What if you still love your decades-old home, but want to give your kitchen a modern makeover? You can turn to a visionary like Jen Todrick. Todrick frequently shares how to remodel your kitchen on a budget. Often, that means keeping the same square footage or basic layout so minimal work is required. But when you need to cut costs even further, what should you keep and what should you throw out? In an episode of “No Demo Reno,” Todrick determines that you can brighten up a dark kitchen the owner wanted to remodel without replacing the floors.
After walking through the remodeled kitchen with the homeowners, Todrick says, “The best thing about looking at this kitchen is that I had to point out the existing floors. My design goal was to hide them from view.” One of the main ways she accomplished this was by matching the cream color of the existing floors with the cream undertones of the wood-grain quartz countertops she chose, which together complement the newly remodeled white cabinets and navy blue island.
Thinking about remodeling your kitchen? To keep costs down, consider how the color of your old flooring will coordinate with the other materials and colors in the room. It can also help to add other finishes and decorative accents during the remodel, as Todryk did with this project.
Other ways Todryk makes the most of your existing kitchen floors
Another way Jen Todrick offsets the cream tile floor in this kitchen remodel is by drawing the eye upward and away from the floor. She accomplishes this by using a polished chrome pendant light fixture hanging above the island as a striking focal element in the room. The new façade for the range hood above the stove also adds an architectural detail that draws the eye away from the floor.
Features like this are also one way to break up the bland look of builder-grade white cabinets. Polished chrome pendant light fixtures can be purchased for about $150 to $500, depending on the style you choose. A prefabricated wood range hood that can be painted to match the cabinets will set you back around $1,300. Both give the room a luxurious look that complements the existing flooring, which Todryk left in place.
But it's not just about drawing the eye up high. She also placed accent rugs on either side of the island, which add color, texture, and an eye-catching pattern to the space while covering part of the floor. Worried about having a pretty rug in your kitchen, where spills are inevitable? Machine-washable rugs are more stylish than ever, and runners similar to the style Todrick chose can be purchased for under $200 a pop. So with a few of Jen Todrick's great tips, you can make the most of your old flooring and update the areas around it.
