Before & After: A Rental Kitchen Gets a Landlord-Friendly Upgrade

Like many renters (including several of us at The Kitchn) when Julia moved into her Chicago rental she was faced with a kitchen that she calls “builder basic.” It had all white walls, light wood cabinets without any hardware, and no personality whatsoever. Luckily, she got the go-ahead from her landlord to make a few changes. And that’s all it took to make her kitchen feel completely different.

We love how much Julia was able to change the feel of her kitchen without any major renovations. She couldn’t remove anything, and she needed to make changes that could be reversed. The cabinets are the only thing that might not be able to be returned to normal.

Here’s Julia’s kitchen after just the cabinets were completed. Even that step makes a huge difference in how the space looks. The dark paint and white walls are a bit too high contrast, though, so Julia made one more change.

Which is where the green wall paint comes in. The shade she chose is such a soothing color. It really balances the dark cabinets and light appliances and countertops.

But our favorite part is that backsplash. Not only did Julia find tile that perfectly coordinated with her cabinets and paint, but the tile is also…removable! That means that when she moves out, the tile will go with her and her landlord won’t be finding reason to keep a portion of her security deposit. Although, if we were her landlord, we’d rather she leave the tile—it looks great!

Thanks for sharing your kitchen update with us, Julia.

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