Three Easy Upgrades Gretch Is Adding To Her Rental Kitchen (+ A Renter-Friendly Reno Project On The Horizon)

I’m sitting crossed my half-baked, chromatic oak rental kitchen, staring it down from the sofa arsenic my near ft rests, iced and elevated. The Bear is streaming connected the monolithic TV I’ve placed connected a seat and pushed up against the backmost of my room island. I tune retired the show, opting alternatively to question this abandoned task and my sanity.

About 2 weeks ago, I took disconnected camping to observe a champion friend’s day and came backmost a changed woman. But not for the better. The travel started out wonderful—a carefree abrogation with adjacent friends, overlooking a beauteous assemblage of water. Paddleboarding each time with meal by the fire, friends piled onto interior tubes we’d been utilizing arsenic couches, laughing each nighttime long. But the adjacent day, the day miss cracks her telephone and doubles down by accidentally dropping it successful the water, rendering it useless. At dusk AND dawn, the bugs descend connected our camp, virtually thousands, eating america alive. Chiggers. Mosquitoes. We each go much bug wound than skin. The reddish cherry connected apical is simply a sunburn that graces my cheeks with a swimsuit enactment truthful crisp it could chopped wood (pun intended and you’ll soon spot why). The bully times are fading accelerated arsenic vexation and discomfort acceptable in, but we bash our champion to contiguous a united, affirmative front. And with 1 swift chop I unopen that down immediately.

A plaything and a miss with the axe I was utilizing to prep wood for our evening occurrence alternatively comes down hard connected my foot. I’m bleeding profusely due to the fact that the lone extortion I person are my Birkenstocks implicit bare skin. Miraculously, the apical strap stops maine from removing immoderate digits but a caller gash presents itself successful the antagonistic abstraction between. I’m rushed to St. Charles exigency room, a chill 45 minutes away, looking done tears astatine my ft sitting up connected the dash, watching arsenic the Coors airy garment wrapped astir my coiled changes color. From a dirt-encrusted achromatic to a deep, tie-dyed reddish (DIY coming soon! All earthy pigment!). A panic onslaught and 9 stitches later…I am, essentially, fine.

But what does this person to bash with my kitchen? And wherefore did I conscionable constitute 3 paragraphs astir a ft wounded connected a plan blog? Well, I constitute similar I talk—a lot. Plus I privation you to consciousness atrocious for me. But earlier this each went down, my room plan program was scheduled to spell up past week. Meaning earlier I near for the trip, I needed to commencement putting said program into action, taking ideas from my caput and my Amazon cart implicit to the country itself. And truthful I did. I intended to travel backmost and person past week to decorativeness up the task portion Em was retired connected vacation. But beingness had different plans and I alternatively spent that week successful Bend, OR recovering. And present this half-done room is laughing astatine maine and my bum ft arsenic I fig retired what to stock with you all.

You see, my room is dated, comprised of warm-toned wood cabinets, melodramatic boob lights, and ornate, metallic drawer pulls. A makeover was inevitable, but I’m reasonably caller to the spot and inactive excessively timid to inquire if I tin conscionable overgarment implicit their delicious chromatic oak furniture exterior since my plan limitations are locked into a lease agreement. But thankfully, from the words of Zoolander’s Hansel (and much precocious EHD), wall-to-wall wood is “so blistery close now”, truthful I’ve decided to thin in.

For me, this looks similar covering the room walls successful matching wood-printed, renter-friendly interaction insubstantial (maybe yet swapping it for the existent woody if I tin person myself and my landlord that the “wood paneled” look serves). Doing this should, successful theory, elongate the cabinets hindered by a driblet ceiling and springiness maine the somewhat much 70s look I crave anyway. Plus, Lone Fox has maine dreaming of a wood-drenched abstraction of my ain ever since he paneled the pass-thru space betwixt his chamber and bathroom. It got maine reasoning that maybe, conscionable maybe, an all-over honey-glow wouldn’t beryllium truthful bad. It mightiness adjacent be…cool?

So I went distant and covered a information of my room successful this astir identical wood interaction insubstantial from Amazon—a truly inexpensive mode for maine to trial thrust the look. It was truthful casual to use (when I had 2 moving feet) and I tin 100% region it with ease. I finished covering astir of the walls supra the cabinets earlier I ran retired of interaction insubstantial and time. I took it conscionable a interaction supra the crown moulding and a small spot past the wood of the cabinetry truthful I could swoop backmost astir aboriginal with an x-acto weapon and springiness it a trim. That “later” portion has yet to happen.

To truly thin into the monochrome vibe, I ordered these beautiful woody furniture pulls from Etsy. Swapping furniture hardware is usually the easiest, fastest, and astir inexpensive mode to springiness your room a refresh erstwhile you don’t person a batch of escaped volition with imperishable plan choices similar me. For now, I’m storing the aged pulls until determination retired and going backmost to staring astatine these woody ones until my caput spins. I emotion them, connected their own, but I’m not afloat convinced astir them installed. The furniture aviator holes were a small janky to statesman with and their crookedness benignant of stands retired to me. The colour lucifer isn’t arsenic adjacent arsenic I’d similar either, but I’m besides not definite I hatred the mode it looks since it does supply a spot of dimension. I mightiness effort a stain connected the pulls to spot what that does for my staring problem. But we shall see.

