Buyers consider a home's kitchen is one of the most important selling points of a home. If you are looking to list your home for sale, you will want to make the kitchen stand out. But, if your kitchen is dated, you may not want to invest in a full-blown renovation. This is because most kitchen renovations will only net you about 66 percent of your investment back when it comes time to sell your home. This means, if you invest $20,000 in a renovation, you are only likely to increase your home's value by about $13,200. As such, you will want to update your kitchen inexpensively, helping you to net the maximum return on investment while still attracting buyers who don't want a dated kitchen. Here are a few things you can do to inexpensively and quickly update a dated kitchen.

Give the Kitchen Cabinets a Facelift

The color of your kitchen cabinets may date this space, which can deter potential buyers. Many buyers are looking for a turn-key home that they don't have to renovate. However, you don't have to rip out perfectly good kitchen cabinets and replace them simply because the wood color gives away your home's age or possibly scares away buyers. Kitchen cabinets can be resurfaced and stained or painted, giving them a fresh appearance. Currently, white or cream, grey and navy are all popular kitchen cabinet colors.

Painting and staining kitchen cabinets is a project you may be able to do on your own. However, it is important to note that it is a lot of work. You have to remove the doors and drawers and then sand down every inch of your cabinetry. Once they are sanded down, they have to be painted or stained evenly. This involves painting small crevices, which can be hard to reach, and it is important that everything is painted evenly or cleanly, or it can look streaky and poorly done. If you don't have much time or doubt your painting ability, a professional painting company or kitchen remodeling company can help you with this task.

If your cabinets are already a modern color, you may wish to consider updating them by adding hardware to them, or switching out the hardware. Door knobs and drawer pulls can add character and charm to any kitchen, making yours feel more modern.

Swap Out Your Lighting

The lighting fixtures in a kitchen can be a dead giveaway to the age of the space. For example, brass and gold fixtures were popular in the 80s and 90s. Swapping out your old and dated light fixtures for new and modern ones can instantly brighten up the space, while modernizing it. There are many different types of lighting fixtures that you can use in a kitchen, but pendant lighting is one of the most popular. Other popular options include contemporary fixtures with metal and eclectic statement lights that bring in a pop of color.

Painting

Believe it or not, but one of the best ways to update a kitchen is to paint it. Old paint in a kitchen can look dreary and dull. It may even be coated in grease or cooking stains that you have gotten so used to seeing that you look past it. Taking the time to apply a fresh coat of paint to the walls can brighten a space up and make it look clean and fresh. This may be just the boost your kitchen needs to appeal to home buyers. Lighter paint colors can make a space seem brighter and larger, so stick to a light color when painting your kitchen. White, gray, mint, blueish-grey and butter cream yellow are all expected to be popular colors this year.

If you are preparing to put your home up for sale, you will want to take the time to make some changes to an outdated kitchen. This can help your home sell faster and for more money. However, you don't want to invest a lot of time or money by doing a full-blown renovation, as you may not recoup all of the money you invested into the project. Painting the kitchen, swapping out light fixtures and giving your cabinetry a facelift will help transform the appearance of your kitchen inexpensively.

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