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Colour Rescue: 3 Simple Kitchen Fixes (When You Can’t Renovate)

By 10/05/2023October 19th, 20237 Comments

Before & After (Updating a 90s Kitchen)

This week’s Colour Rescue is about updating kitchens without doing a costly full renovation.

Because it doesn’t always make sense to fully tear out a functional kitchen for the sake of aesthetics. You can often dramatically change the look of your kitchen with a few savvy tweaks, some paint and of course, the magic of styling

How to update your kitchen without renovating (the whole thing).

Because, you don’t need to wait till someday.

Despite the jaw-droppingly gorgeous images we are all used to seeing on Insta and Pinterest, the world is full of less-than-beautiful but functional kitchens.

Don’t make the mistake of believing you need to ignore your for now kitchen until you save up for your dream kitchen. 

There is so much that can be done!

A kitchen I updated with drapes, new lighting and styling

3 Simple Fixes for Kitchens (when you can’t renovate)

In this Colour Rescue episode, you’ll see what suggestions I have for these three kitchens, submitted by readers just like you.

In the kitchen below, the homeowner doesn’t know what to do about her brick floor. This is an excellent example of how we sometimes focus on the wrong thing.

By the way, focusing on the wrong detail can send you into a domino effect of spending money where you don’t have to. I’m here to save you from that.

brick floor kitchen

This kitchen below was recently updated with new white quartz, but it’s not perfect yet. Find out how I’d fix this.

too white countertops

This homeowner is unhappy with her cabinet colour. Find out the real reason this homeowner is reacting to these cabinets.

cream cabinets

Colour Rescue: 3 Simple Kitchen Fixes

New! Kitchen Refresh eDesign package

Since I know so many of you would love to make your kitchen look its best without a full renovation, I’ve created a new eDesign package to help you with that.

It’s called a Kitchen Refresh.

With this new package, I will analyze your kitchen to tell you what the best interim fixes are to bring your kitchen out of whatever trend era it was installed and into 2024 (and beyond)! 

All I’ve done for over 20 years is help my clients take a dated room, bathroom or kitchen and make it look so much better. Sometimes I’ve done it with a one day makeover (my favourite thing), sometimes with paint and a new countertop or a new backsplash. 

The bottom line, if you are looking at your dated kitchen and wondering if it can be saved, more often than not, it can and for much less than what a full reno would be.

Because often updating the paint and some details, or knowing if the countertops really are worth replacing NOW instead of later to shift the look of your room is all you need. 

Please note, this package is for refreshing an older, existing kitchen only. This means just a few minor tweaks.

NOTE: If you are doing a more extensive renovation, you will still need my Create a Timeless Kitchen package here.

Need a colour solution for YOUR room? 

Submit well-lit, good quality photos of your room that needs a rescue. Be sure to tidy up your room and take photos in natural daylight with no flash and submit them here with your question.

As always, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a single new Colour Rescue episode. 

PS.  We just spent the most delightful two days in my home with a fabulous group of True Colour Experts with my first Fall workshop of this season!

The only regret anyone has from doing my course is they wish they had done it sooner!  It’s a game changer because you’ll instantly gain certainty. This is what your clients and YOU need in order to make colour decisions for everything in you or your clients home MUCH faster! 

My upcoming virtual workshop is sold out but you can still register for Dallas here.

Related Posts:

The BEST Kitchen Cabinet Colours with Grey Floors

This Trending English Countryside Kitchen is Bringing Beige Back

Designing a Kitchen? Lighting & Hardware is EVERYTHING

7 Comments

  • Fran W. says:

    Great tutorial!

  • Julie S says:

    Loved these, and so glad you are offering a for-now updates package. I’m sure it will rescue a lot of decent but unattractive kitchens that need a budget friendly upgrade!

    2
  • Penny says:

    Great impacts and this package is a great, practical add to your services.

  • Lisa says:

    Such practical advice as usual! This video made me realize that a biscuit colored tile is probably best for my kitchen. Do have a good source for the biscuit tile you showed in your video?

  • DD says:

    You are saving not only kitchens but the earth! I am so glad you’re offering this.

    We have a dated ‘90s wood kitchen that we thought we needed to rip out. A designer I worked with suggested painting the ceiling a fun green that set off the wood, and changing the wall color to relate to the old violet grey counter. A few hundred dollars later, I love my wood kitchen now! 💚 🧑‍🍳

    Thank your editors for showing the “before” pictures for a long time so we can see how the “before” kitchens look and really absorb your lessons.

    3
  • Saundra says:

    I’m so confused, I thought for a timeless kitchen we should be painting our cabinets white or cream? Are we now painting the cabinets colors?

  • Kim says:

    Personally, I love the brick. I’d might stain it or do a color wash for a more monochromatic look. Could go the other way and paint the cabinets a celadon or sage green, load up with copper pans/hardware and celebrate such a unique feature.

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