Affordable Kitchen Upgrades

Last year, as part of our first floor renovations, we pretty much gutted our kitchen and started from scratch. Because this was only a small part of the renovations on our home, affordable kitchen upgrades were pretty much a necessity!

I gave you a sneak peek of the kitchen when I shared our mudroom renovation, but I’ve never really given you a full reveal. Mostly because there’s one project left for us to do, and I really think it will change the way the whole room looks! I’ll get to that in a minute, but when Lowe’s asked if they could sponsor a post where I share affordable kitchen upgrades, I knew it was the perfect chance to show all of you our new kitchen for the first time!

For now, this is what the kitchen looked like when we moved in:

And after practically living at Lowe’s and knowing the associates by name, this is what the same space looks like today!

The other side of the room used to have an entrance into the old dining room and the garage door.

Now that same dining room entrance is our new pantry (be sure to check out our Dining Room Renovation post for details on what we did with the rest of this room) and floating shelves.

Now, obviously, our renovation was pretty extensive. I’ll get into all the details in a later post, but today I want to share some affordable kitchen upgrades that we made that you can too!

After having spent so much time at Lowe’s this past year, and being as frugal as I am, I can safely say that there are ways to change the whole look of your kitchen without having to spend a ton of money!

Add Color

The easiest way to add color is with paint! Obviously the first thing you think is to paint your walls (which I’m all for, by the way), but it’s okay to think outside the box too. I’m a huge fan of islands being a different color than the cabinets. In case you couldn’t tell by my blue island!

Install a Backsplash

Backsplashes are a great investment because not only do they add a great visual contrast to the room, they also serve to protect your walls.

Lighting

Your lighting can either fade into the background and go unnoticed or make a dramatic statement! Gorgeous, design-pleasing lighting is incredibly affordable, so why not switch out the builder grade light fixtures with something that will bring you a smile every day?

Storage

Normally when you think of storage, you think of something hidden away behind a pantry or linen closet door. Which, trust me, I’m all for in some instances (I’m looking at you, ugly granola bar wrappers!). But storage can also be gorgeous and worthy of display. I’m thinking gorgeous wine racks and my DIY produce stand for a start!

Cabinet Hardware

One of the easiest things to do to change the entire look of your kitchen immediately, is to swap out the cabinet hardware! We’ve done it in all 3 houses we’ve lived in, and I’ve always kicked myself for not doing it sooner. There’s such a wide array of styles and finishes that can completely make your kitchen!

Those are just a few of the things that are universal to nearly any house if you’re looking for affordable kitchen upgrades! If you aren’t sure where to start, you local Lowe’s has project specialists who can help walk you through any item on your to-do list!

Which brings me to the one project we have left on our to-do list in order for me to call our kitchen complete… a butcher block countertop for our island! It also really isn’t expensive, so I’m not sure why we haven’t gotten to it yet! I’m hoping to get a nice, rich butcherblock top that will extend towards the pantry, so I can slice stools underneath. VERY similar to the last picture I shared with the yellow stools! I think the wood will really bring some warmth into the white kitchen!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Lowe’s.

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