18 Budget-Friendly Tips For Staging Outdated Kitchens

You're planning a move and while you're excited about your next home, there are a number of challenges and obstacles that come with selling your current house. Amidst all of your life duties, you also have to find time to clean and stage your house. Worst of all, you have to contend with your outdated kitchen, which you can't help but feel is shooting you in the foot. While it's easy to get overwhelmed when your space it outfitted with linoleum tiles, dark wooden cabinets, and an electric coil stovetop, you don't have to resign yourself to showing the kitchen as is. You also do not have to sink thousands of dollars into a last-minute remodel of the space; there's a middle-of-the-road option that involves affordably staging your outdated kitchen so that it sells quickly.

Staging a house is all about creating a story. When prospective buyers walk in the door, you want your space to elicit positive emotions — cozy, clean, well-cared-for — which will make them more likely to consider buying the house. The same can be accomplished for your outdated kitchen if you know where to direct your efforts. Budget-friendly tips include cleaning your kitchen and radically decluttering so that it's a blank canvas, then painting the space if it's needed, updating cabinet hardware, and swapping out light switch cover plates. You can also brighten up the space by changing out light bulbs for brighter ones, placing an attractive floral arrangement or bowl of fruit, or even installing a new faucet. Whether you have $50 or $500 for your staging budget, there are many options to help your outdated kitchen turn heads.

Although this tip is anything from exciting, it's the foundation for a successful kitchen staging. You need to begin with a completely clean canvas that you can build from, which means deep cleaning your kitchen. Start by clearing off surfaces, then wiping down counters, backsplashes, the stovetop, and light switches, to remove any hidden grime. Now is also a good time to dust light fixtures, clean the inside of the microwave and oven, and to also thoroughly clean the floors. You might be surprised by how much fresher a clean space feels.

If you're working with a kitchen that has more dated-looking cabinets, one of the most affordable ways to upgrade their appearance is with some new hardware. Choosing some trendy cabinet pulls or knobs will make the entire space feel fresh while taking the focus away from the dated cabinets or drawers. Some more modern finishes for cabinet hardware include matte black, brushed brass, and gunmetal, to name a few. If you shop sales, you can keep these costs low, getting a big bang for your buck.

While you might not be able to change your entire kitchen before showing it to prospective buyers, you can swap out your everyday tea towels for some fresh ones. Work with the current color and decor scheme of your kitchen but bring in a few new towels — place one by the sink and hang one on your oven handle. If you're wanting to keep costs super low, check out Home Goods, which often sells kitchen towels for cheap.

You might think that a light bulb is a light bulb, but when it comes to staging your home, this is not quite true. In order to achieve the best results in your outdated kitchen, a great budget tip that professionals recommend is to use the proper lighting. Kitchens should be bright, so you'll want to find 2700-3000 kelvin soft white bulbs, according to First Impression Home Staging. You might also want to add a small lamp to any dark corners of your kitchen to create the sense of space.

Potted plants or fresh flowers are a great way to improve your dated kitchen without spending a lot of money. Plants increase the vibrancy of the space and are psychologically capable of improving mood and feelings of well-being. So, a few aptly placed ones can really make a difference among prospective buyers. Place a vase of flowers on your kitchen island or near the sink, and add a potted succulent or fern on your counter. You'll not only be adding a gorgeous green hue to your kitchen but also incorporating layers of visual appeal and texture.

Similar to the plants tip, one way to make your outdated kitchen feel more pleasant and inviting is to add a bowl of fresh fruit to your staging repertoire. You can choose any seasonal produce you like, but beware that some fruits and vegetables will go bad faster than others, requiring a fresh batch. Place a bowl of lemons and oranges on your kitchen table, or some juicy apples. You can also use small bell peppers in a bowl to add a pop of color. Refrigerate your produce after a showing to keep it fresh longer.

A pretty soap pump can go a long way in your outdated kitchen. Place it right next to your sink and pull it out whenever you're about to have a showing — you can use your own soap whenever you're in the house and just keep the attractive pump under the sink so it's easy to access. If you want to make things even easier, just purchase a new refillable soap pump that you can use for daily life and showings. It will give you one fewer thing to worry about resetting.

