This post comes to you sponsored by Premier Surfaces. All thoughts are my own.

Happy weekend, everyone! Over the last few months, my husband and I have been making some small updates to our tiny home to make it more efficient, and in the last few weeks, we have focused predominantly on our kitchen! Since the new year started, we’ve spent a lot of time cooking to help with our goals of eating more fresh foods and eating more at home, so it was only natural that we make our kitchen the best it can be! All of the time spent cooking, reorganizing, de-cluttering, and cooking again has me thinking an awful lot about my dream kitchen and how I could make our kitchen more beautiful (and useful, of course). I put together a guide for overhauling a kitchen in an old home like ours and included some GORGEOUS inspiration pics as well.

Note: While ideally, we’d all have the freedom and the finances to make these sort of changes, many people live in rental houses like ours and don’t have the chance to update their home to this extent. For ideas on how to upgrade your kitchen in a rental home, shoot me an email or comment below!

Step 1: Give the walls a fresh coat of paint

You’ve probably heard it said a million times that paint is one of the most obvious ways to make a room look brand new, and it’s true! Even simply moving from the basic tan of a rental home to an off-white or pale blue can make an enormous difference. Check out the photos below to see what a difference new walls can make in setting the tone for your living space!

Source: Pinterest

Step 2: Maximize storage space

A cheaper and less time-consuming option for updating your kitchen is maximizing storage space! This is a project we’ve been doing in our home for the last few weeks and it has made a huge impact on the efficiency of our home. By installing a few new shelves in our pantry, we’ve given ourselves room to store pieces up high that we don’t use often and also room for everything to finally have its own place (hallelujah!). Maximizing storage space left our cupboards and countertops looking less cluttered, which is a big deal in our little home!

Source: Haley Stanley

Step 3: Replace cupboards

I mean, these photos say it all! Not all cupboard changes are this dramatic, but you can see how significant updating old cupboards can be in a kitchen like this. Updating cupboards is another way of maximizing storage space! Pinterest is filled with ideas for every kind of drawer, nook, and cranny and how it can be used to upgrade your kitchen’s effectiveness. For instance, have you ever seen an extra storage space where the baseboard is at the very bottom of the lowest drawer? My in-laws have that in their kitchen and it blew me away with how useful it can be!

Step 4: Install new countertops

Installing new countertops is another way to drastically improve the look of your kitchen! I have a grand dream of one day having a huge shopping spree at Premier Surfaces, which is one of the top providers of gorgeous home surfaces. For you Auburn folks, Premier Surfaces has showrooms in Atlanta, Huntsville, Birmingham, and Chattanooga! Premier Surfaces has even won the Atlanta Consumer’s Choice Awards every year since 2008, so that shows how valued they are by the local community! Countertops like the ones below are an amazing part of your kitchen to splurge on- so start saving now!

Source: Premier Surfaces

Step 5: Upgrade and match appliances

One of the surefire ways to make sure your kitchen looks put together and neat is to make sure all of your appliances match. I can’t wait until the day that we can replace our old white fridge and stove with some sleek new stainless steel counterparts! Some other options include black stainless steel (super cool and trendy), slate, and brushed copper.

Source: Pinterest

With all of these new ideas under your belt, I’m sure you’re ready to get started on your kitchen re-do! As always, follow my Pinterest Board below for more home ideas and shoot me a message if you have any home design questions from this wanna-be designer. And make sure to check out Premier Surfaces for design inspiration and all of the beautiful countertops your house may need.

What is your next home project? What would you like for me to write about next? Let me know below!