Kitchen

It’s totally renter-friendly.

It was all DIY, and it cost about $800.

You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a fancy kitchen.

The 200-square-foot kitchen “feels more open and light,” the homeowner says.

Wisconsin-based interior designer Emily Winters of Peabody’s Interiors was tasked with an all-too-classic mission: An outdated kitchen from the late 1990s to early 2000s was in need of a modern makeover — and a much more functional layout.“It was a sea of natural maple cabinetry with sponge-painted walls and Corian countertops,” Winters says of the original kitchen.

“We knew we wanted a stone floor instead of linoleum and to replace the upper cabinets with shelving,” the homeowner says.

It cost $10,000 to renovate.

“I wanted something brighter, more colorful, and more personal,” the homeowner says.

“It was a blank slate with so much potential to become something stylish, fun, and functional,” the homeowner says.

“The bench is both functional and pretty,” the DIYer says.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a space transform through your own effort,” the DIYer says.

My kitchen was stuck in the worst version of the '70s, but I gutted, refinished, and rebuilt it with vintage design in mind.

It's an homage to Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner.

The apartment dweller was after a minimalist, modern-meets-vintage look.

Before, there was barely any cabinet storage.

It’s entirely DIY.

“Everything had to be renter-friendly,” the DIYer says.

Even though you might not live in a rental home forever, that doesn’t mean you have to grin and bear it if you’re not loving the look and feel. There are plenty of smart ways you can update a space in a reversible, temporary way. Renter Sarah Bryant (@sarahlouwho) knows this well. After moving into a charming 1901 apartment in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Sarah decided to make some changes to what she guessed was an “early 2000s” kitchen.

This is proof that a small budget can make a big impact.

"This kitchen was practically screaming for a makeover," says the designer behind the redo.