Simple Cottage-Style Kitchen Updates

I am so excited to share with you the updates I’ve recently made in the kitchen to add a little cottage-style charm.

Making simple changes in your kitchen like changing out door pulls, light fixtures, or faucet can give the space a fresh new look. Even simple changes like updating your throw rugs and moving decor on the counters can change things up without doing anything drastic like painting cabinets or updating countertops.

I’ve been thinking about painting our cabinets but not ready to take that plunge yet. We have custom Kraftsmaid cabinets in the color Canvas with a cocoa glaze. These cabinets were installed by the previous owner and at the time were actually a selling feature for me when we toured this house.

I’ve been considering painting them white, specifically Benjamin Moore White Dove, but it’s a project and honestly nervous to do it. I would also love to update the counters but that is not in the budget right now and would like to do that after I decide if I am going to paint the cabinets.

Move Microwave

In the meantime I wanted to give my kitchen an affordable update. The first thing I decided to do is remove the microwave from above the stove. I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time. Thankfully my family is on board with any crazy ideas I have so they didn’t need much convincing. I know this option is not ideal for everyone but something I was personally wanted to do. For me the microwave stood out. It was big and bulky and I knew taking it down would not only change the look but not be such a focal point.

Taking it down was easy, just loosen a few screws, unplug it and down it went. Bye bye microwave. But don’t worry, I still have one in the kitchen. I don’t use it much mostly to reheat something. I ended up getting a smaller one from the Beautiful collection at Walmart and tucked it on another counter. It’s such a pretty microwave and doesn’t stand out as much and looks good tucked away. Having it here has worked out great!

Copper Pot Rack

In place of the microwave we ended up patching and painting the wall. We painted it white to match the existing backsplash tile. I used a towel bar as a pot rack and spray painted S hooks to attach to the towel bar to hang some of my copper pot collection.

Moving the microwave and adding the copper pot rack changed the look of the space and it has been such a joy looking at the copper pots now when cooking then the microwave.

Vent Hood

We currently don’t have a vent hood and it has not been a problem. I actually heard from a lot of people on Instagram and YouTube that they don’t have a vent hood either. When I did have one I rarely used it anyways. So for the time being I don’t have one. Maybe eventually I’ll add a low profile one if I feel we need it or I have even considered removing the upper cabinets above the stove and installing a pretty fluted style range hood.

Thing as simple as moving the microwave from above the stove can change the look of your kitchen.

Cabinet Door Pulls

Next up was changing out the cabinet door pulls. I’ve had the previous ones on the cabinets for about 10 years. I needed a little refresh and they were breaking. I wanted a timeless style handle. I choose these beautiful antique brass door pulls. They are lovely and I love how they changed the look of the cabinets.

Purchasing these door handles on Amazon was more affordable than door handles at the hardware store.

I didn’t want to make any new holes for different hardware so I used 3-inch door pulls to use the existing holes. It was a breeze to switch out and just like that the cabinets got a update without any more changes!

Copper Faucet

Our faucet stands out since the sink is in the center of the kitchen and changing it to this beautiful copper faucet made such a difference.

I’ve had my eye on this faucet and I actually got it at a better price since they had a few on Amazon that were “like new” which were probably returns and repackaged. I didn’t notice anything different and it saved about $100 dollars!

This copper faucet has brought me such joy doing dishes. I love it and was such a simple way to update the kitchen.

Faux Beams

Another thing I wanted to do for awhile was add beams in the kitchen dining area/breakfast nook. Believe it or not this space actually had beams at one point and we took them down when we did a renovation back in 2015.

I knew adding beams would really cozy up this space. And it was as simple as staining a few 2×4’s!

We stained 2 2×4’s with Miniwax in the color Early American. We or I should say Wayne applied one light coat. He did a fantastic job staining these.

I looked for 2×4’s that had a lot of distressing to them. These are just from Lowe’s.

We ended cutting them to fit and prior to hanging them up we or I should say Wayne drilled pilot holes on the ends and center. Then he added finishing holes before adding the screws. He used Grip Rite #9 3-inch exterior screws and drilled them in place so once we got the beam up on the wall he could just drill the screws into the stud.

Speaking of stud, one thing that is very, very important is to find the stud. Use a stud finder to precisely find it.

Once installed he used some tinted wood filler to hide the screws and just like that we have beams in the breakfast nook and I still can’t stop looking at them.

We will also be adding them in our living room too!

Light Fixtures

Another way to change the look of your kitchen is to change out the light fixtures. We have a light fixture in the breakfast nook that has been there for about 10 years. I actually like it and there is nothing wrong with it I just wanted a change. I found this beautiful cage lantern light fixture at Lowe’s. It’s only about $69 online (it’s actually $119 in store so order it online if you want it). It does come in a larger size as well.

With just a simple change of a light fixture gives the space a new look.

Dining Chairs

My dining table was a FB Marketplace find several years ago. After we added the beams and light fixture I was playing around and took the wicker chairs I had in the living room and put them at the kitchen table. Boy do they look good there so they found a new home here. I needed a few more chairs. I had some black chairs that looked good but I saw at the thrift store some chairs I knew that would work! Thankfully they were still there when I went back to get them. They were only $6.40 a chair! What a steal and are the perfect addition to the dining table.

Something as simple as changing out the chairs or even finding a new dining table (always check the thrift store or FB Marketplace for affordable tables and chairs) can change the look of the space!

Watch

Shop

• Cabinet Pulls
• Copper Faucet
• Towel Bar (used for pot rack)
• S hooks (for pot rack)
• Beautiful Microwave
• Beautiful Coffee Maker
• Early American Miniwax stain for beams
• Light Fixture
• Rug (next to sink)

I hope this gives some decorating inspo if you’ve been wanting to give your kitchen a little update! Comment below what your favorite change is!

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