7 Ideas to Update Your Kitchen Before Selling Your Home

Are you selling your home and the kitchen looks like 1985?

‘Tis the season for home buying and selling a home. One of the most important fundamentals of successfully selling your home is having a sharp looking kitchen with clean lines, sanitary equipment, materials, and an overall look for today’s expectations. Kitchen remodeling can cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, but sometimes a few small changes can make that aging kitchen look fresh and inviting. DIY-inclined people with a kitchen refresh project can generally complete it in no more than a week or two depending on the extent of the changes to the kitchen.

A large part of a kitchen refresh or upgrade is likely going to require caulking - and InstaTrim's trim strips can help you get the job done faster and with cleaner lines.

It can be extremely stressful making your kitchen ready for home buyer walkthroughs. To help ease your stress, here are 7 Ideas for Updating Your Kitchen Before Selling Your Home:

TIP 1: Apply fresh paint around your kitchen and its connected spaces

One of the most cost-effective and fastest ways to freshen up a kitchen is to apply a fresh coat of paint. Color styles change – and likely a home buyer will not like the neon pink you chose in 1985. Go with a paint that is more neutral and of good quality. Wallpaper in the way? It is even possible to paint over some wallpaper – and it can give a nice texture to the paint depending on what the design is. Alternatively, textured paint or brushes like special sponges can hide a wallpaper texture you may not want to show through.

 

TIP 2: Install new trim around your new kitchen paint

New paint doesn’t look as good if the trim and molding is dented, scratched, out-of-date, or has 25 years of your kid’s color crayons living on it. Once the paint is dry, use InstaTrim instead of pre-fabricated trim strips. Available in a diverse range of colors and sizes, don’t forget to also use InstaTrim along the ceiling and baseboards for a sharp, clean edge. And here’s a bonus, InstaTrim is also paintable!

 

TIP 3: Kitchen cabinets like paint too

This can be a little more time intensive and require more accuracy, but that light oak color cabinet from the 1990s isn’t in style anymore. White is the most popular cabinet color right now followed by black and dark wood. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since you already have your paint brushes out, perhaps painting your cabinets is the least expensive and quickest way to go!

 

TIP 4: Don’t forget those kitchen cabinet handles

Replacing all the kitchen cabinet handles, pulls, and hinges will make a huge difference in updating your home. These styles change just like clothing styles change, and it is amazing what you can accomplish with such a simple change. Generally, you don’t want to paint the hardware. But if you’re on a budget, you can find used or refurbished handles online or at most secondhand stores.

 

TIP 5: Straighten those kitchen cabinets and fill any gaps

Often, cabinets are not flush against the wall and have uneven gaps that can drive you nuts. Even in new homes, walls can have uneven surfaces which leads to gaps between the wall and the cabinets. These gaps are problems for keeping things sanitary, keeping bugs, like ants and other pests out, not to mention it just looks bad. Some people may use caulking to fix this problem. Unless you’re a professional, caulk can make the problem look worse. Toss out the messy caulk for a simple and easy to use solution - InstaTrim. Our flexible peel-and-stick caulk goes on easily and without the sticky mess of traditional caulking. We know you can do it, and we have hints like this InstaTrim how-to video for a quick tutorial to get you going.

 

TIP 6: A kitchen sink should shine

The sink is one of the focal points of any kitchen as it gets the most use – just a bit more important than that freezer full of ice cream in the summer. A dirty sink, esp. one that was never caulked properly around the edges, can bring down the whole feel of the kitchen. Replace caulking with InstaTrim. How? Just cut away the old caulk, clean the area with acetone and a scrubby sponge or brush, peel back the liner and press the flexible trim into place. It looks better and lasts longer than traditional caulk. There is no better way to keep your kitchen sink free from debris, mildew and mold than to seal it with flexible trim strips.

 

TIP 7: Stylish backsplashes are helpful and beautiful

Peel-and-stick backsplashes that look like real tile are one of the latest trends and are quite common. They give you a professional, high-end look without the trouble and mess of applying grout. Whether its regular tile or peel and stick tile, there are still the edges that need to be finished. Hide those unsightly and uneven edges and finish your kitchen backsplash with InstaTrim flexible trim strips instead.

We truly hope these 7 tips for improving your kitchen before selling your home have provided you the confidence you need to get your kitchen in order. A lot of people will soon be looking at your home, and we promise that InstaTrim will help you take away some of that stress and time required to reach your goals.