Food preparation is one of the most popular daily activities across America. Whether you cook as a necessity or as a treasured hobby, you’re likely to spend about 53 minutes on average in the kitchen each day.
Keeping that space comfortable should be a priority, and a good apartment kitchen remodel can help you feel excited about food prep and trying new recipes. Read on to learn how to remodel a kitchen by changing color, lighting, furniture, space, and more.
1. Maximize Vertical Space: Utilizing the Space Above Cabinets
Many people organize their belongings horizontally. They fill up their room with countertops, tables, and eye-level cabinets. This is a great start to interior design, but using the vertical space closer to the ceiling can help you save space and remain organized.
Vertical space means more storage and less clutter. It also means that your room will seem larger, which is critical in an apartment kitchen.
Using the space above cabinets is the best way to fill up vertical space. Hang pots and pans that you use less frequently on the walls above your cabinetry. Store things like mugs, coffee beans, and extra cereal boxes neatly on top of cabinets.
You can also add trinket-related accents to these areas. Rest a potted plant on top of a cabinet to add some life to your nice kitchen. Display china sets and pretty teacups to give the room an air of sophistication.
2. Open Concept Cabinets
“Open concept cabinets” are those without any doors. You remove the doors to give your room a light and airy feel.
Put your most beautiful and often-used dishes and tableware in open-concept cabinets. You can also include cookware like pots and pans assuming that everything is clean and organized. Put decorative items like plants, gorgeous serving bowls, and antique salt-and-pepper shakers in unused white space.
It’s best to only take select cabinet doors away. Having some open-concept cabinets interspersed with closed ones adds texture, complexity, and visual appeal to your space. You can also store less attractive utensils, dishware, and appliances in a closed cabinet to elevate how sophisticated your kitchen looks.
3. Cozy Kitchen Rugs
Vinyl plank flooring is a beautiful way to transform your space. Whether you choose wood-look vinyl, bright colors, or neutral checkerboard patterns, you can create a basis for your preferred design scheme.
If you use a warm hue (or neutral color with warm undertones) on your floor, using a cozy area rug can make it feel even more welcoming. Consider getting a rug in rich red and gold patterns to go with your warm decor. However, you can provide a great contrast with a blue or green area rug.
Cooler kitchens look great with both warm and cool colors as well. Consider getting a rug that matches the accents and decorations throughout your kitchen. This will create a holistic vibe and tie the whole space together.
4. Transform Countertops
Your countertops are one of the most important parts of your kitchen functionally. They’re where you chop and prepare food. They’re the surface you set hot pans down on.
This means that they need to be durable. VIATERA quartz patterns are resistant to dents, chips, and heat.
They’re also extremely beautiful. There is a wide range of countertop patterns including classic marble-look Carrara Trinita and Aria. Thicker-veined Calacatta options add some extra color to your space while black Carbo Brushed or Nocturne countertops are bold and striking.
You can even go with unique Royal Teak for a speckled appearance if that fits best in your space! Look into your options, consider what goes best with the rest of your kitchen decor, and roll with that.
5. Revamp Backsplash Design
Backsplashes can serve as the focal point of your kitchen when strategically placed. Larger backsplashes made from quartz or TERACANTO porcelain are beautiful, long-lasting, and come in diverse colors.
Adagio Gold and Tenor quartz are great backsplash ideas because of their striking high-contrast veining. If you want the natural aesthetic of porcelain and marble in their purest forms, Asgard’s unique brown/white/black/gray/blue veining patterns are beautifully complex. Calacatta Gold 2CM white marble also has pops of warm color against a white and gray backdrop.
Consider matching your backsplashes with your countertops to draw the room together. You can purchase the exact same style or material.
Or, if you prefer, create a bold contrast by using white countertops with black veining and black backsplashes with white veining. The opposite also works – the point is more complex matching looks.
6. Organize with Drawer Liners
Drawer liners are protective mats that you use as lining inside of kitchen drawers. They come in tons of materials with vinyl and rubber being the most common. Liners aim to shield your tools from damage if they bump around in the drawer and prevent them from sliding.
Liners are also a top-notch organizational tool. Limiting sliding when you open and close the drawer keeps everything in its appropriate place in addition to protecting it. You can make the most of drawer space this way and keep things off your countertops.
Liners also can help you pad the drawer if you have an organizer that doesn’t fit perfectly inside. This means you’ll be able to use any divider, container, or organizational tool you like.
7. Expand Workspace
Getting organized is one of the best ways to get more workplace in a small kitchen. However, you can also get more room to cook with extra handing cabinets and shelves on blank walls and cabinets. You can store items that would otherwise cover the countertop here.
Kitchen appliances can also hang on walls. This includes things like toasters and microwaves since you can put them on heavy-duty floating shelves. Even if you don’t like this idea, wall hooks can hold pots, pans, and other cookware.
Extendable countertops are also a good investment during a kitchen upgrade. Put a sliding slab of quartz or natural stone that matches your main countertop underneath its surface. Allow it to slide out from this position so you can use it while cooking before putting it back underneath the main surface again.
This is a great tiered countertop idea that you can easily make use of!
Vertical drying racks or those mounted above the sink can also give you a little extra space. You can also get a massive cutting board that fits over your sink. This gives you a place to chop veggies beyond the main countertop surface, which you can use for other meal prep needs.
8. Natural Décor Elements
To bring a natural feel to your new kitchen, consider including plant and floral accents. Putting vines and leafy green plants on top of tall cabinets fills the space above your head. It adds some texture while eliminating white space.
Small flowerpots and tiny hanging planters can add some color to your space. Consider matching their hues with your cozy area rugs for an even look. Get nature-themed china and dishware with flowers and plants that go with these accents.
Natural lighting is another way to make your kitchen feel airier. These apartment upgrades let more sunlight into the room to reduce stress, boost mood, and give you the Vitamin D needed to stave off depression and sadness. Plus, adding big windows to your space can save money on electric bills since you’ll use more natural light than artificial alternatives.
9. Enhance Lighting in Your Apartment Kitchen Remodel
Natural lighting with large windows and skylights are important apartment upgrades.
However, if you can’t redesign the entire building because you’re renting or need to comply with HOA requirements, you can still make your lighting more natural. Sheer curtains let more light in, and you can pull them back during the daytime to feel more at one with the outdoors.
You’ll also need some artificial lighting to use at nighttime or on rainy days. If you have a contemporary new kitchen, metal and glass light fixtures are a great way to make your space feel more modern. Bright lighting also looks great in modern spaces and illuminates all areas.
10. Revitalize Window Treatments
Window treatments also let you have more natural light. They give you more control with room-darkening shades, adjustable tints, cellular shades, and roller blinds.
You’ll also want to clean your windows once a week to keep them clear and sparkling. You’ll be able to better see the outdoors, and less dirt and grime throughout your kitchen makes it appear cleaner. Since de-cluttered and clean spaces feel bigger, this will make your nice kitchen feel even bigger.
Contact Us
If you want expert instructions and advice for remodeling your old apartment kitchen, LX Hausys is here to help. Our team is committed to offering apartment kitchen remodel tips and tricks and showing you the best products available to enhance your space.
Whether you’re looking for new countertops or cabinetry, we have a high-quality option that will fit your design scheme perfectly. Contact us to learn more about how you can create the kitchen space of your dreams regardless of its size.