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A Detailed House, appliques, Cabinet making, Craft, Do it yourself, Furniture, furniture feet, furniture legs, kitchen, kitchen cabinet upgrades, kitchen diy, kitchen fixes, kitchen renovation, paint, plaster, Stencil, stencils
There are things that can be done in the kitchen that are super easy and inexpensive (beyond the stale advice of a coat of paint) that have a serious impact.
Sometimes small, subtle details can be more powerful than large, and as simple as adding half round molding to the side of an island in a diamond shape:
I’ve shown the picture below before, but it bears repeating, as this is something we all could do.
An inexpensive, round table was transformed by skirting it with colorful fabric. Can’t sew? No problem – you can buy tape to hem the fabric with an iron. How to attach? I’m not sure how they did it, but when I’m in doubt, I use either my staple or glue gun 🙂 A square or rectangular table would be easier. You could even get fancy with ribbon or trim…
And take a look at the ceiling! W-O-W!!! Buy or cut out a few different stencils and go around the light fixture for a ceiling medallion! It looks ornate, but if you really look at it, the navy is just a diamond stencil done over and over…easy!
Tie a piece of string loosely around the stem of the light fixture and, with a piece of chalk at the end of the string, go around to form a perfect circle to follow. Craft stores have some amazing stencils, but you could also look online for some. Just think how pretty this could be in any room!
(Note: If you have never stenciled before, please practice first on paper! You don’t want to paint to leak under the stencil, so make sure you are applying the paint with a dry brush, dabbing straight down, not back and forth.)
And for a dimensional look, use plaster instead!
Here’s my personal DIY that I have not seen before, although I can’t be the first to come up with it. You can add furniture feet to your kitchen cabinetry, which come in just about an style you can think of:
I’ve touched on this before, but when cabinetry has details, looks like furniture or has legs/feet, it makes them look custom. Custom = expensive looking. Not only are the available pre-made, but cutting up other pieces of wood, like a newel post, would also work.
Look around and see if there is a spot where brackets could tastefully go:
And notice the bottom of the cabinets in the following pictures. All have furniture legs… via Attic Mag
Depending on your personal style, you can also add details to your cabinet faces or even range hoods. Face details can range from ornate to simple.
Because appliques can be made of different materials (and not always wood), please make sure to test and match your stain color on the appliques prior to adding them.
Need a back splash?
How about a tin tile back splash? A 2′ by 4′ sheet of tin tiles will run you $22 (about $45 for copper) and all you have to do is hammer in.
Or if you already have a tile backsplash and don’t like it, consider painting over it!
French door? Add a shiny brass or chrome curtain rod with a funky, inexpensive drape.
Here’s a tip for drapery: believe it or not, JcPenney!! And they have ready-made drapes that go up to 10′, which is next to impossible to find anywhere else. Be sure to wait for a sale, especially when using them in a kitchen!
You can add a mantle shelf, like we did. If you missed it, see my post: To the Kitchen.
Paint or distress current light fixture. One trick if you want a shiny, shiny silver or chrome? Use a “mirror” or “reflective” spray finish, like Krylon Looking Glass Mirror paint. This product is great for a myriad of projects and can turn the most mundane things into “silver”, especially glass, which it is actually meant for.
If you are a little handier (or have the “handy husband” tool) and have cabinet doors that look like this:
You can pretty easily add glass inserts. For instructions, see HGTV’s instructions here.
I thought about including concrete and resin countertops, which are very inexpensive, but then I thought that those really weren’t easy!
With the arrival of Spring, I have become antsy to start new projects around my house. If no one minds, I have two rooms in my house that I am thinking about redoing, so I may step away from kitchens (although I have more ideas) and show you some other things that I am working on and have completed…
I hope this post gave you all some ideas, inspiration and enjoyment 🙂
Some really great tips and tricks here. I quite like your idea of adding “feet” to cabinets and tables. It does give a more elegant and detailed appearance to the kitchen. As always, the kitchens featured are just to beautiful…
I have a photo of my dream kitchen on my fridge. Thank you for all the encouraging ideas! I hope one day my dream kitchen will become a reality!
