How to Spruce Up Your Kitchen at Near-Nothing Costs

Staring at your kitchen and feeling a little dismayed? Try these few helpful tips to spruce things up and spend very little in the process.

Scour Your Coffee Pot with Salt and Ice

Sometimes we overlook the small things. If your coffee pot has taken on stains that soap and water alone can't seem to get rid of, or perhaps an empty pot was left on the warmer and there is a layer of charred coffee on the bottom, before tossing your coffee pot out, try scouring it with a few tablespoons of table salt and four to five ice cubes. Place the salt and ice in the bottom of the pot (be sure the pot is dry as liquid will just dissolve the salt) and vigorously shake in a circular motion for a minute or two. The abrasiveness of the salt and the weight of the ice cubes will scour off the stains. Wash with soap and water and your coffee pot will sparkle once again.

Shine Your Stainless Steel Sink with Rubbing Alcohol

If your sink is made of stainless steel, you know that water stains will eventually plague you. Try wiping your sink's interior with a cotton cloth and a little rubbing alcohol. The water stains will buff away and bring back your sink's shine. With the same cloth, you can also buff sink knobs and faucet spouts as well.

Say Goodbye to Old Burnt Food on Your Drip Pans

Unless you consider your stove a floor ornament in your kitchen, your aluminum or steel burner drip pans will eventually become a little grungy with baked on food spills and burn marks. Some burner drip pans can come at a hefty price for certain stove models, so, before venturing out to buy new ones, try lining the drip pans with aluminum foil. When the foil becomes dirty, just remove the old foil and re-line again with new.

Make a Vase

Chipped coffee mug? Don't throw it away, use it as a vase. Take a leisurely stroll outside and grab some random vegetation to fill your newly established vase. Greens are a wonderful color for any kitchen arrangement, so don't be afraid of grasses and ferns. Ferns, although intriguing in their leaf design, will wilt very quickly so be sure to bring the roots along with it. You can clean off the dirt and the roots will stay every bit satisfied with a little water in the bottom of your vase.

Create a Kitchen Themed Mosaic

You can bring some character to your kitchen walls by clipping relevant pictures and advertisements from magazines and newspapers; whatever you find that follows a kitchen theme. Paste your cut-outs in no particular pattern onto an old serving tray, paper plate or rattan server and hang on your wall. Your new wall hanging will bring a little extra character to your kitchen and, because you have the liberty to choose the clippings that appeal to you, it makes for a nice little reflection of your personal tastes as well.

Hand-Made Wall Bordering

Create your own wall bordering with some contact paper, a design idea, a pair of scissors. Draw a simple pattern of anything you'd like on a piece of cardboard and cut out the pattern to use as your template. Your design can be anything from wooden spoons to potted plants, or even a spray of ivy, whatever idea you fancy. Transfer your pattern onto contact paper by tracing your template. Be sure to draw on the back of the contact paper, the portion that you will remove to reveal the glue. No matter what color or pattern of contact paper you choose, the back is usually white so you can see your outline marks. With a pair of scissors, cut out your patterns and stick your contact paper cutouts on your wall a few inches below the ceiling. Space each cutout six to twelve inches apart depending on the simplicity and size of your pattern, and place them along the walls until you find your way back to where you began. Your new border will bring a great deal of character to your kitchen.

Since you're in the mood to make a few changes, why not give your home's air a little extra love as well. Freshen it up while vacuuming without having to use the strong perfumed odors and chemicals of air deodorizers. Simply soak a cotton ball or two with some potpourri concentrated oil, and place the cotton balls directly into a fresh vacuum bag. When you vacuum, the fragrance will disperse throughout your house giving your air a subtle fragrant kiss.

More times than not it just takes a little ingenuity and very little spending to spruce up a room in your home. With some love, attention and ideas, you can give your kitchen a little pick-me-up and add some character, and you'll almost feel as though you have remodeled.