Another casual swap would beryllium the lighting. And arsenic you tin spot here, I person not 1 but TWO ridiculous boob lights. A perfectly perky, bedazzled RACK. These simply person to go. I could swap the fixtures for a caller pair—and I mightiness eventually—but this archetypal circular of plan is each astir adjacent easier moves, similar interaction insubstantial and drawer pulls. I’ve had my oculus connected these Tulip airy covers for a portion and I’m truly hoping to effort them retired successful the space.

They look beauteous large successful my mockup and I emotion their impermanent status. Something astir the cloth and the grid signifier connected the Gem style truly sings with the tile backsplash. Plus I similar however they adhd a spot of softness to the space. I’m funny however casual they are to install, but from what I’ve seen online, it looks beauteous simple! But casual and elemental are lone amusive for truthful long, and this wouldn’t beryllium a task of excavation if I didn’t take to sprinkle successful thing semi-complicated.

My room is connected to my surviving abstraction and portion I emotion an unfastened conception I’m precise overmuch astir “zoning” antithetic areas and their functions and it’s been tricky to bash that successful here. My spot has beforehand and backmost entrances with ample windows, providing minimal partition abstraction connected either end.

A terrible, singular ceiling instrumentality sits overhead the intended eating country conscionable to the close of the kitchen. Smack dab successful the surviving country is my room island, anchored to a enactment beam. There’s a spot for a mates of barstools connected the backside of the island, but with the summation of a tiny eating table, the country conscionable feels excessively cramped and obstructs the way to my balcony. Also, conscionable doing barstools won’t permission maine with capable seating and I privation to beryllium capable to beryllium crossed from my people.

When I moved in, I placed my ample sofa against the beforehand model wall, mounting my TV on the partition to the close of it. The supra is conscionable atrocious Photoshop, but you get the idea. Not my favourite layout due to the fact that it’s truly not arsenic comfy to person a movie nighttime with friends this way, cranking your cervix to spot the screen. But there’s not capable abstraction for the sofa to look it unless it becomes 1 with the land and inevitably disrupts the travel of the room. So I had a “project thought,” which is simply a motion that mild operation is connected the way. To trial it out, I rearranged and person been experiencing a half-done surviving country for immoderate clip now, to spot if my program is worthy the follow-through.

Basically, I swapped the eating portion with my couching zone, moving the sofa from the beforehand model to the agelong partition crossed from the room island. Now the tv sits connected a debased bench, butted up against the island. It looks truthful anserine and huge, BUT I americium enjoying the caller layout spatially and I deliberation I’ll spell done with said “project” successful hopes that I tin crook it into a chill focal point, afloat of volition and intrigue. Maybe it ends up looking anserine too, but I won’t cognize unless I try!

The Project: I’m aiming to physique a (renter-friendly) fractional partition against the backmost of the land to service arsenic the TV wall. It would align with the annoying enactment beam and wrapper astir to signifier an L, stopping alternatively of returning on the different broadside of the island. I’d of people request to upgrade to a Frame TV and size WAY down from my current, particularly due to the fact that the sofa sits beauteous close, truthful nary request for a immense screen. The partition would beryllium constructed successful a mode that would beryllium sturdy but impermanent. It would lucifer the remainder of the recently saturated chromatic oak room (integrating seamlessly successful my mind). Rising possibly 18” oregon truthful from the counter, it could service arsenic a ocular separation betwixt room and surviving room, but much than that it would springiness maine other elbow country implicit successful “wooden wonderland”. Throw successful a fractional partition and abruptly the land transforms into super-deep antagonistic space. I tin store my java shaper and cookbooks up against the caller woody backsplash successful the kitchen, leaving maine plentifulness of antagonistic space, with unsightly cords and pages wholly hidden from presumption connected the different side.

Now, this volition decidedly necessitate immoderate powerfulness tools (and astir apt supervision knowing my way record), but I deliberation I tin marque it hap aft I’m wholly healed successful the ft department. I ordered different rotation of interaction insubstantial and program connected seeing the remainder through, taking the “wood” each the mode crossed the backmost wall, outlining the balcony doors and implicit and astir the enactment beam. For now, the boob lights proceed to haunt maine and I’m hoping the close reply connected these caller pulls comes to maine successful a imagination oregon something. I’m excited to get the shot rolling and spot what other is revealed to maine arsenic I go. I can’t warrant that my ideas volition enactment oregon that they’ll instrumentality astir by the clip I station a “kitchen reveal”. But for now, this is wherever my originative encephalon is marinating portion I hold for the feeling successful my ft to instrumentality and The Bear to travel backmost from commercial. Stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Gretch

The station Three Easy Upgrades Gretch Is Adding To Her Rental Kitchen (+ A Renter-Friendly Reno Project On The Horizon) appeared archetypal connected Emily Henderson.