I love all of these ideas and will definitely try to implement some of them!

A note on #6 - don't do this to all of your cupboards. The previous owners of our beloved house did this and now there is cupboard tall enough to store cookie sheets and baking pans!

I added some inexpensive pull-out wire drawers from Amazon to my lower kitchen cabinets about 6 months ago and it has made a tremendous difference in my kitchen! I'm able to find things much more easily and don't dread going into the deep lower cabinets anymore. Things are so organized!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00024JS3E/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Posted way too soon - it's not just baking pans, it's anything that's taller than half the size of my lower cupboards. Crock pot? Too tall. Rice cooker? Too tall. Some of the drawers definitely have to go!

As a landlord, I cringe at the thought of renters painting their countertops. We've learned from experience that renters can have some, er, unique ideas about what looks good (I'm remembering a tenant who handpainted truly hideous "fish" all over a newly renovated bathroom). Painting countertops could potentially destroy their value and would not be easy to undo, and the tenant could be held financially responsible for replacing the countertops.

Tenants should at the very least talk about this idea with their landlords before proceeding.

@heather77:

It would appear that you didn't read the link about painting countertops, which began this way:

STEPS:
1. If it's a rental, like mine, get permission from your landlord.

Heather, thank you so much for this comment. Some of these ideas sounded great for my own kitchen, but made me cringe thinking about tenants doing this in my rental property. I am currently going through a very expensive remodel after a tenant took it upon himself to install new flooring, paint the kitchen two shades of tangerine (including the cabinets and the popcorn ceiling), and paint the bathroom (again, cabinets and ceiling) two shades of rose. Please, please, please do not install new flooring, or paint the cabinets (even the countertops!) without checking with your landlord first.

I saw that dishrack the other day and immediately put it on my wedding registry. If no one buys it I'm going to get it because it makes so much sense to have it OFF the the counter! Water always seeps under the dish rack and just gets gross.

Apple and Heather77, I deliberately didn't mention painting or installing new flooring or countertops because a) they're not small, relatively easy changes, and b) they're not rental-friendly, as you mentioned. And regarding covering the countertops, I specified that you should only consider painting them if you DON'T rent. All of these changes (with the exception of painting the countertops, and again, that's only if you have the freedom to attempt such a project) can be done by renters because they're reversible.

Apple, that sounds very painful (and expensive). I can definitely relate.

Marion, thanks for pointing that out -- makes me feel relieved. Now people will see the advice whether they click the link or not -- perfect!

During the January Cure, my big Project room was my kitchen in my apartment. I did #6 (under-sink area for cleaning stuff, and not permanent so I can take it with me) and #7 (upper cabinet with all my glasses, mugs, and tea stuff), which have been huge improvements.

I also did four other cheap-but-made-a-huge-difference projects: I completely reorganized my spices (gave them a dedicated drawer and new clear jars and labels), hung a magnetic piece of sheet metal inside a cabinet for my now-drawer-less measuring cups and spoons, hung magnetic strips for recipes while I cook, and made a new recipe binder (technically I already had one, but it was bursting at the seams). And all of these things were under $30 each, renter-friendly, and make my kitchen so much happier!

Remote switches (link: goo.gl/pyKSo) are great for under mount lighting in the kitchen as well as for bedroom lamps. Just beware that if you have two switches too close to each other in a tiny apartment, sometimes the remote frequencies get crossed. A couple of times my husband has turned off the under mount lights in the kitchen, which accidentally turned ON the lamps in our bedroom -- at 2am, when I was sleeping...

Excellent point, Cambria. I don't have a problem with a tenant freshening up their space. In fact, I love to see a tenant who has pride in their space because the property is generally better cared for and cleaner when they move out. Plus, the tenant usually stays longer! But it is easy to cross the line from simple, easily-reversed improvements to something that damages the property and costs much more in repairs than the tenant has on deposit. (eg - painting the walls, okay. painting the hardwood floors, not okay) I don't want to ever again have to refinance a property to get it in rentable condition after a tenant who made "upgrades" has moved out. Maybe that invisible line could be stressed in future articles on rental upgrades.

Good point, Cambria. Looks like I reacted too quickly based on my primal fear of unauthorized renter renovations.

Does anyone know of a good tutorial on changing the 70s (80s?) fluorescent light-boxes into an area to hang a pendant light, or recessed lighting, or even track lighting--anything other than what it is. I'd love to make that change in my kitchen. The ceiling in there also slopes, so I have to contend with that.

We made lots of little changes to improve our kitchen, including many of the ones listed above. It's not my dream kitchen, but it has come a long, long, LONG way since we first moved in. The little details/improvements are on my Bungalow Chronicles blog here.

We also completely changed the layout of our kitchen using the existing cabinets. The Kitchn Cure was a big help for me a few years ago, and once that was over and everything was in place I then painted the generic oak cabinets. The evolution of our kitchen is described in our Before/After.

