April 4, 2011

Kitchen mini-makeover

So eventually we plan to redo the kitchen… I just need to keep watering that money tree I planted in the backyard.  Seriously though, it’s not the ugliest kitchen in the world, but it does need a little help.  There is a LOT of green, and I hate the layout.  Corner cabinets with plastic lazy-susans instead of shelves are like a bad joke in kitchen-storage-land (this is a mythical place that I would like to live).

To make the kitchen livable for now, we changed the knobs.  Seriously, this simple thing made such a huge difference!  With our new furniture and counter accessories the whole room looks so much more updated and modern.  Now I just have to figure out something creative to tone down all that green!

Steps:
  1. Count how many knobs you need
  2. Purchase new knobs – make sure you shop around, knobs can be expensive, also pay attention to the size of the knob and the placement on your cabinets.  If you want to swap out knobs for handles you’ll have to drill an additional hole in your cabinets for the 2nd screw… also this adds a complication for the drawers since the knob holes are centered.
  3. Remove old knobs – you will need a screwdriver for this… I used a drill to make it faster, but inside the drawers can be a bit tight and you may have to do it the old-fashioned manual way.
  4. Install new knobs – same as step 3 only in reverse
  5. Voila!  Brand new kitchen!  Well... "newer" looking kitchen, I suppose.

Here is what my kitchen looked like before...
and after...
 Whew!  Still a mess!  Please don't judge me for my messy kitchen.  But don't the knobs look great!

 Here's a close up of the old knobs.

 And the new ones.
So pretty!  These knobs were discontinued so I got a great deal on them from HD online.  For about $100 I got all 35 knobs (plus 3 extra - I bought all remaining 38 knobs because you never know!) and installed them all in about 15 minutes.

I think this is a great and inexpensive way to update your kitchen or a bathroom vanity or even a dresser! 

I have some big plans to paint the kitchen and get rid of the painted border.  I'm dreading the number of coats of primer that I will need to use to cover it.  That dark green is so persistent!  Wish me luck.

Linking up!
beforeAndAfterButton
  
HookingupwithHoH

2 comments:

Valencia C. said...

I like those knobs... I like that comment about that money tree in the backyard. lol you had me cracked up laughing!! :)

Susan said...

I love new hardware, too. I'm thinking about getting some for our kitchen, too.

Pardon me if I missed something, as I'm brand new to your blog, but why did you want to get rid of the bench seating? It would look great painted...