When your kitchen is working perfectly, everything else in your life just seems to fall effortlessly into place. If you can go to the ice maker and it actually works, life couldn’t be better.
As we all know, though, kitchens don’t always behave themselves. They’re a complicated room, and something always seems to go wrong.
Fortunately, there are a lot of quick kitchen fixes out there. Here’s what to do.
Replace Your Faucet Washer To Prevent Leaking
Leaking faucets are among the most annoying home problems (besides blocked toilets and faulty electrics). But usually, it’s not a systemic problem with your plumbing. Often, the issue is simply a faulty washer.
To fix this problem, unscrew your faucet assembly and remove it from the sink. Then look for a small O-ring inside. If it’s out of place, put it back into position and then refit the faucet to check that it is functioning correctly. If it’s still leaking or you notice damage, order a new one from the manufacturer.
Replace Your Tired-Looking Bar Stools
Wooden bar stools can age your kitchen. After a couple of years, they begin to look worn and tired. They’re particularly prone to scratches.
Finding stools that are one-to-one replacements of the ones you already have can be a mission. However, with the right approach, you should be able to find something suitable.
You have a couple of options here. You can either go to a vintage store and look for some stools to replace your old ones, or you can repaint them and then cover them in a thick coat of varnish to hide all the wear and tear. Naturally, repainting will cost you less.
Fix Your Appliances
There’s nothing more annoying than a dishwasher in your kitchen that doesn’t properly clean your pots and pans. It’s supposed to save labour, but you wind up scrubbing them in the sink afterwards anyway – now what you want.
Fortunately, you can get around this by properly maintaining it. Start by making sure that you’ve topped up the salt and the dishwasher fluid. Your machine should have indicator lights to tell you whether you’ve done this. Next, take out the filter and clean it out. Make sure that there are no hard objects or debris on the floor of the appliance.
If you notice a problem with the intake or any other component, order a high-quality Westinghouse spare part (or whatever manufacturer you happen to use). Then follow the instructions to take out the old one and fit the new one yourself. You’d be surprised just how many of these jobs you can do at home.
Make Your Kitchen Table More Attractive
Kitchen tables can sometimes be a bit of a letdown, particularly if you leave them looking plain. To add a little spice, put up artwork on the walls, chairs and fancy light fixtures. Make sure that they are the focus of the room. For a little added theatre, hang a long lamp down above the middle of the table to properly illuminate the food you serve.
Clean Up Your Backsplash
Over time, backsplashes can look a little past their best. All that splatter from the sink and hob eventually dulls them and, in some cases, can cause damage to the material itself.
If you have a tile or PVC backsplash, clean it thoroughly once per week. Make sure that you use suitable cleaning implements designed for the material itself.
Make Use Of The Space Above The Cabinets
Most kitchens come with cabinets that don’t go all the way up to the ceiling. Instead, they stop a foot or two short.
There are practical reasons for this. If you build cabinets too high, some people won’t be able to access them. However, keeping a stool in your kitchen lets you get around this little problem easily.
Consider whether you need more space in your kitchen and if building your cabinets higher on the walls would help. Opening up the space could provide you with enough room for an extra shelf to keep all your pots, pans and ingredients.
Line Your Drawers
Kitchen drawers are prone to collecting debris from cooking. Over time, they start getting very icky indeed.
What you want is a system that prevents food stains and spills from getting to the underlying material. Being wet isn’t good for wood.
The best way to do this is to line your drawers. You can do this by ordering lining material from a local craft store or online. This helps you keep the base of your drawers free from debris and makes them easy to clean. You can hold most liners under running water to sweep away any debris.
Add Flowers Close To The Window
If you have a large window in your kitchen, add flowers. Often, pre-fabbed or rental kitchens can feel sterile and lifeless – not what you want.
Ideally, sunlight should shine through your flowers, offering beautiful tones and shades, making the space look stunning.
Remove Ripped Vinyl
Ripped vinyl isn’t just annoying and unsightly, it’s also a potential health hazard. If yours is looking worse for wear, remove it and replace it with new flooring.
Renovators usually lay vinyl in strips, so you don’t need to take up the entire floor. Just find the affected strip and then pull it out. Then find out whether you can get a replacement. Usually, you can.
Add Artwork
If there’s a wall in your kitchen that looks too bare for your liking, spice it up a little with some artwork. It doesn’t have to be anything particularly fancy: just something simple that will break the monotony.
You might also want to consider putting down a rug. Rugs are great because they help to make your kitchen cosier, but don’t come with the same maintenance requirements as regular carpets (which don’t work well in the kitchen).
Wrapping Up
So there you have it: some quick and easy kitchen fixes that will transform your quality of life. Which will you try?
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