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 🙂