Even the most modern space can feel suffocating if it is cluttered — the same goes for your outdated kitchen. In order to give your kitchen the best chance at turning heads, it's smart to declutter wherever you can. Focus on areas that are visible (prospective buyers probably aren't going to be rifling through your cabinets and drawers), like the top of your fridge, countertops, buffet, and island. Remove items that are not adding decorative value. This includes items like small countertop appliances, or other items you keep out for the sake of convenience.

First impressions matter greatly when you're selling your home. Before any prospective buyers will see your kitchen, chances are they will already have a sense of your space due to the scent of it. While a clean and odorless home is better than a smelly one, it's basic real estate wisdom to do something to improve the aroma of your home. You can achieve a fresh smelling kitchen by baking cookies or using a plug-in scent diffuser or candle — just be sure to adjust the setting to a moderate level so that it's not overpowering.

Staging your home is kind of like telling a story, and the items that you place on your countertops will help to plant seeds in prospective buyers' minds about what a space is capable of. Even if you have a quite outdated kitchen, you can help to tell a story of culinary excellence by placing a few cookbooks in the corner — either standing up or stacked upon one another. You can even leave a cookbook open on the countertop (choose a recipe with a delicious and beautiful-looking image to help flesh out the story you're telling).

Whether you have a big walk-in pantry or a smaller cabinet system, it's important to showcase how the space can serve you. Begin by sorting through old ingredients and tossing whatever isn't worth keeping (remember that you'll be moving soon, so it's good to let go of whatever you don't plan to take anyway). Purchasing a handful of nice-looking food storage containers is a great idea, too — you can use glass jars, trendy acrylic containers, or clamp-lid jars. Don't overcrowd the shelves of your pantry space, either, since this will feel suffocating and cluttered.

If your outdated kitchen's paint is looking a little worse for wear, maybe it's time to consider giving it a facelift. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for the overall appearance, and while it does take some time and energy, the upfront costs of DIY painting are pretty reasonable. Since you're selling your house, you don't have to choose a paint color that you love, but try to optimize for a color that most prospective buyers will appreciate. Select from tried and true colors like whites, grays, and blues.

While you absolutely do not have to paint kitchen cabinets in order to successfully stage your home, some realtors like to recommend brightening up a space this way. Older wooden cabinets are timeless but they might not look the best if they are beaten up, which can lead a prospective buyer to worry about the cost of replacing them. A fresh coat of paint can fix all of this and if you're extra ambitious you can even tackle this task yourself, with the easiest way to paint your kitchen cabinets.

While your current kitchen faucet might get the job done, staging your outdated kitchen is all about getting prospective buyers excited about the space (not dreading all of the updates they'll have to make). Installing a new faucet can be an affordable way to upgrade the sink area and give your kitchen some major appeal. Do you research in advance to choose the perfect kitchen faucet that is reliable enough and not so trendy that it will be out of style next year. Remember to match it to the other elements of your kitchen, too.

One way to successfully stage your kitchen is by incorporating a simple kitchen island. Not only will the island create functional space in the kitchen and an opportunity to stage accent items like a fruit bowl and cookbooks, but it can also take the attention away from older, less impressive aspects of the room. You can find affordable options from Wayfair or IKEA, like the FÖRHÖJA Kitchen Cart ($179.99) or the TORNVIKEN Kitchen Island ($449.99).

An outdated kitchen can be upgraded by installing some simple peel-and-stick backsplash tiles. This is an affordable option that can give your space a more modern and designer feel without taking up too much time or energy. Remember to choose something that complements rather than clashes with the remainder of your kitchen's features, including the appliances, faucet, and hardware. Also, now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the mistakes that could ruin your DIY peel-and-stick backsplash.

Stove drip pans might not seem like they make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of your outdated kitchen, but the burnt-on oil and sauces that have accumulated over the years beg to differ. Some stains are so stubborn that removing them will take a lot of time and noxious chemicals. Fortunately, you can purchase a new set of drip pans for cheap (you can even find them in an all-black finish if that suits your kitchen's style better), which can make even an old electric coil stove appear more modern.

If you're down for a few more simple swaps to help your outdated kitchen sell faster, installing new light switch cover plates is an excellent option. These can be purchased online in a number of styles and colors — from matte black to white with pearl-like details — so you'll be able to locate whatever goes best with your design scheme. Your old ones should unscrew easily and the new switch cover plates can be quickly replaced for an overall fresher-looking space.