The “before” kitchen in our Arizona vacation house
needed a renovation.
It felt dated, had no clear identity, and
although functional, lacked quality…so with DIY,
a small budget, and smart choices, we upgraded
the kitchen decor to give it serene modern
farmhouse style and customized it
without any demolition.
While I still have finishing touches to
add on our next visit, I wanted to
share some simple kitchen decor upgrades
that anyone–even non-DIY types–can swing.
Upgrade No. 1
Paint the walls to lighten and brighten the mood.
The greens and reds weren’t doing our boring
kitchen any favors, and as soon as we
painted the walls, we began to see the potential!
It takes some effort and patience, but you
can also transform your kitchen cabinets
with paint as we did.
I handpainted them in a grey-blue
called Classic Silver (Behr).
Upgrade No. 2
Add vintage touches for modern farmhouse charm.
While I’m just getting started adding vintage touches
to our kitchen, here are a couple of easy DIY suggestions.
Add beadboard trim to a breakfast bar, island,
or peninsula to suggest age and add interest.
See how plain and boring it looked before?
Another idea is to install planks horizontally which
gives you sort of a shiplap effect, and shiplap
planking works just as well for this upgrade.
I also wanted to add simple modern farmhouse
barstools and was able to find the ones below
for $1-3 at nearby thrift stores and simply unified
them with paint.
But the easiest beautiful kitchen decor upgrade
to inject gorgeous farmhouse chic style?
Upgrade No. 3
Add quality cabinet hardware with
farmhouse style and patina.
Cabinet hardware from Top Knobs
was probably my favorite farmhouse
kitchen decor upgrade we added because
it provided instant gratification and style,
high quality, and timeless design for our
basic builder’s grade kitchen cabinets.
Check out the area next to the refrigerator before…
While this area improved after we painted the cabinets,
the Aspen collection cup pulls and small potato knobs
make a huge impact in terms of both function
(these cabinets are going to better live up to
daily wear and tear with hardware) AND
aesthetics (defining that modern farmhouse look we love).
The bank of base cabinets on the window
wall before we added the cabinet hardware
looks as if it should be in a basement workshop,
not a space that is seen all day, everyday!
What a huge difference gorgeous hand-forged
bronze pulls and knobs make.
More dramatic before and afters
because this is too much fun!
Sweet Mother Teresa on a motorbike,
I love these Top Knobs knobs and pulls!
Here’s another post about how I chose this particular
cabinet hardware, and while I love the cup pulls,
don’t be surprised if I devote an entire post
in the future to the small potato knobs which…
omg, have the best hand feel and weight to them!
Wall Paint Color: Valspar Salute (7006-12).
Stay tuned for more updates and reveals
as we finish up this DIY whole house makeover!
Thanks, Top Knobs for sharing such gorgeous craftsmanship with me.
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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This looks amazing! Thanks for the How To!
thanks, mary ann! can't wait to get back there and finish the details. 🙂
What an incredible difference in your kitchen. It's so nice to see you repurposing cabinets and showing folks what a difference a coat of paint makes. Thanks for your predictable wonderful posts! I grab some coffee, turn on some Pandora music (French Cafe usually) and savor every picture and word!
I'm so grateful to have you here, friend. Thanks for the encouragement. I enjoyed every minute of painting them, and I know I may be freaky in that way, but put a paintbrush in my hand, and a peaceful world opens up. We wanted to disturb this place minimally to keep the labor and costs low. Enjoy your glorious day! 🙂
Love all your farmhouse touches Michele! Enjoy your weekend:)
Thanks, Leslie. It's certainly not your beautiful farmhouse kitchen, but it is now a pleasant space! xox
You have really transformed that kitchen! I love it!
thanks a million, katherine! xox