Elbow Grease is Free! Spruce it up!

Here is a sad little kitchen that was thrown together with not much thought. There is cluttter on the counter and on the fridge (oh those dratted fridge magnets!), coloured tea lights on the dividing wall and "spice bottles" on the stove hood! The dining table is squished up against the wall to make more room for a freezer.

Now, keeping in mind this is a rental unit, most people dont want to put much into decorating; totally understandable. Also this is a lower level apartment that is a bit dated (white appliances, brassy hardware, tulip shade light fixture) but the size is good and the appliances are quite decent. Sometimes if you speak to your landlord and ask him if you can make some changes, they are quite keen! Especially if you are DIYing it. You are not doing any harm, in fact you are increasing the value of his property and at the same time increasing the satisfaction value to you! Which is important to your well being and comfort. Go ahead and ask them - the worse thing that can happen is they say "no". In which case, make changes that you can "take with you".

Making it cozy!

Change up the hardware, tidy up the counters, bring in your nice dining set a coat of paint and a few shelves with some nice simple pieces and voila; a warm friendly kitchen that makes you want to sit and have a good chin wag over coffee!

Another dark shelf was added over the sink to hold a small pot and painting. The light fixture was also updated - a more recent photo will be posted soon.

Total cost? About $160.00 ($75.00 for hardware, $35.00 for shelves, $30.00 for paint, $20.00 for light fixture) and no charge for elbow grease to clean and shine everything spotless! (well, we did have a bottle or two of wine during the fluffing!

Dont forget to colour coordinate when possible... chocolate and red are great basic colours that bring warmth and harmony to an otherwise dreary space.