While I’m not totally in love with the style of this kitchen, it shows off some really easy and affordable DIY upgrades that I just had to share with you.

Can you believe that it started out looking like this builder’s basic kitchen?

The best part is that this totally new look was achieved without tackling one of the most time-consuming DIY upgrades you can do to a kitchen – painting the cabinets.  Here’s what they did:

1.  Add color.  Before, the kitchen was incredibly bland with white walls and light-colored cabinetry.  By painting the walls red and adding a splash of color on the island {more about that later}, the kitchen is instantly energetic and spicy instead of blah and boring.

2.  Create open shelving.  Obviously, kitchens have lots of cabinets.  It’s always a great idea to break up the monotony of all those cabinet fronts by adding open shelving or floating shelves.  In this kitchen, the doors were removed from one of the upper cabinets, and two shelves were added to the cabinet that was already open – the open shelving on both sides of the kitchen window creates balance and symmetry.  The pop of red on the painted backs of the cabinets keeps the look cohesive and makes the white dishware pop.

3.  Add an island. If you have the space in your kitchen, an island is always a win-win upgrade – who couldn’t use more countertop space and storage?  The best part is that this upgrade doesn’t have to be expensive at all.  In this kitchen, two ready-made, unfinished dressers or base cabinets {like this, this or this} were screwed together back to back, giving the homeowners storage on both sides of the island.  {You could make the dressers look even more seamless by attaching a single sheet of hardboard, beadboard or thin plywood across both of the exposed sides of the dressers.}  The island is finished off with a stained hollow core door as the countertop, kind of like in this project – and the extra overhang leaves room for a bar stool.

4.  Upgrade the backsplash.  In this kitchen, the backsplash was originally bare, white drywall – as a cheaper alternative to tile, the backsplash was painted with graphic stripes in alternating colors and widths.  A stencil in one of today’s trendy patterns like chevron, moorish tile or trellis would be a really fun way to play with the trend without committing to it.

5.  Add pattern and interest with fabric. By slipcovering bar stools, adding a quick and easy roman shade {just a hemmed piece of fabric tied with two ribbons}, and covering a pendant shade in fabric, this kitchen is instantly friendlier and more interesting.  Fabrics are great for breaking up all of the hard surfaces in a kitchen.  Try mixing different patterns and colors for a fun look that’s full of personality.  The pendant light would also be a great look over the table in a breakfast nook to tie the whole kitchen together.

I’ve been thinking about adding a fabric-covered pendant shade in our breakfast nook – what about you guys, are you thinking about trying out any of these ideas?  Or maybe you already have?  We’d love to hear about it, and if you have pictures go ahead and link to them.  Can’t wait to see!