5 Design Ideas for Rental Kitchens

5 Design Ideas for Rental Kitchens

When moving into a new apartment, your kitchen is a blank space just waiting for you to fill it in with your personality and style. Today, we are sharing 5 kitchen designs to help you add some appealing yet functional touches that are also renter-friendly.

ONE: Add Open Freestanding Storage. Often, older apartment kitchens, while charming, lack essential storage. An easy and affordable way to create additional storage in your rental kitchen is to add metal wire shelves. You can place the shelves against an empty wall in the kitchen or the dining room. Organize and style the open shelves with woven baskets. Also, you can stylishly store large pots, pans and small appliances on the shelves. 

Image: How to Nest for Less
 

TWO: Style the Counters. Declutter your kitchen counters by putting away unnecessary items and arranging your countertops in a thoughtful way.

Group wood cutting boards together and lean them against your backsplash to showcase your collection and have them readily available. Create a countertop coffee table station; use a beautiful glass jar to hold coffee grounds or fill a small colorful bowl with coffee pods. Also, stack your most adored coffee cups next to the coffee maker for added whimsy. Consider stacking all your beautiful cookbooks on the counter and arrange them thoughtfully; group the book spines by color or by cookbook topic.

I’m a huge fan of trays! Use a tray on your countertop to hold your everyday kitchen essentials: salt cellar, pepper mill, olive oil container and recipe box. In addition, trays add color and texture on the counter.

Image: Suburban Faux Pas
 

THREE: Add Artwork or a Mirror. If your rental has a small galley kitchen without a window above your sink, consider adding artwork or a mirror there. Adding a mirror above your sink will help bounce light around a small kitchen and make it feel larger.

In my kitchen, I used 3M Picture Hanging Strips to hang artwork above my stove; it's an inexpensive and damage-free way to hang artwork without creating holes in the walls.

FOUR: Bring in Color with a Rug. Patterned rugs look beautiful in kitchens; in all-white kitchens they brighten up the room. In wood-toned kitchens, patterned rugs add a layer of sophistication. Opt for an oriental pattern rug to bring in extra color; they’re more day to day friendly in case of spills. Rugs can help stylishly update an average linoleum or tile floor. 

Image: A Lovely Lark
 

FIVE: Create an Indoor Herb Garden. Indoor herb gardens are both practical and pretty. Who doesn’t love the idea of growing their own herbs? Plant your favorite easy to grow herbs in varying sized small terra cotta pots (make sure they have saucers for extra protection from water) and place them on a tray or large dish on your counter.  Or, put the pots on your windowsill. Not only will the herbs make your kitchen smell good, but they also add a cute touch of greenery to a rental kitchen.

I hope you have enjoyed my five design ideas to help personalize your rental kitchen and take it from so-so to well styled merging both the pretty and practical.

 BIO

Katrina Sullivan is the blogger behind Chic Little House, a blog dedicated to sharing her passion for Small Home Living, Interior Design, DIY and Treasure Hunting. Her style is influenced by the laid back California lifestyle, with a mix of classic lines and mid-century modern furniture. 

Published September 19, 2017