6 quick and easy ways to transform your kitchen

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We are spending more time at home than ever before, and for many of us, the more we are at home, the more certain rooms begin to bug us. Cue the onset of questions. Why has this room not been decorated yet? Why did the previous home owner think that magnolia was a good idea? How have I lived with [insert grotty feature here] for so long? 

Now is as good a time as any to assess what you have to work with, the funds you have at your disposal, and how you want to transform your surroundings. But for the sake of this piece, we're going to focus on the kitchen and six little things that will make the world of difference.

Give your splashback a makeover

Does the splashback behind your cooker and sink look dated? Or have you inherited a style that isn't practical or very 'you'? Changing your splashback is one of the quickest and easiest ways of making an impact. Cover unsightly wall tiles with tile decals (also known as tile stickers) or alternatively paint them with tile paint to give them a new lease of life. For dark or north facing rooms, paint in a lighter colour like a bright white which will help bounce the light around. If you currently have tiles with white grout lines, update with a more practical colour like black or dark grey using grout paint or a grout pen.

Find your light

If your kitchen is north facing or doesn't have a skylight, roof lantern, or bifold doors, you may find that light is in short supply. For a less gloomy room to cook in, look at decorating in light shades like bright whites or soft greys and come up with a lighting scheme. A good kitchen lighting scheme is all about layering with different lighting for different zones. Spot lights are tried and tested and work in all manner of kitchens. Target lighting in specific food prep zones like strip lighting under kitchen wall cabinets and pendant lights which can add extra interest to a kitchen island. Be sure to look at models with LED bulbs which are more efficient and can be 80% cheaper to run.

Treat yourself to new kitchen accessories

Something as little as a new tap can help transform the look of any kitchen. Why not switch out a limescale covered tap that has seen better days for a highly coveted gold tap or black tap which are all over social media right now. Whilst some models can cost a pretty penny, try looking at IKEA or eBay for more budget friendly options as updating your kitchen doesn't have to be expensive. In a similar vein, stock up on new accessories like fun tea towels, oven gloves and tea and coffee containers. A simple change of accessories can inject a splash of colour, or bring a luxe element if you incorporate gold or copper accessories.

Give your kitchen units a face lift

This is another one of the easiest ways to make an impact. Prime and paint your kitchen units or else use chalk paint for an instant new look (do check this with your landlord first if you are renting!). Another way of achieving this is by covering your kitchen doors with vinyl, washi tape, or removable wallpaper. This being ideal for renters as you can always peel these off when you move out. Another quick and easy way of updating your kitchen units is by replacing your cupboard handles. Try cup handles for a classic and timeless look synonymous with shaker kitchens. Or maybe en vogue gold handles if you fancy something a little more modern.

Sticky back plastic is your friend

If your worktops have seen better days but you don't feel comfortable having someone come and replace them at this time (and I wouldn't blame you), try a temporary fix in the form of vinyl or sticky back plastic. If you like marble worktops, it's an easy way to achieve the look for less. Sticky back plastic is one of my hero products. I used for a marble table here which I'm currently sitting at and using as a desk while I'm working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Next I want to spray paint the legs gold (spray paint being another great quick kitchen hack!)

Get patterned floor tiles for a fraction of the price

If your flooring doesn't bring you joy or is a pain to clean, it's time to act. Update drab floor tiles with a tile stencil kit. The best way of achieving a good finish is dabbing paint onto the stencil with a sponge and layering the colour on gradually rather than using a paint roller or paint brush. Or for a quicker fix, try using peel and stick floor tile decals. There are tons of pretty patterned floor tile designs out there at the moment which can help take any kitchen flooring from drab to fab.

Have you made any changes to your kitchen since COVID-19?

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Image credit: Christian Mackie on Unsplash

Welcome to Life // coming face to face with some of the dreamiest kitchens you will ever see!

I love a kitchen. I fantasise about the day I can have dark inky blue cabinets, white surfaces and gold cup handles. Or maybe even grey units instead of blue (the indecisiveness is real). Another side of me is open to the idea of a more pastel kitchen with units in mint or sage green. With a kitchen the possibilities are endless. But that's life. And speaking of life...

When I was invited along to Life Kitchens latest event in London, it was my idea of heaven.
An evening of looking at beautiful kitchens? Count me in!

The concept: Life aims to create ‘kitchens for living’, by designing kitchens that are built around the individual and how they live their life on a daily basis. Other kitchens out there can be style over substance and as much as I love a pretty kitchen, at the end of the day it does have to be practical for your daily needs and to suit the needs of your family as it grows.

