6 Ways to Fake a Custom Kitchen—Without a Complete Reno

Taking the time to refinish your cabinets with a fresh color will make a dramatic difference in your kitchen—and you may not even need to refinish all of them. Choosing a dark color on the bottom and keeping the upper cabinets a neutral will lend airiness to the entire kitchen. Dark colors tend to hide imperfections and spills a little better over time, while grays and whites help to brighten up a darker kitchen.

Use this guide to determine whether it's worth it to refinish or replace your kitchen cabinets entirely. Then, find some paint color inspiration here.

Installing a new sink in your kitchen can have a dual effect: it provides a fresh design focal point for the room and even makes things like cleanup and meal prep easier. Consider lifestyle factors, such as how often you wash dishes, to determine what size sink basin to get. For the faucet, don't just consider aesthetics, but also functionality, like touchless operation or a pull-out sprayer. 

Even if we think about changing and adding light fixtures to other rooms around the house, we often forget about the kitchen. But that ugly, builder-grade fluorescent overhead light has to go. Replace it and then add pendant lighting over the sink, or sconces over open shelving or other pretty architectural details you want to highlight. Choose bulbs that offer better visibility, so you can see what you're chopping, but avoid the harsh light of a cold blue light bulb. A brighter white usually works best.