If you would like to update your beloved country kitchen, there are many things you can do without breaking the bank. The following ideas may help to dress-up your kitchen and give it a bit of a facelift—without making major changes, like flooring, new appliances or even new cabinets.
Starting with a clean foundation, making repairs is key to any satisfactory job. If your cabinets are in good condition, but you are tired of the same old look, consider painting or re-painting them; or how about painting only the uppers or just the lower cabinets? This painting style lends itself to a country kitchen like no other design element.
Adding some hardware or changing existing hardware could be the most expensive thing you do, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of attractive, inexpensive knobs and pulls. You might think of mixing and matching different styles or go with old-fashioned glass.
Changing the backsplash is a little more involved, depending on what you have behind the counters now. A simple painted backsplash is the easiest to enhance. You can use old tiles or new tiles. Bead board is a tried and true country fixture. There are flexible, plastic-like “tin tiles”-- available at home centers-- that can be cut easily to fit, and trimmed out with wood molding to match your cabinets, painted or natural. You might think about sheet metal in the tradition of old diners; use a diamond pattern for a country look as well.
Depending on the style of your cabinets, if you have paneled door fronts, you can remove the panel and insert custom cut glass panels. Your local window or glass store will have a variety of glass to choose from including, sanded, seeded, and ribbed to name only three. All would make a great statement in a country kitchen. I would recommend using this idea on upper cabinets only, for safety reasons.
If your cabinets are in poor condition, think about removing one or two doors, leaving the cavity open and add baskets or bins in a material fitting your style; the baskets and bins can be used to store root vegetables or anything suitable for an open container.
How about removing some upper cabinets all together? If you feel your walls are too bare, add bead board on the wall from counter to ceiling, then get some attractive iron brackets or rustic corbels and add some open shelving. Use the space to store your everyday dinnerware, for easy access or store serving bowls and platters up high where they are easily viewed but out of the way for every day. If your dinnerware is colorful, displaying it is a great way to add color to your kitchen. If it is white, try adding a dash of color to the backsplash.
Yet another easy fix to an updated look is changing out the light fixture. There are so many clever ways to make a country statement. Take a colorful colander and turn it upside down; or buy a pendant kit-- available from the home center-- and create a fun and colorful fixture over your sink. Let your imagination go a little wild here. Select an outside lantern or fixture normally used outside a barn; dust it off and install it, and you have an instant country look.