In most modern homes, the kitchen at least partially opens up to other rooms in the house. You can usually see at least some of the kitchen from the living room. So, that means that we don’t get to ignore adding color into our kitchens.
Contrary to the current state of my home, the kitchen is one of the simplest rooms to usher in a good amount of color. Even without changing the color of your walls, cabinets, counters or flooring, your kitchen can have some personality without breaking the bank (or drawing the ire of your landlord).
If you feel like your cabinets could use a colorful pick-me-up, consider removing the current knobs and pulls and replacing them with a more exiting version. Keep the old hardware so that you can put it back onto the cabinets when your lease expires. I love the knobs found at Anthropologie, like the Racing Stripes Knob shown below, but their hardware is insanely expensive. I recommend looking at Hobby Lobby or Ebay, as you can often find the exact same hardware for a fraction of the Anthro cost.
If you are feeling a little more daring with your cabinetry, try removing the doors completely and backing the cabinets with a colorful fabric of your choice. Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl has a great tutorial to add a foam core and fabric backing – nothing is glued or nailed to the cabinets, so you can simply remove the backing and replace the doors when you are ready. Genius idea!
It also helps to have your functional pieces boldly colored if possible. For example, we were given a set of Crate and Barrel nesting mixing bowls as a wedding gift. I absolutely love them. Throughout the years, Crate and Barrel has had different versions of the bowls, and this year, they are available in a set featuring blues, greens and yellows.
You don’t have to spend much for functional kitchen accessories, either. Target has a great collection of bowls and serving pieces in bold colors right now. Aren’t the cow creamers and egg crates just darling?
Dish towels, aprons, dinner plates, coffee mugs…there are really unlimited possibilities for adding color in a kitchen. What are some ways that you like to add color into your kitchen?
I’m doing the “Pretty Handy Girl” thing. I have two cabinets that would pop with the extra color and the things inside would look glorious! I have been looking for wrapping paper or fabric to cover the foam core or cardboard. The fabric I really wanted was too expensive, but the other day, I found rolls and rolls of wrapping paper and contact paper at Dollar Tree that are PERFECT!! So, for $7 bucks, and some foam core (or hopefully, free cardboard), I will have a beautiful statement piece in my bedroom and living room!!
Perfect! I love the Dollar Tree!
My kitchen is red and yellow, with terracotta walls. I have a big basket of apples on top of the cabinets, along with my teapot collection. (Love having them where I can see and use them.)My mixing bowls, cookie sheets, canisters, and anything else I can get are red (post-Christmas and -Valentine’s Day sales are great for this). I also love brightly-colored kitchen towels.
There is *no* way I’m taking the doors off my cabinets and showing off my mismatched everyday dishes, but I’m now looking at my china cabinet and thinking that a foamboard-and-fabric or foamboard-and-wrapping paper) backing might brighten things up a bit. It’s dark wood, and a bright red background might be just the thing to help the glassware show up a bit better.
LOL I feel the same way about my cabinets. With all the kid-friendly plastic stuff, it’s not very pretty! It is a great idea for the back of your china cabinet.
Also, that’s a great tip on getting red bakeware post holidays. You’re a smart cookie!
Colored dishes are always such a neat way to add color to your kitchen! I need to look into some colors that would fit our color scheme in our kitchen that we have now.
Yes! We have boring, boring, boring white dishes. Every time I go into Anthro and see their lovelies, I consider “accidentally” breaking my white ones so I have a good excuse for new ones.
Eep! I must make a run to Target! Those cow creamers are too cute! This color series you have worked on has such helpful tips. Thanks so much for putting this all together! Cheers!
Thanks, Donna! Those cow creamers are darling. I keep wanting to buy one, and then I remember that I never use cream. It would be cute on the counter regardless. 🙂
This is a great post — my husband and I are currently renting and always looking for little ways that we can change the look of our space without doing anything permanent. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Great! 😀
Wow great tips, might have to try these and I totally bought the gray cow creamer.
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