My $0 Kitchen Makeover

make my kitchen cute again

After a long cold winter, I no longer felt inspired in my kitchen. Things had begun to accumulate on the counters, with no obvious home to return to. One of the floating shelves had begun to buckle under the weight of all my cookbooks. Christmas candles, half burned, sat sadly in the corner. My beautiful Ankarsrum mixer, too large to fit in any kitchen cabinet, started to take up room in my brain.

I took some pictures to signify that this was “before.” This is alllllllllll gonna change, I started saying all the time, gesticulating wildly. I sbegan furiously burning fossil fuels by mocking up the kitchen with different tiles I can neither afford to purchase nor install.

I decided to think smaller, and gave myself a budget of zero American dollars to make my kitchen nice. It now looks much nicer, performs better, and is, generally, a better place for me to live. Here’s how I did it.

I started by moving everything that didn’t get used every single day off the counter, and somewhere else. In this case it was our storage room (which very much needs its own makeover….) where the ice cream machine, mixer, and blender will wait until it’s their time to be used again.

I also removed the Christmas colored candles from the holder and moved some half-finished projects (ceramic liquid soap dispenser with too-small top hole, various mini LEDs that were smaller than expected) to more appropriate waiting areas.

Next I reimagined a very underutilized space in the kitchen- the cabinet above the fridge. We

Now that everything unnecessary was out, I needed to put everything in a place that actually made sense.

I relocated my bread box and kettle to the opposite side of the counter peninsula, since they are not exactly everyday (more like every other day) items, but still beautiful and in-use enough to warrant dedicated counter space.

I also took off the doors to the cabinet above the fridge, which had been very underutilized and really just stored some random first aid stuff. I put all my cookbooks there, since they had been a little too (visually and literally) heavy on the floating shelf.

Part of what was driving me crazy about the kitchen situation was that everything felt a little loosey-goosey. Oils and salts were strewn about, and tools were thrown into a dark pit of a drawer, guaranteeing a “where did u put the measuring cups?????” later. It had to end.

First I repurposed an enamel tray I had been using for oil paints as the corral for our everyday olive oils, salts, peppers, and spoon rests. They now have a cozy home together, and a dedicated space to return to after every dinner.

Then I stole this wall organizer that Liam had not been using as much as he thought he would, so I can hang often-used tools and pretty things that shouldn’t hide away in a drawer.

Most organizing advice you see involves putting things away and out of sight, so I was surprised that I ended up taking a lot more out into the light during this process. Yes it’s a bit busier, but certainly warmer and better laid out.

One piece that really set this whole thing in motion was this cute lamp I got at an auction years ago, which had a very cute wooden base and a very boring beige lampshade. I highly recommend having a cute little lamp in the kitchen, for times when your overhead lights are too much. Picture making a cup of tea by lamplight on a dark rainy day!!!

But the lampshade was on borrowed time. First I tried making an organic-looking paper lampshade, which uhhhhhhhhhh didn’t go well. So I sewed a ruffly new one with some Liberty fabric I made a quilt with last year and some vintage ribbon I got at an antique store. Yes I probably should not have skipped measuring my fabric, and as a result my lamp kind of has a bob. But she’s cute enough for now.

The last step was to go prop stylist mode on the floating shelves. I grabbed every cute item in the house that had been looking for a home, and put it on the shelf. After some finessing, I think it looks pretty good.

Make Over Your Kitchen!!!

Enamel tray for keeping your salts and oils tidy

Colorful chopsticks to whisk your eggs with

Counter-worthy toaster

Beautiful butter dish for the good butter

Volcanic rock style vase for summer flowers

Cool minimalist tray for clementines and apples

Brass kitchen rack for your pots and pans

Silver canister for coffee beans or cookies