Here were a few of my favourite things that caught my eye that night

HERB GARDEN

I love the idea of having a herb garden in the kitchen. I grow sage, rosemary and basil in the garden but would love to transport some of it inside for herbs that are within reach (particularly useful on a cold or rainy day where I don't fancy stepping outside!)

INTEGRATED HOT PLATE

I first thought this was a sink with a clear cover (my mistake!), but actually this was a hot plate incorporated into the counter top so you can keep food piping hot. This would have been useful in a household like mine where I grew up, as my Dad always used to wander off round about the time dinner was served and then he'd huff about having not-so-warm food ("don't say we didn't tell you so!")

STORAGE

For me, useful touches are things like having big cupboards and opening them to reveal a larder and a shelf with power points so you can pop your kettle / toaster / coffee machine inside. I'd love to have one of these in my upcoming kitchen re-design. They make great use of space as behind the doors you can have racks to house your spices etc.

THE BAR

... or alternatively why not dedicate part of your worktop to have your own backlit bar? The bar pictured below was the talking point of the evening with everyone crowding around it in awe. The capacity to have chilled wine and champagne nearby in the chiller underneath was a great use of space.

THOUGHTFUL LITTLE EXTRAS

I really liked the kitchen that incorporated a chalkboard wall. My shopping list currently gets stuck on the fridge, but a wall like this would help to cut down my paper usage!

IDIOSYNCRATIC WORKTOPS

That evening I saw beautiful worktops I never would have normally considered which were like art. Take this one for example.

GOLD SINK

How quirky is this gold sink? I love the idea of having a gold or rose gold tap, but a gold sink is little too much - even for me! Give me a nice white butler sink any day.

EYE CATCHING TEXTURES

This textured, almost slate-like side to this kitchen island was another detail I fell in love with

THE PIECE THAT CONVERTED ME

This grey marble-like quartz may well convert me away from my desire to have white worktops. I mean a colour like this would be a lot more practical than white, right?

AND MY FAVOURITE...

This for the record was my favoruite kitchen and the sort of thing I am looking for (although preferably a darker blue and gold cup handles not the silver ones pictured below). But having said that, after seeing the above grey marble-like surfaces, this now leaves me considering a grey worktop instead of a white one. Thoughts?

To enter the kitchens section of the showroom, you enter through a corridor with the best wallpaper known to man / woman:

The first thing you see through this corridor is not a kitchen, but the below. I loved this Life Kitchens desk  - how incredible would it be to work against a backdrop like this??! The Tom Dixon lights, the huge screen, the archway.... "Welcome to life", indeed.

One really well thought out part of the evening was various cooking stations used to demonstrate the appliances. There was a Siemens stand where the demonstrators were showing us how the ovens had different functions for all your food needs. Be it for steaming (we sampled beautiful prawn dim sum), getting your food nice and crisp (we sampled chicken with a crispy cornflake and chilli batter) or getting a good even bake on cakes (hello chocolate brownies!). Another cooking station showcased a griddle top, perfect for griddling onions, peppers and chicken for chicken and avocado fajita wraps.

Also in the showroom....  all the different colours you can choose from are on display and the range of colours is immense. I still like the idea of grey or dark blue cabinets but I have to say, their spearmint was really easy on the eye and would look stunning with white worktops, don't you think?

Also on display... a vast range of handles. I didn't know there were so many handles out there! But admittedly I'm still really drawn to gold or rose gold cup handles when I replace my kitchen.

Was the event just a case of going to a showroom, drinking bubbly and swooning over pretty kitchens? No my friends, it was not. I was pretty surprised to see a VR headset whereby visitors to the showroom, could visualise their new kitchen and see it there right in-front of them. It was incredible and added a fun, quirky and unique aspect to the looking at kitchens process.

Not only that, but that evening we were beta testing a new app with Go Film which allowed us to record video of our time there, which would later be stitched together and emailed over as a memento of the evening (this will be added to my Insta stories in due course!)

Later into the evening, all the cooking demonstrations came to a close and the last fajitas were snapped up. But this wasn't the end of the food that evening. We were really looked after and later into the evening bowls of food came around on trays, such as seabass and noodles, coconut chicken and rice, and the dreamiest chocolate ganache served in a tea cup. Also can we talk about how dreamy their copper lighting ceiling was?

If you fancy a look for yourself, the Life Kitchens showroom is located at:

Life Kitchens

213 Newnham Terrace, 

Lambeth, London 

SE1 7DR

Nearest station: 

Lambeth North

Opening times:

Monday - Saturday: 9am - 5.30pm

Sundays: Closed

Thank you so much to Life Kitchens for inviting me. I am actively looking for a replacement kitchen so this invite couldn't have come at a better time and certainly gave me lots of food for thought!