Why can’t you use the pennies for a backsplash ( copper anyone?)
I loved that kitchen with the yellow cabinets. It was so sunny, fresh and I loved that this was a more rustic feeling kitchen… something similar would be nicely suited to my circa 1890 farmhouse. (I am wanting to paint my walls a soft yellow faux finish… good point to the paint idea though… why paint 1 single color when you could add “texture” to the walls for a particular effect)… but do the cabinets (with very “country” beadboard type doors) in a green stain… and above all replace the flooring with some vinyl flooring that looks like hardwood (my poor old house is too wonky for tile or laminate without some major $$ spend on leveling the floors) in the kitchen where my son accidently set the kitchen on fire and scorched the floor 2 years ago the day before Thanksgiving. (It was scary… I get the willies thinking about it, another 3 minutes and the whole kitchen might have gone up, not just a plastic garbage can and the towel he’d been swinging around and accidently caught on the pilot light for the stove. He was 4 years old and I’d gotten him down to nap and he was definitely asleep… ran outside (about 30 yards or so) to the chicken coop to give them the insides of the pumpkin from the pies we’d baked and quickly check the nests for eggs, so I’d have some for the pecan pie… gone less than 5 minutes and come back to a kitchen on fire!) Anyway, I’ve considered white cabinets over the years and just can’t see that working on a farm with 2 little boys, a messy husband and a soon-to-be toddling daughter (I expect I’ve got about 6 months or so before that happens).
The kitchen with the yellow cabinets is marvelous! Thanks for the stencil on the ceiling idea. I have just the spot in my kitchen where I could do that!
Ashley
So well done Kearney. Great ideas and such incredible kitchen photos.
Very nice Kearney I love all the feet and the appliques we use them a lot when desinging furniture pieces.
Having almost finished doing my kitchen over myself, your post hit home. I love your idea about adding “feet” to the bottom of the cabinets and a mantle for above the stove. Hmmm – my kitchen may never be done! Very good post by the way – well planned!
Wow what an amazing post! I haven’t begun nesting in a house where it’s possible to use some of these tricks, but what great ideas! I would never have thought of the ‘footing’ on the cabinets. I actually never even noticed it before, but you’re completely right.. it really changes the look of the kitchen. Thanks!
Great post. I love the way you simplify things for easy understanding.
Would lvoe to see your work in other rooms – go for it!
wowsa! This is an awesome post. Bookmarking to come back to later. I am going to use this as a guide as I renovate my kitchen! 🙂
Great post! We’re not up to the kitchen stage of our remodel yet, but I’m definitely going to check this post out again when we’re ready!
JCPenney really is the only place for wall coverings and drapery rods, you are right. And I’m dying to stencil the ceiling in my kitchen since seeing that one photo in an earlier post of yours.
I actually had a stripey fabric skirt around a rectangular IKEA kitchen utility table for awhile. I’d suggest something less permanent to adhere the fabric to the table, such as perhaps velcro, so you can wash it. It gets dirty!
Thank you for the great ideas. Jay
You manage to find the loveliest pictures of kitchens! Mostly on the internet, or do you order catalogs, too? Great ideas for a few easy DIY. I think if you have a creative side, much of this can be replicated on a less grand scale, for a sliver of the price.
Your posts are so lovely — you can tell much thought and preparation went into making them. 🙂
Blessings,
Cara
Hello, I’ve nominated you for an award as I am enjoying your post such a lot, just wish we hadn’t finished all our house updates and are now focussing on the garden! Check it out here
http://mybeautfulthings.wordpress.com/versatile-blogger-award/
Thank you so much!! I am very, very honored that you deem me worthy!! And congratulations to you!!
We are approaching the start of our kitchen reno. It’s going to be very “budget friendly” can’t wait to share it with you. I’ll be blogging about it the whole way through!!
Joellen, I’m super excited to see the transformation!! I’m sure it will be gorgeous!!
