Kitchens have heavy daily use in any home, and today they often double as kitchen, dining room, and living room. The combination of use, water, cooking and dirt quickly makes any kitchen look tired and distressed. Fortunately, it’s easy to breathe new life into a kitchen, cheaply and quickly. Just follow some or all of the following interior design tips to wow your family and house guests.
Cleaning
Like bathrooms, kitchens need regular cleaning, but need special attention to ensure food hygiene. Kitchens also have special rules for handling cooked and raw meats for this reason. However, we only deal with aesthetic issues here.
From time to time, kitchens need a thorough deep cleaning, everywhere. Good old-fashioned scrubbing is necessary to remove grease and dirt build-up from floors, tiles, countertops, and surroundings.
Use proprietary kitchen cleaners, although traditional cleaners like vinegar and baking soda work perfectly well. Just be careful to avoid strong acids in limescale removers on any marble or limestone surface
Also remember to clean the air vent or exhaust fan. These are often overlooked despite being a magnet for grime and grime. Range hoods often have filters that clog quickly, but if they are of the wire-mesh variety, they can be cleaned in the automatic dishwasher.
Open the window regularly to get fresh air. This will eliminate musty odors and will also reduce the humidity in the room, often a cause of mold or mildew.
Tidy
Often times, kitchen owners and designers like to fill the kitchen with ceiling elements and trim, to give it a “farmhouse” look. Unfortunately, the image quickly becomes foggy with dust and dirt that is difficult to remove except on smooth surfaces.
So while you may have a wide variety of kitchen styles, look at commercial kitchens and you will quickly realize why the surfaces are flat and smooth and primarily stainless steel, glass, granite, or Corian.
Even sturdy tiles have their limitations. First, they quickly date the kitchen style, second, they are very difficult to remove or alter, and third, grout is still a dirt and germ trap.
Adding a touch of style and color
Kitchen walls and ceilings will benefit from fresh coats of paint more often than other rooms so you can experiment with color, but be sure to clean surfaces with baking soda or sugar soap before painting.
Two other ways to quickly change color in a kitchen are:
If your kitchen functions as a family room with a living room, you have many more decorating options with sofas and chairs. However, it is worth remembering that these sofas will be a magnet for TV dinners, so they will be prone to food stains. Keep this in mind and avoid pure white hair finishes! Dark leather is a good option as it is easy to clean and maintain.
Waterproofing and protection against dirt
It is important that all cracks and crevices are tight around sinks, etc. If in doubt, redo the silicone seals, although with the right material and workmanship they should last 5-10 years. For a good seal, it is vital that the surfaces are completely clean and free of grease. You can clean with a general purpose kitchen cleaner, but then finish with a degreasing solvent like acetone.
Look for dirt traps, especially under and behind protection panels between kitchen cabinets and the floor. Remove regularly and clean thoroughly here. Another often overlooked dirt trap is the top surface of wall-mounted cabinets and cabinets and other high-end units.
Tiles are generally strong and durable, but the grout used between them rarely is. Use a utility knife to carefully scrape off old, flaky, dirty grout and then reapply the grout to give your tile wall an instant makeover.
Complements
Kitchens can be outfitted with accessories, but care must be taken to avoid too much clutter unless you’re willing to do the extra cleaning. The most useful accessories tend toward the functional; think about:
Complementing a kitchen can be relatively inexpensive, and it’s fun to experiment. Your efforts will be appreciated every day by your family and friends when you are in this busy center of the family home.