How to Make Your Kitchen Look Modern With Dated Appliances

Remove old wallpaper in your kitchen, including borders along the top of the ceiling. Wallpaper was once very common in kitchens because of its cost effectiveness and cleaning ease. While wallpaper is still a viable option in some kitchens, older styles of wallpaper should be removed to make your kitchen feel more up to date.

Paint your walls a vibrant color that gives the kitchen a sleek, modern feel. Bright colors like red, yellow and bright white can make the entire room feel modern without changing any of the appliances, furniture or accessories in the kitchen.

Replace curtains with more modern window coverings like Roman shades or vertical blinds. Roman shades made of a hard material, along with vertical blinds made of natural wood, painted wood or plastic are also much easier to keep clean in the kitchen, since they can be wiped clean with a mixture of water and mild soap when grease and food residue builds up. Curtains with patterns, particularly curtains with large patterns or floral prints will make a kitchen look dated.

Replace small items in your kitchen like coffee presses, toasters and microwaves. Look for items that are made with brushed or polished metal or steel. Metal tends to give a kitchen a more contemporary look, and a little goes a long way in most cases. As an added benefit, when the time arrives to replace your larger appliances with more modern ones it will be easy to find metal or steel appliances that match.

Put decorative tiles on your backsplash or replace those on your countertop to give the kitchen a more modern look without replacing your appliances. Look for solid colored tiles in bold, contemporary colors or patterned tiles in just one or two colors. Using multiple colors incorrectly might make your kitchen look less contemporary, since most modern designs use only two or three colors at once.

Swap out dated seating around your kitchen table for more modern seating. Classic designs like Eames molded plywood chairs or chairs made out of unique materials like Lucite can give your room a whole new feel.

Add mirrors to your kitchen area to make it feel larger and more contemporary. You can use mirrored tiles around your appliances or use a table with a mirrored finish. Accessories with a highly polished finish will make your kitchen look more contemporary.