to up the wow factor; of all the rooms in the house, the kitchen is where you can happily get away with a little faux-luxe. 12-inch ceramic tile laid on the diagonal is Elle’s choice of flooring, although wooden floorboards can look equally elegant.
8. Keep it Light
If you want to introduce some instant style into your kitchen, splashing a new coat of paint is one of the best ways to start. Fortunately, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg either. While dark colors have their place in the home, House Beautiful recommends you stick to lighter colors in the kitchen: as well as making even the dingiest of spaces look brighter and airier, light colors reflect light, covering up any unattractive dents or scratches that would otherwise detract from your newly luxe look.
9. Fake it with Paint
Stainless steel has a great, classic appeal that adds a touch of the luxurious to any kitchen. Unfortunately, we can’t all afford to replace our old appliances for shiny new ones everytime we want a new look. And that’s where a paintbrush and a tin of paint-on stainless steel finish comes so in handy. Simply layer some on to your old appliances and voila- you’ll have the look at a fraction of the cost.
10. Bin the Clutter
If your cabinets are full to bursting, your drawers are overflowing, and every inch of cabinet and tabletop space is given over to clutter, it’s time to grab the trash can and get to work. Nothing can make a space look dingy, disheveled and plain untidy faster than too much clutter. While you don’t need to embrace the minimalistic look entirely, clearing away anything unnecessary and keeping the focus on just a few key pieces is a sure-fire way of turning your kitchen from ‘eww’ to ‘wow’.
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