I want to do ALL of these, especially change the light fixture. it's so dim and the kitchen doesn't have a fan so I want to change it to big a multi-light bulb fan. I do have a great dish rack from Ikea - its stainless steel and mounts to wall!

@heather77:

Having been born and raised in NYC I can't imagine any renter doing anything like changing countertops without checking first with the landlord! Paint the bathroom or kitchen? Yeah, as long as it wasn't a dark color the next tenant would have trouble covering. (It once took me 3 coats of Kilz to get rid of a truly hideous pink in the bathroom...)

Besides — it's only sensible to want to be on very good terms with your landlord in case something needs attention!

We bought our home in 2007, and I've been wanting to remodel the kitchen since before we moved in, but I really can't justify the expense, when the kitchen itself is pretty functional. About six months after we moved in, I added pullout shelves (#6) to my two largest cabinets, which were the biggest source of frustration in my day-to-day use of the space. Those pullouts changed my kitchen completely.

The kitchen has cheap, white laminate cabinets which date from 1991 when the house was built. I covered them about a year ago with a granite-look contact paper, which is still holding up well (and it hides dirt/fingerprints much better than the laminate). Total cost was less than $75. WAY better than spending $5K or more replacing the cabinets, which are perfectly usable, just butt-ugly.

One other thing we did was buy some extra laminate shelving and the little shelf support doo-hickeys, and cut extra shelves for the wall cabinets. Now I have three sturdy shelves in cabinets that previously had two, so i can store a lot more of my infrequently used items in the kitchen instead of the basement

I am leaning toward replacing the white laminate countertops and the sink - I think those two changes would spruce things up enough that I could live with the kitchen layout as is for another five years.

I saw the big "(Even a Rental!)" in the title and missed the "...get permission from your landlord" (since it's on a completely separate article and all), so I also cringed at some of these changes too--and I'm not a landlord, only a tenant who's seen what my landlord had to fix after other tenants moved out.

I'm not ready to shame the landlords in this thread for feeling that big NOOOO! at some of these suggestions.

Suggestion: how about putting that "Check with your landlord before making major changes" caveat into the opening paragraph of this article, instead of leaving it as an implication ("if you're a renter and can't make any permanent changes")?

Especially since some landlords are willing to knock the equivalent amount off the rent for changes they consider an upgrade to the property, making your upgraded hardware or pull-out shelving essentially a freebie.

Thanks for the comment, blueophelia. I don't see anything cringe-worthy in these suggestions. All of these changes can be undone at little to no expense. I've personally changed the overhead light in my rental kitchen, added a rug, replaced the faucet, swapped switch plates, etc., and kept all the original items which I replaced upon moving out.

The kitchen in my house was mauve, which happens to be my least favorite color in the world, so I painted the cabinets creamy white and the mauve countertops a rich brown.

If doing it again, I'd use a heavy-duty primer like The Gripper from home depot. I'd let it cure for two days, then paint the top coat(s) and let that cure for as long as I could, up to a week if at all possible.

My job was more quick & dirty, so after a couple of years the paint started flaking off near the sink where it gets wet a lot. Otherwise, it worked surprisingly well and was a quick and easy change!

* I forgot to say, the paint job was quick & dirty because I knew I'd be removing the homemade plywood cabinets altogether. But it took several years to get around to that, so even with some flaking near the sink, the temporary paint job made a huge difference in how the space felt to me!

What I found really useful in a tight galley kitchen was free-standing open shelves. I used cheap, plastic ones that were in our garage, but they did the job nicely. I'm lucky to now have my 'dream' kitchen, but I don't think I cook any more or better than when I was in my rental kitchens. I do agree with some of the suggestions here, but you certainly don't need to go changing countertops and faucets in order to have a pleasurable cooking experience.

I have replaced blinds, door knobs, light fixtures, shelves, closet organizers etc. in rental units without any issues. As long as you save the originals and replace them before leaving there is no negative impact to the landlord or your security deposit.

Also you are more likely to invest in things you like if you know you can take them with you after you leave. Some closet systems can be rebuilt in different shaped closets. And things like light fixtures, hardware, and a big lovely wood cutting board can definitely travel with you if you move apartments.

Lighting definitely makes a big difference. They not only add to the overall look but also is essential in making it easier to work around the kitchen. The downside with more light is that you see more of the things that you need to change. All the clutter becomes more visible and portions which need some fixing stand out.

Here are a few simple tips I follow to make my kitchens work for me:

Get organized. I list down the utensils and ingredients that I usually use and make sure that those are accessible. I make sure that I know where everything is and that they stay there. For the things that I don't usually use, I either hide them in my hard to reach storage areas.

I keep counters clean. Clean does not only mean spic and span but means I don't leave anything on countertops. Yep, that means no pots and pans, racks or whatever on your surfaces.

