5 Tips I Learned Through our Kitchen Redo

When you are a young couple buying a house, there are a lot of things that you don't consider when purchasing. Sometimes things that you really, really want overshadow some of the problems the house has. Sometimes, those things can be changed with a little blood, sweat, and elbow grease. I think a kitchen is one of those things.
Creating the kitchen of my dreams has been such a rewarding experience, and there are a few things I've learned along the way.

There are some design elements that you need to consider before you start the process of designing a new kitchen.
Here is our "before"... it was really boring.

As you can see, we changed quite a few things with our kitchen. But I'll spell it out for you anyway because #middleschoolteacher

1. New appliances
2. New sink
3. Added a backsplash
4. Changed the electric plate covers
5. Painted the cabinets
6. Added cabinet hardware

I want to tell you guys 5 tips I learned along the way that can help you change your kitchen into your dream space.

5 Design Tips for Updating your Kitchen

1. Evaluate Your Space 

This is a super important step in the renovation process. Especially because most of us don't have an unlimited budget to work with to completely gut a kitchen. So it's time to make some tough decisions- what parts of the kitchen can you live with and work with? You want to start looking at what can stay and what needs to go for you to get a mix of dark and light. Or you may want to go the bright look and have everything be light. I personally wouldn't suggest a dark backsplash, with a dark cabinet color, and a dark counter. It will look dated.

 I didn't want to mess with the floors, and we weren't confident enough to change the counter top. I actually don't mind how it looks in there! I knew I wanted a bright kitchen, but I felt like stark white would be too much. This shade is a light and bright taupe called "Creamy Mushroom" by Behr.

2. Pick a Focal Piece

We started out with a backsplash that we loved, and ended up building the rest of the design around that. Our backsplash is Champagne Toast from Home Depot. It's sooo pretty, especially with the copper tiles. It ties into the light cabinets, and the darker countertop. I wrote a more in-depth blog post after we did the tiling HERE.

3. Don't Forget the Small Details

My husband noticed that our hinges luckily matched the backsplash, so we could keep them and match our hardware to them and save some money. However, not everyone will have that kind of luck, so they are something you might want to consider ahead of time.

Another small detail that we did change were the electric plate covers (is that the right word?) They were white- but there really isn't a reason to put up a gorgeous backsplash just to slap some white covers back over the top.

4. Keep the Same Color with the Hardware, but Mix up the Style for Interest

We chose 3 different types - a pull, a knob, and a handle, to use on all the different types of cabinetry we had. They are all the same color though, so it stays cohesive.

#5 Add a Fun and Interesting Pop that Makes the Space "Yours"

Mine is my chalk-paint red pantry door! That blog post about it can be read HERE

 You can see my red pantry door over in the corner, and even though it doesn't maybe "match" with the rest, it's so much fun. I feel like its far enough away to not completely clash. And I have some red decor on the other side of the room. :)

Bonus Tips

-Don't leave the grout on your backsplash too long! Ours stuck in the rock pieces of the tile and we had to work really hard to get it out.

-Research a bit on painting cabinets ahead of time. We didn't, and I'm terrified it's going to start chipping badly. Give yourself the peace of mind that I don't have! ;)

-Take your appliance colors into account. (Our white fridge looks totally out of place, but I want to use it until it stops working! What can I say, I can be a cheapskate)

-Get all the paint swatches! They're free and they can help you out when making decisions. Then grab samples of your top 2 or so.

On a related note- our bathroom redo can be seen HERE.
If you have any questions, I would be happy to help you out! Leave me a comment below with anything you want to know!