DIY: Landlord Friendly Kitchen Makeover

One of my very first posts was about making the best of what you’ve got in your rented home, with specific reference to the bathroom and kitchen.

I explained how we’d painted the cabinets to brighten them up from their 80’s melamine dullness and happily, in the last few weeks we’ve had the kitchen backsplash re-tiled in classic white metro tiles. Here’s how they looked upto now.

After the subway tiles went in, we felt that the cabinets needed a little more pizazz. So we have repainted them again, this time in the fantastically-named Arsenic, by Farrow and Ball.

While this was a simple change, here are some other cheap and cheerful ideas for sprucing up your kitchen storage, demonstrated on my own cupboards for your enjoyment and edification!

Open Shelving – the cheaty way!

I really love the look of open shelving (though I do wonder how much additional cleaning and dusting is involved in keeping all those plates and things looking pristine).

I don’t have the patience to arrange the contents of my cupboards in an aesthetically-pleasing manner, so I’ll contentedly hide the mis-matched, repurposed spice jars behind my zingy Arsenic doors. But if you fancy the open shelving look, why not try simply removing the doors? It’s surprisingly effective!

For an extra fancy touch, line the back of the cupboard with some wallpaper or fabric, and you’ve got an easy new look that no reasonable landlord could have a fit over.

Cute Café-style Curtains

If you want to make a non-permanent change, but would prefer to keep your cupboard secrets hidden away, you could remove the doors and replace them with neat little curtains.

We’ve done this with the cupboard under the sink, because over the years the moisture had got into the melamine and swollen and warped the chipboard door. It looked pretty rotten (literally) and painting wouldn’t have improved things at all.

So we just got rid of it and replaced it with this gorgeous fabric from Korla Home.

You could do this for one or two cupboards, or even the whole lot if you’re feeling adventurous.

Additional Storage

Finally, if you’re short on cupboard space, think about adding removable extra storage. Free standing shelving, pot racks on walls or suspended from the ceiling – cram that stuff in.

We put some plain pantry shelving, backed with a fun Ikea fabric, into the corner of our kitchen.

These pine shelves are available from all the big DIY shops as well as places like Ikea, and you could paint and customise them as you please.

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