I love the rugs suggestions. Rugs not only adds some beauty to the kitchen space, but helps in keeping the space clean.

Lastly, Invest in a good trash bin. It will do wonders, believe me.

Landlord alert here. do NOT mess with electrics unless you know what you are doing, or you may be liable for a very large electricians bill [or worse, fire remediation]. hardware, switchplate covers, paint on walls [as long as they're restored to original], are not a big deal. talk to your landlord - we tend to be reasonable people. but anything we need to re/un-do to retenant the space is the vacating tenants expense. i take [and share] photos at the beginning and end of every tenancy. i've spent 10 years fixing up an old building and some of the things i have had to fix are painfully unneccary.

New paint. In my case, this is wall and ceiling paint in medium and intense shades of cheddar. My tiny kitchen gets north light, which is bluish. When everything was painted white the room became broody and morose in winter. The new colors knock the depression right out of it.

I'm a landlord and our solution is to have beautiful apartments (we only have 2 to keep up!) and rent to excellent tenants. We make our apartments places where we would be happy to live and we find our tenants treat them accordingly. Since I love to cook, I pay special attention to the kitchens. Over 13 years of doing this, we've only had one person paint without permission.

Wow, some great tips and beautiful kitchen photos. Unfortunately,my kitchen is literally smaller than most bathrooms. I long for the day when I can actually have a kitchen condusive to cooking and entertaining.

My standard apt refrigerator is faded/stained and just plain ugly, so I found a patterned shelf liner paper I liked and covered the whole front of the fridge. $5 for an update on such a huge piece in the kitchen! When/if I leave I'll just peel it off.

I have the dish rack and I LOVE it. I don't have a dishwasher in my apartment, so after using a plain dish rack for 7 months I decided to splurge and get something amazing. There is a lot more space, plus I love the wine attachment and knife block.

Rugs in the kitchen are a HUGE safety hazard!!!!

does anyone know if those ikea pullouts work with non-ikea cabinets?

I have a great apartment, with a nicely done kitchen (except for lack of good storage), the counter-tops are black with hints of green, almost cherry-wood upper and lower cabinets and black stove, fridge and dishwasher. It has great lighting also. (I think we lucked out with our apartment!)
To make it more "ours" and it match our style, we placed decorative items on top of the cabinets (an almost 4 ft. hand-carved dragon looks great atop the corner cupboard), placed red bathroom mats in front of the stove and sink, got all red little appliances (microwave, coffee pot, and drying towels). It makes the kitchen feel more like us and I enjoy my kitchen more.

Using plastic baskets/bins in various sizes in our cupboards increased storage space immensely, as did getting a freezer and placing it in our laundry area.

RE: #7, small wire shelves: they have these at my local Dollar Store! They've been so helpful in organizing my kitchen cabinets.

#8 (Dish rack): I finally decided that having even a tiny, nice-looking dish rack on my counter was adding to the stressful clutter in my kitchen. Now, I make sure there's a little spot for it under the sink, so I can easily pull it out as needed.

Another thing that made a HUGE impact in our kitchen: a new coat of bright ceiling paint. I didn't realize how dingy it was until I repainted it. So much brighter in there now.

I also discovered that wire mesh CD bins (who actually buys them anymore?) are the exact depth as my upper cabinets. I use them to corral everything from my medications to travel mug lids. So helpful.

I love the sound of a "big, handsome cutting board". Great tips!

We rent as well and recently this week a did a little kitchen updating myself! Luckily we have good basics (large travertine tile floor, dark oak cabinets, black appliances, beautiful African tile counter tops, and a nice light fixture). I added a 3x5 natural fiber rug, replaced the dingy curtains with 2" dark "wood" blinds, hung up a photo in a large black frame and installed a paper towel holder under a cabinet. The space looks so much more put together and warm!

Thanks for sharing photo #1. Our kitchen cabinets have that rounded curve in them at the top and it's nice to see how they'd look if we painted them white. Especially like the dark handles on them.

Re #2 Shelf and Drawer liners: After years as a restaurant owner I have been trained to never use liners. The health department says they make a perfect hiding place for bugs to breed and lay eggs, even the kind with an adhesive back. Shelf and drawer surfaces should be bare but washable. Save yourself the headache of fighting roaches.

Soco - I have used the advice of the men and women of handymanwire with success for the last 3 years. Here is a thread from their forums regarding someone wanting to switch 2 non-recessed fluorescent kitchen lights to two incandescent pendants: http://handymanwire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/726501/1

If that doesn't address you particular situation, you should join the forums and ask them. Sure to include a good description of your situation and maybe a photo if you can. These people are super helpful and quick with responses. And they will make sure to tell you what not to do (i.e. breaking code, killing yourself) and hash out disagreements over what constitues best practices among themselves in the thread so that you can get a very good idea of what issues are involved.

I love this site. They are my go-to for pretty much everything.