8 Quick Tips to Bring Your Shabby Kitchen Up a Notch

If you’re not feeling inspired to get creative in the kitchen, (or cook at all for that matter), it could be because the space is messy or cluttered. For those of you who are feeling beat when it comes to your lackluster kitchen, we’ve got the best tips to turning your kitchen from drab to fab:

1. Paint it

A coat of paint will do wonders for your kitchen. You probably didn’t realise how dirty it was, but now that you’re looking at it more closely, you can still see splats from a meal you don’t remember making. If you’re renting or strapped for cash, just take a small amount of time to give the walls a bit of a scrub.

2. Part with your old appliances

Do you ever even use that milkshake maker or that ice-cream churner anymore? Be honest with yourself about the appliances you actually use, and get rid of the ones you don’t. You can use all the new cupboard space to put your toaster when you’re not using it to make even more bench space.

3. Declutter your cupboard

Does one of your spice jars fall out of the cupboard every time you open it? Do you even know what’s at the back of your cupboard? Invest a small amount of money on some new spice jars or ingredient containers, and you’ll notice a huge difference in the amount of space in there.

4. Buy an over-the-sink chopping board

If you’re prepping your vegetables on your dining table, you’re probably looking for ways to expand your bench space. Create bench space out of nothing over your sink with one of these chopping boards, or just buy one big enough that it doesn’t slip off.

5. Clear your fridge, inside and out

Those photos, fridge magnets and ‘funny’ sayings have been on your fridge for so long you don’t even notice them anymore. If you clean it all off, you’ll be surprised at just how much more spacious your kitchen feels.

6. Decorate strategically

There is already so much that needs to be on your kitchen bench, so don’t waste space with stuff that doesn’t. You never put flowers in that vase in the corner, and there are better places to store your watering can. If there’s a plant in your kitchen, swap it for small herb plants, and line them up on your kitchen shelf if you’re feeling extra fancy.

7. Store cookbooks elsewhere

Put away the cookbooks that you don’t use often, and with the ones you do use, make a shelf for them nearby, stick them on the wall, put them under your bed – whatever it is, just get them off the counter.

8. Clean out the string tin

If you don’t know what we mean by ‘string tin’ – it’s ‘that’ messy draw in the kitchen where you put everything. Like, everything. Spoons, spatulas, whisks and can openers? All fine. A hundred rubber bands, paint brushes, broken pencils, keyrings from your last holiday destination? Denied.