8 Ways to Update Your Kitchen and Impress Buyers

The kitchen is a central place in many homes. People enjoy their morning coffee, cook meals for loved ones, and share some wine with friends in this space. In one survey, almost half of the respondents said that the kitchen is the home's most important room. 

So, if you’re about to sell your property, you might be giving the kitchen a lot of importance on your renovation checklist—trying to make this space as appealing as possible for buyers. But overhauling your kitchen isn’t the wisest idea. Data shows that even a mid-range kitchen remodel is a losing game, with homeowners recouping only around 49 percent of their investment. 

The good news is there’s a middle ground: You don’t have to do an involved, high-end renovation to make a big difference. Here are seven ways to give your kitchen just enough of a refresh to make buyers think, “I want to spend time in here.”

1. Redo the backsplash 

A dated backsplash can make an entire kitchen look stuck in the past—and less than pristine. Even routinely cleaned grout accumulates grime and becomes discolored. 

Give this focal point of your kitchen a refresh by retiling the backsplash (or putting one in if you currently have drywall behind the stove or sink). This can be a DIY job if you have the time to watch tutorials and perform the work correctly. You will likely also need to rent or buy some tools, like a tile cutter, in addition to purchasing supplies like grout, thin-set mortar, and the tiles themselves. 

If the DIY route seems overwhelming, get professional help or consider putting in a vinyl stick-on backsplash. The latter may not be the most glamorous option, but it can be savvy. Many homeowners like to personalize their kitchen, and the person who buys your property can easily remove this detail if they want to put in another type of backsplash.

2. Put in new flooring

Kitchen floors: they’re the recipient of years of spilled sauce, oil splatter, and all other nature of stains. After a while, they start to look grimy and old—especially if they’re vinyl or made from another porous material. 

Put in fresh flooring and give your kitchen an instant facelift. This change costs a few thousand dollars, which in the grand scheme of kitchen renovation fees is a relatively small investment. Choose a neutral color that will appeal to a wide range of homebuyers to help ensure the next person won’t tear out your work. 

3. Do a DIY cabinet upgrade 

Replacing kitchen cabinets is very costly—according to Forbes, $8,200 on average. You can do a far more wallet-friendly refresh by upgrading the cabinets on your own. Spend some time on interior design websites or apps like Instagram and Pinterest to study popular (and universally pleasing) kitchen cabinet ideas or ask your real estate agent, who knows what buyers like, for tips.

If you have wooden cabinets, you can easily sand down and repaint them in a trendy, neutral tone. If the cabinets are made out of another material, like fiberboard, you can likely skip the sanding step and go straight to painting. 

And whether you choose to repaint or not, do a couple of quick updates to boost your cabinets’ aesthetics. Swap out old hardware (like knobs and handles) for contemporary pieces and line drawers with attractive stick-on paper. 

4. Update kitchen appliances

If you have the budget, consider leaving the next homeowner with a major perk: new, energy-efficient appliances. People who view your home will be pleased to know they’ll save on utility bills. 

Plus, the optics of updated appliances don’t hurt, either. Installing sleek stainless steel pieces can give a kitchen an instant refresh.

5. Swap out the faucet

Kitchen faucets are part form, part function—so, a good-looking faucet that has great pressure (and maybe a hose feature) is a plus. Watch tutorials and switch out the faucet on your own or get a plumber to help. This minor upgrade can make the entire sink look new and far more inviting for all the dishwashing and prep work the next homeowner will do there. 

6. Install a statement light

Add a touch of luxury to your kitchen by replacing the light fixtures over the kitchen island with a statement piece (or pieces). The island is a prime cooking and gathering spot, and this upgrade helps it gain that “chic eatery” appeal. 

Make sure you consider both aesthetics and functionality in your purchase. A dim light can feel cozy but ultimately be dangerous for cooking as it doesn’t illuminate the space well. And a too-bright, white light might lessen the kitchen’s mystique. 

7. Repaint

Repainting is almost always a solid high return on investment (ROI) renovation. A fresh coat of paint helps walls look clean—as good as new. And you can choose a widely-appealing hue that meshes well with the other kitchen renovations you’re doing. 

Repainting is a DIY project you and your family or friends can get done on the weekend, meaning that you won’t have to spend on a contractor—just on materials. And kitchens have so many other surfaces that aren’t walls (like backsplashes and cabinetry) that there’s not a lot of space to cover, making this a pretty low-effort job. 

8. Stage 

Whether or not you revamp your kitchen, you can help it look better for buyers by staging it well. 

The first step of staging is cleaning and decluttering, leaving surfaces sterile and open. You might also want to depersonalize the space to help a viewer imagine themselves making it their own. Depersonalizing is fairly easy in a kitchen since you can stick items (like that custom coffee mug) behind cabinet doors. 

Leave out only your finest dishes and appliances on counters and shelves (that blender from the 80s that still works but is an eyesore can go behind a closed door). Make the space inviting for open houses by putting out fresh kitchen towels, a vase with flowers, and a couple of tasteful and good-smelling candles. 

Get an agent’s advice on your kitchen refresh

Agents are one of the best sources of information on which home improvements to make before putting your property on the market. They understand what buyers want and can advise you on which renovations will fulfill that market need.

Work with a Titus partner agent, and you get another perk. Titus’s affiliate agents have exclusive access to closing lines of credit (CLoCs) that their clients can use for pre-sale renovations. Credits of up to $25,000 are interest-free and Titus doesn’t ask home sellers for anything upfront or out of pocket. Learn how it works here.