Ok so less isn’t always more. Like when it comes to diamonds, shoes and good food. But when it comes to kitchen decor? I’ve learned a very important lesson. Less is definitely more. Thanks to the advice of a good friend and my overwhelming love of neutral decor, I decided to give this theory a try in my kitchen. I made most of these changes last year, and this post is long overdue, but I wanted to share the before and after’s of my kitchen. The cluttered before and the decluttered afters.
When we moved into our home 3 years ago, I wanted to get it decorated as quickly as possible. The thought of leaving it bare drove me nuts, and I had so much decor from my old house that I just started shoving stuff anywhere and everywhere. My old house had a lot of green things so I decided the new kitchen was going to be green. Mistake #1.
Here are photos of our kitchen shortly after moving in with anything green I could find. Vases painted green, green plates mats and flowers, even green plates on the wall.
Like I said, sometime last year between my desire to neutralize my home decor, and my friend Amy telling me to remove all the puke green from my kitchen, I decided to make changes. One of the first projects I did was install this DIY cream subway tile backsplash.
The next big thing I did was install the Easiest Crown Molding Ever throughout my kitchen and entire downstairs. Such an amazing value added upgrade for very little cost.
Then I bought 4 more chairs from Joss & Main to match the ones already in my dining room and put them around my eat-in kitchen table.
And the last update was the light fixtures. The chandelier over the eat in table was given to me by my mom (sorry I don’t know the source) and the shades over the island were from Lowe’s that I added some bling to myself. (The exact same crystals that I added to my DIY Dining Room Chandelier. )
The final, and most important thing I did to finish my kitchen update was REMOVE all the green clutter. All the place mats, the stuff filling up the countertops, and last but not least, ALL the stuff above the cabinets. I’m not going to lie. At first it seemed super bare and I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to handle it. But after having it all gone for a few weeks, and especially once I hung the crown molding it really grew on me. The crown especially “finished off” the now empty area above the cabinets. And now? I absolutely love it with nothing up there. No clutter, and no stuff I have to dust off all the time.
A lot of people think (including myself a couple years ago) that you HAVE to fill and decorate the space above the cabinets in kitchens. I see it all the time. But the truth is? You don’t. Less is more. In my dream kitchen, I would have my cabinets built up to the ceiling to fill that empty space. Maybe in my next house 🙂 But for now I’m going to enjoy the simplicity and classy look I feel like I’ve created by eliminating a lot of “stuff” from my kitchen.
The best part about this makeover? I didn’t have to buy any “things” to decorate it. I spent money on the things that add value like crown molding, light fixtures and backsplash.
Another thing I did was change the curtains to match the ones throughout the rest of my home. Keeping consistent window treatments throughout your house is one of the great ways to create cohesiveness between rooms. I have a lot of tips on cohesiveness that I plan on sharing soon!
A reminder of the before:
And the after:
So what do you think about my updated kitchen? Do you think less is more or do you prefer more kitchen decor? Comment and let me know your thoughts, I love hearing from you guys!