Keep any kitchen looking fresh with some simple maintenance/cleaning habits and a few asthetic changes. Create an inviting, functional and beautiful kitchen with some love and a few minimal adjustments.
We all have to use your kitchens every day. I especiallyspend plenty of time in our kitchen with being a stay-at-home mom, homeschool mom and someone who cooks three from scratch meals a day in this space. Wear and tear is a common accurance when a kitchen space is well loved. So how can we keep our kitchens looking fresh when so much occurs in these spaces?
Here are some maintenance or simple kitchen housekeeping tips and a few minor asthetic changes that we recently did to create an updated look in our older eat-in kitchen.
Maintenance
- Clean
- Keep clutter to a minimum on countertops and other surfaces
- Declutter often
Aesthetic updates
- Paint
- Updated hardware
- Enhance the space with curtains
- Change or add rugs or mats
- Add or change out lighting
- Bring in pieces that you love and bring life to the space
Maintenance or Kitchen Housekeeping
I’m going to call this section “maintenace” because it really is the upkeep of the kitchen that can help create a fresher and more inviting space.
CLEAN
Keeping the kitchen clean is essential to maintaining a nice looking space. Make sure to regularly wipe and wash the fronts of all the cabinets. For me with white cabinets, this happens once a week. The appliances should be scrubbed or wiped free of grime and spots routinely. These are just a couple ways to help the kitchen stay clean, but you can find a more extensive weekly cleaning routine here.
KEEP CLUTTER TO A MINIMUM
Keeping the surfaces free from clutter will help a kitchen look more fresh. The counter or table can be an easy surface to put all our stuff that comes into the house, but finding a “home” for those items instead is best. The table is meant for eating and gathering around as a family and the counters need to be free of too much clutter for the purpose of food prep and cooking.
DECLUTTER
Decluttering can fit well into the last category of keeping clutter from surfaces in the kitchen. It can also go farther than that, however, in more areas that just the surface. Making sure to regulary go through the cabinets and purge things and food that are not longer needed or expired keeps the kitchen fresh. We do not want to accumulate so many kitchen gadgets, dishes or extras that we can’t fit what we actually use in the given space.
Aesthetics
Here is where I like to have a little more fun than just the basics of kitchen upkeep. The aesthetics of the kitchen do tend to matter to most of us. I, for one, would not enjoy spending a majority of my day in a dark and dreary kitchen with grimy and dingy cabinets, outdated lighting and no life. When a space, including the kitchen, has beauty and function, then I think our outcome in the work we do improves.
PAINT
Painting cabinets or walls really makes a kitchen feel fresh. In our kitchen I recently painted all the cabinets a warmer white, Benjamin Moore White Dove. We had an off the shelf white that was nice, but I wanted something different. Painting can also hide all the chips and imperfections that tend to come with use.
HARDWARE
Updating the hardware in the kitchen make a statement. We had old silver hinges from twenty plus years ago and brushed nickel handles. The handles had been updated about eight years ago, but they had gotten warn and I needed a new look. A huge bonus at the time, was that the handles had been found at a garage sale at an amazing price of $10 for 40 handles! None the less, change felt needed. The brushed gold colored handles and the bronze hinges were both found on Amazon. The bronze and brushed gold color really warms the entire kitchen up.
It was not done near as affordably as I would have liked, but you can watch the dilemma we ran into on my Youtube video to find out more.
LIGHTING
Lights in a kitchen can create a better environment or be detremental. We were lacking in soft light for the times when I did not want our brighter overhead light on, which I do really find lovely. Adding some beautiful battery operated sconces to the sides of our cabinets was just the right vintage touch. They not only add warm light, but look lovely as well.
The other Aesthetic additions
The rest of the kitchen aesthetics that I want to touch on will all fit nicely into one category. Adding or changing out curtains and rugs can create a whole new look. My intention is to find a new rug for in front of the sink, but I just haven’t found the right one. The current colors and patterns in the rug are lovely, however, an update is due.
Cafe curtains always are a lovely addition to any kitchen window. Mine are actually kitchen towels that had some ruffle accents on the end. The curtains are not only cozy for my space, but they were on clearance at the store I found them in!
Adding beauty to a kitchen is one of the easiest ways to add a nice aesthetic. Do not just leave beautiful decor for the living room or bedroom. We can add these items to the kitchen as well. Find a piece of artwork that makes you smile and hang it on a wall, bring in fresh flowers and brighten up the table or find a candle that you enjoy and light it while making supper. These may seem frivolous, but if they create an atmosphere that you enjoy being in and sharing, then let’s do it!
Hopefully this will give you some encouragement to love your kitchen and care for it wherever you live. Take time to maintain as well as improve and add beauty.
With Love,
Davee
Leave a Reply