All the kitchens in this post are beautiful, but my favorite ones are the white ones 🙂
I adore the top kitchen. It is my dream!
Nice one! I especially like the appliques for the cabinets – definitely something I’d love to have in my home, when I eventually..erm..have my own home. XD
These kitchens are beautiful, but…I don’t understand why there is such a trend towards white and light colours? I would be so paranoid cooking in such a kitchen. I like warm woods, or painted cabinets. Mind you, recently I have seen a beautiful dark walnut that I really liked. They all look so pretty in magazines, I find it hard deciding on what I actually see myself in.
I love your blog and all the images…. I have a small awkward shape of a kitchen thing… Anyhoo, trying to get some ideas to liven up the houes. How awesome to get to your blog.
Love your blogs, I too love old houses, architectual details, HGT and DIY networks, I look forward to reading more!
Thanks for the encouragement to get in there and get some kitchen projects going! Thanks!
I picked up some great ideas from this!!
Love all your ideas… as usual !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These designs are unbelievable! I am in love with the chairs in the first pic.
I’ve absolutely fallen IN LOVE with your blog! It’s easy to follow and the great ideas flow nicely!
Very nice and thank you for the tips!
Hi! I love the second kitchen over here, with the clean white base and colourful round tiled pattern in the centre of the ceiling, with the round table underneath!! Ah one day, when I start earning enough for my own place….
gorgeous kitchen ideas! thanks for sharing!
Lovely post! I can’t wait to use some of these tips when I move out of the city and into a house with a big kitchen!
I am totally in love with the featured kitchens in your post! The kitchen with the yellow cabinets is my favorite. (:
VERY nice blog – thoughtful and chock-full of great stuff. You have a great eye, lady. Congratulations.
What a host of excellent tips and advice. Your post has so much information and excellent images, its great to see such a well thought out piece.
Thanks for liking our post. Had to jump over and see what your blog is all about and I’m loving your easy tips that actually don’t cost that much money. So many simple, cost-effective tips are only cost-effective in comparison to top end products. Looking forward to seeing more from you!
I wish my house were big enough for all the fabulous design ideas you keep posting. Thank you, too, for visiting my blog constantly. Your “likes” always bring a smile to my face, that’s why I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award. Check out my blog for award rules. Looking forward to your next post 🙂
Thank you SO much!! I am so touched that I can have that effect on you!! Congratulations to you for your Liebster Award! You earned it 🙂
Love your website and blogs! What great ideas you have!
I’ll check back here often.
Love the kitchen with the stencil on the ceiling! ^_^
I like re-doing furniture etc to my own taste. When I moved out of my parents house they gave me their old living room table + chairs. I sanded it completely (it was black), stained it a warm teak colour (the black paint in the veins still shows through and gives it a nice old look) with a star-shaped stencil in the centre. I also redid the wicker of the seats by making cushioned seats for the chairs.
… then my parents asked me if maybe they could have it back and they would buy me a new table instead 😉
I liked the lighting fixtures in the first and fifth photo. While I can’t see them in detail they were certainly what caught my eye. =)
So many great ideas here! I love your eye! I’m a new fan!!
-Beth at the Woods Hole Inn
http://www.woodsholeinn.com
I love that not all of these are huge show-place kitchens, but are just small spaces that are pretty because someone has taken the time to care about the details.
I love the ideas here! I look forward to the day when we can own our own home, and when I’ll have a chance to put some into practice myself!
I love your site! Your sense of design and passion for detail really shine through!
Oh, my, first of all: thanks for visiting my blog and I’m glad you liked it. Especially now that I have visited yours, which is just gorgeous! I have used a few of your tricky suggestions before, but I want ALL of those kitchens in your post.
You demonstrate something that people don’t always realize: just because you want/need to be thrifty does not mean that the result cannot be breathtaking!
Awesome and affordable! Gotta say I expected very high end and you pleasantly surprised.
Thank you!!!
Can you tell me what color paint or finish is on the cabinets at the top of this page – they appear to be dark gray.
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